grow light review

In 2016, I reached peak plant lady status. With an outdoor space all to myself for the first time since moving to the city, I went wild with plants. I learned to propagate, and my plant count was through the roof.

Then in the time between learning about my new apartment and finally moving in on January 1st of this year, I gave away most of my collection except for my absolute favorites. I knew I’d be moving to a space without a deck and indoor plant real estate would be limited. I didn’t think I’d be able to provide my plants with enough light. So many people say they have black thumbs but honestly, I think a lot of people just underestimate how much light their plants really need.

Even though I had done my best to weed out anything in my collection that needed lots of light, and kept the majority of my plants right near the window I could still tell they needed more. While browsing Amazon I spotted this grow lamp. For under thirty dollars, it seemed worth the risk. I really love having as many plants as possible around the house so this is a very small price to pay.

When I posted photos right after getting the lamps lots of people asked for more details and to be updated on how well they worked so that’s what I’m doing here today. I know that previous to purchasing this lamp, when I looked into artifical lights for my plants I just came out of my search more confused than ever. Just like propagation, aaaand every single other thing on Earth, everyone has their favorite way to do things, and thinks their way is best. I’m not saying this is the best grow light out there but it’s working really well for me so I thought I’d share a little bit about what I like about it.

I’ve been using the grow lamp for just around a month now and can definitely see a difference in the plants I have placed near it. They reach for the lamp and in general, just look a lot perkier. My century plant (top right corner of the left photo below) went from just surviving to actually growing again which is a huge deal in my book. I was really sad to see the life starting to fade away from that guy after not being outside anymore.

The thing that really drew me to this lamp as opposed to some of the others available is that I didn’t need to hang it from anything. There are lots of lights available for shelving units but thats not how I have my plants displayed. This one simply clips on which works out really nicely since I have a bunch of plants on a little side table in my office.

The lights can be put on a timer, choose between 3 hr, 6 hr or 12 hr. The amount I choose depends on how sunny it is outside. If it’s super sunny, just three hours. Rainy, cloudy weather and they get the full day with the lamps on. It’s super easy to use, and requires barely any effort on my part – I just hit a button each morning and my plants love me for it!

Plant lady tip –

Download the app ‘GardenAnswers‘ to help you identify plants. (It’s free!) You simply take a photo of your plant and it will try to match it to plants in their database. Knowing what you actually have is obviously super helpful in properly taking care of your babies!!

All in all, thirty bucks well spent on this grow lamp. My plants are so much happier with the extra light they’re receiving these days. I’m even thinking about picking up a second lamp for some of my other plants. I highly recommend considering an extra light source for your plants, especially with the days getting shorter and shorter as the seasons change.
xoxo

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