Stonecrops (Sedum spp.) and aloes (Aloe spp.) can be grown indoors under grow lights. Cacti and succulents generally are easy-to-grow plants that do not have a long list of requirements. One of the few requirements they have, though, can be difficult to provide indoors. Most cacti and succulents are considered “high light” plants. They require light levels at a minimum of 1,000 foot-candles to survive. Jungle cacti, like the Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), can be maintained with 750 foot-candles, but thrive with 1,000 foot-candles. A south-facing window may provide enough light, but where this is inconvenient or impossible, cacti and succulents can be placed under grow lights to help meet their light exposure needs. Set up a grow light fixture that takes fluorescent bulbs. Place two 40-watt cool-white bulbs and two special, high-intensity fluorescent plant grow light bulbs in the fixture. Place the cacti and succulents on a flat, reflective surface. Place a mirror or heavy aluminum foil beneath the plants, if necessary, to provide a reflective surface.

Set the grow light on the flat surface and position it so that the light bulbs are directly above the plants. Adjust the height of the grow light to 6 inches above the tallest plant. Plug the grow light into a 24-hour timer that has a three-prong plug to plug into the electrical outlet. Set the timer to turn the light on in the morning around sunrise. Set it to stay on for 16 to 18 hours if very little or no natural light will reach the plants. Leave the light on for 12 to 14 hours per day for plants that are exposed to low- or medium-level natural light during the day. Move multiple cacti and succulents far enough apart to allow the light to reach the lower branches. Check the soil moisture every two weeks from spring through fall. Water the cacti and succulents when the potting mix does not stick to your finger when you poke it into the soil. Water them generously with room-temperature water that has been left sitting in a container for at least 24 hours to allow the chlorine to dissipate.

Empty the water from the catch basins beneath the containers. Give them a houseplant fertilizer with a balanced 10-10-10 or similar ratio diluted to one-quarter of the recommended rate at the beginning of April, mid-May and the end of June. Water them only once each month in the winter. Re-pot them in the spring if they become pot-bound, roots are growing from the drain hole in the bottom of the container and the plant becomes top-heavy. Use a new container that is 1 inch wider than the previous container. Things You Will Need Fluorescent grow light 2 40-watt cool-white fluorescent bulbs 2 special fluorescent plant grow light bulbs Flat reflective surface Mirror or heavy aluminum foil 24-hour timer 10-10-10 or similar ratio houseplant fertilizer Containers with drain holes References Missouri Botanical Garden: Cacti and Succulents: Cacti and Succulents as HouseplantsMissouri Botanical Garden: Indoor Plants or HouseplantsUniversity of Missouri ExtensionMr. Man-Monster and I live in an apartment which can only be described as “cave-like”.

Although there are windows in every room, most of them a) look out into dark alleys and b) are covered so that we can have some privacy. The cats have taken over the two best windows in the house, and will violently kill any houseplants that impinge on their lounging space. Air Purifier Dealers In BangaloreSo, by definition, any houseplant grown in my house is grown under artificial light.Best Small Soaking Tub Currently, we have a small “plant corner,” with a single grow lamp illuminating an area of only a couple square feet. Shower Head With Built In Soap DispenserBecause we have a small and cheap lamp, we need to keep it fairly low over the plants (about 18-24″). It looked really weird in the room, so we hung an illuminated sign from a pinball machine over it to balance the space a bit more.

It still looks a bit weird, but it’s way better than it was. Mr. Man-Monster and I both really love succulents because of their interesting forms — they seem like bizarre little alien lives, rather than normal plants. So earlier this year, I picked up a bunch of tiny succulent plants and I’ve been experimenting to see who can survive and who can thrive under artificial light. (The vines to the left are English ivy that I am growing as part of a project for wedding decorations.) Succulents and cacti are notoriously tricky to grow under artificial lighting. This is because most of them evolved in very arid but very sunny areas — their interesting shapes and fleshy leaves are their strategy for survival. So when we move them into our homes, they are in a much darker, damper place than they would generally prefer. That said, some succulents can adapt very well to living under artificial light. I have had the best luck with various Crassulaceae under artificial light.

Crassulaceae are a family of succulents that include jade plants, kalanchoes, sedum, sempervivium, and adromischus (aka ‘crinkle-leaf plant’ or ‘key lime pie plant’). All my Crassulaceae are currently thriving (four different jades and an adromischus; I also gave an unusual kalanchoe to my mother, who is successfully growing it in lower-light conditions as well). There is a huge variety of shape, color, and texture amongst the Crassulaceae — even in a single species (Crassula ovata, the jade plant) there are so many different cultivars it’s hard to believe they’re all the same sort of plant! As an example, here are three of my jades: “Gollum” jade, “Ripple” jade, and a compact jade that looks very much like the wild form of the plant. These are still young plants, each pot has 3-5 seedlings. At the end of the year, I’m going to split them off into individual pots. Sad Plants: Aeonium and Echeveria There were many different plants I didn’t even try to grow under artificial light.

For example, most true cacti do not grow well under artificial lighting — the light just isn’t strong enough. Same with plants like split rock and lithops. But I hadn’t heard anything either way about Aeonium plants or Echeveria plants, so I got one of each. Both plants got severely etiolated — because the light is too weak for them, they lost their lovely round shapes and turned into sad, spindly cones. It is very sad because I don’t have any spots where they could thrive, and I don’t have the heart to throw them in the rubbish. But they just look pathetic, don’t they? It’s important to mention, though, that there are a lot of different Aeonium and Echeveria species. It could just be that the specific plants I chose do not do well under artificial light, and that other species or cultivars could be happier in the dark. My Aloe plants haven’t done as well as I thought they would. The big Aloe vera plant has a good color but hasn’t really grown at all, and the little Zanzibar aloe is slightly etiolated in the upper leaves.

It isn’t too severe and I actually sort of like the look of the etiolation on that plant, but clearly this is not an optimal way to grow Aloe plants. They’re surviving quite well, but not thriving like the jades. I discovered this Christmas cactus buried under a stack of crap somewhere in the house. I immediately felt awful because I was sure it was dead of neglect. However,, it has perked right up and is doing amazingly well — more than half the plant is new growth from this season I didn’t think that these blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae) would do very well under artificial light, because they had a blue color and a powdery bloom on the leaves that I associate with plants that need lots of strong sunlight. But they’ve been very happy. “Tiger jaw plant” is a very cool-looking succulent. This one was sold to me as Faucaria tigrina, but I think it’s actually Faucaria felina tuberculosa. I bought it not knowing at all what it really was, and was disheartened to learn that it’s a cousin of split rock, gibbaeum, and lithops (all plants which are notorious for needing lots and lots of light).