Grow Lights For Winter (or All Year Long)

I get asked about grow lights at least every other planty conversation I engage in. These days, it seems that almost all my conversations are plant-related. But that may be because I steer every conversation in the direction of my plants.

I’m not sorry.

My houseplants make me happy.

For those of you who just want links to products, those are at the end of this blog. Some or all of the links in this blog may be affiliate links.

If you are new to grow lights, I’m sure it seems like a daunting proposition. There are so many different styles of lights out there. I am writing this article about the grow lights that I use. It is not a comparison of all the options out there. But if that type of a blog interests you, make sure to comment below so that I know and can put that on the schedule for this coming year’s articles.

I have been using these lights for over a year and I am very pleased with the way my plants have grown under them. I do want to state that this grow light company is not sponsoring this blog in any way. I actually did reach out to them to ask if they would be interested in sponsoring this article or a YouTube video. I received no answer. Oh well…Let me tell you about the design advantages of these lights and the types of plants that I have been growing under them.

I have used different types of grow lights over the course of many years as a houseplants seller. As you can imagine, they all have pros and cons, but I am writing this blog to tell you about the lights that work the best for me. Those lights are called the Monios-L grow lights. They are LED chip lights and so are extremely energy efficient (24 watts to be exact). Despite being energy efficient, I have found them to put out a very bright light that keeps my plants actively growing and happy. One of the design elements that I really appreciate about these lights is that the LED chips are mounted in a V-shape. (Photo below.) This feature allows the light to be cast outward and not just straight down below the light fixture. Now maybe this doesn’t sound innovative to you, but I assure you, that has been one of my biggest complaints about grow lights for years. With the other lights I’ve used, I could only fit a very few plants beneath them and any other plants nearby would just start stretching to reach for the light and end up deformed and unsellable. Not good. The Monios-L lights are great because their design allows them to light twice as many plants compared to my other grow lights.

Another great advantage of these grow lights is that there are many different ways to set them up. They come with aluminum shades to direct the light into a certain direction. I don’t even attach these because, as I stated in the previous paragraph, I want the light to go everywhere. They can be mounted in different ways as well and come with mounting brackets and screws, double-sided sticky tape and zip ties to give you some options.

The last great advantage with these lights is that they come in a package of 6 two-foot lights. They come with connectors that can link the lights directly together. Two different types of cords are also included. The first type of cord is a 48″ cord that can connect the lights if you need space between them (for example: connecting a light on an upper shelf to a light on a lower shelf). And then there are 59″ cords that connect the lights to the power source. These cords are where the on/off switches are located. Photos of the cords and connector piece are below.

I should probably show you what plants I have growing under these lights, right? The majority of the plants I keep under these grow lights are Philodendrons and Hoyas. I also grow Rhipsalis and Epiphyllum, Ceropegia (String of Hearts), Chlorophytum (Spider plants), Calathea, Pothos, Epipremnum and some Peperomias under the same type of grow lights. Oh, and I’ve forgotten to add that I grow all of my succulents under these same grow lights also. Those include Haworthia, Albuca, Agave, Echeveria, Sempervivum, Aloe, Kalanchoe, Senecio, Lithops, Titanopsis and I’m sure there are others that I just can’t think of at the moment.

If it seems puzzling that I can keep Calatheas under the same grow lights as I keep my succulent plants, please let me explain. I do place my plants under grow lights very intentionally. If I have a plant like a Philodendron that wants bright light, but not light quite as bright as these lights put out, I simply place them near, but not directly under these Monios lights. Or if I have plant shelves that allow light to shine through, I can place the plants that need lower light a whole shelf below the grow light. That way the ambient light that filters through from the shelf above is just the right amount of light (Begonias love this trick). Or, I can simply raise the grow light higher above my plants to decrease the light intensity.

Conversely, with some plants like my Hoyas, I can lower the lights so that they are closer to the plants to bring out that beautiful sun-stressed (grow light-stressed) look that I love. My Hoya ‘Rebecca’ is a great example. See the photo below.

The Monios-L grow light is the only type of grow light that I use on my plants…with one exception. I do have one GE balanced spectrum grow light bulb in a desk lamp on top of one of my plant shelves. I have about five plants growing under it and it has done a great job. If you have a lamp or light fixture already and just need a grow light bulb, I highly recommend this one. Photo below.

Because the GE bulb is a single light bulb, it obviously casts a smaller amount of light compared to my Monios lights (you can see one of them attached to the bottom of the shelf in this photo). But it has been taking care of the plants on this shelf for a year and they have all put on new growth and the Hoya matilde even gave me blooms. That’s basically the highest praise I can give a grow light.

I hope this blog has answered some plant lighting questions for you. If you have additional questions, I’d love to hear them. Please ask them in the comments below. Make sure to check out our other houseplants content on our A-Z list of blog articles. If you’d like to see this in a video form, here is our YouTube video Grow Lights for Winter (or All Year Long).

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Take care, everyone!

Products I use and (therefore) recommend:

Planty friends – Feel free to use these links to the products that I use for my houseplants.  I receive a small percentage of any sales through these links, so feel free not to use them if that bothers you. Like I said, I use all of these products, most of them daily which is why I feel like I can recommend them to you.

• Horticultural 1/4” pumice
• Horticultural perlite
• Coco coir
• Orchid Bark – Extra small chips
• Orchid Bark – Small chips
• Earthworm castings
• Horticultural charcoal
• Coco Loco potting mix
• GE Balanced Spectrum grow light bulb
• Monios-L LED grow lights
• Hygrometer (humidity monitor)
• Moisture meter sticks
• Organic houseplant fertilizer liquid
• Insecticide/Miticide – (many bug sprays don’t kill spider mites, this one does)
• Systemic houseplant insecticide

Full disclosure – the last three product links will be much cheaper if you can find them in your local garden center.  I’ve put them here so that you can see what they are called and what they look like, but I’d advise that you buy from these links only as a last resort.

Mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you.