Anyone know anything about plant lights?

[Onlooker]

My partner's houseplants plants suffer in cold New England every winter. They're of various kinds. I was thinking of getting him a plant light, but there are so many different kinds at so many different prices. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks.

[wryter2000]

1. All I know is

You need full spectrum lights for plants. Regular fluorescent lights don't work. Also, they lose their effectiveness and have to be replaced, even if they still look good to the human eye.

[tridim]

5. Regular fluorescent lights work fine

Just get one cool and one warm bulb. They're very efficient.

If you really want to know about lights, check out http://www.overgrow.com and just pretend they're not talking about pot. :)

[norml]

2. Dura Gro & Vita Lite are two good brands for fluorescent tube lights.

Metal halide lights might be more than you require.

[slappypan]

3. ordinary flourescent bulbs will work fine

Never had any trouble starting seedlings for my vegetable garden with regular shop lights.

[amazona]

4. same here

Ordinary flourescents might not be enough if the plants never got outside in spring and summer, but for winter only they seem to do just fine for me. My main issue with indoor plants under lights is problems with under or over watering.