Grow Hot Peppers

How To Grow Your Own Peppers and Vegetables In Containers

Plant Lights

3 Types Of Indoor Grow Lights for Your Hot Peppers

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Using indoor grow lights for your pepper plants opens up another world of possibilities.

Here are the main advantages:

  • Y​ou can start ​plants inside when it's too cold outdoors. This is ideal when you're starting new seedlings or overwintering your plants.

  • ​You can make sure your chillies get enough light each day. Even in the outdoors, too much shade, cloudy days or other elements can keep them from getting what they need.

Many lights are developed specifically for household use, but a variety of them are ideal for ​starting and growing your plants.

The ​main differences are that they range in cost, size and light output.

You have many lighting options to choose from, but ​I'll describe three of the most common plant light categories best suited for growing peppers indoors.

​Regular Fluorescent Lights

​Hardware stores and thrift shops are just some of the places where you can obtain regular, white fluorescent lights. This is best if you want to spend the least amount of money.

Though the lights are not particularly created for indoor plant growing, you can make these work by hanging more than one light over your pepper plants.

Make sure that each light adequately covers each seedling. Position the light so that it is no more than 4 inches away from the top of the chile plants.

​Fluorescent growing lights are the most cost effective method of household growing, but they require that you place your pepper seedlings within 2 to 4 inches underneath the light to give them the benefit of the heat.

A typical fluorescent normally requires the use of two 40-watt tubes.

It's a great choice for starting your seedlings indoors with the intention of moving them outside when the weather gets warmer.

​Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)

​Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) are the next step up in plant lights.

They are still a cost effective light method, but they have the ability to produce a 92 percent natural sunlight spectrum that gets used by your chile peppers. (It's the ​grow light I personally use for my plants.)

As its name implies, the CFL is smaller than a traditional fluorescent. These lights come in a range of sizes to fit your indoor growing area. This is great if you don't want to have to hang multiple lights over your ​growing setup.

indoor grow lights growing peppers indoors

A popular CFL is the T5.  The T5 is commonly used by hot pepper growers because it contains multiple thinner bulbs that are positioned in a vertical direction.

You'll usually get complete coverage over your chile seedlings in a ​mini-hothouse style setup. (See the image above as an example.)

Other types of popular CFLs include Vita-Lites and Sylvania Gro-Lux.

You can use these plant lights to grow your seedlings before you put them outside. ​

​High Intensity Discharge (HID)

​High Intensity Discharge (HID) lamps are the most expensive option when it comes to indoor growing. This is because the light discharge has an extremely high intensity and double the efficiency of a fluorescent grow light.

(As an example, it takes a fluorescent light 800 watts to generate as much output as one 400 watt HID lamp.)

Two types of HIDs are the High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide (MH).

The MH emits a midday sun heat that helps your peppers develop leaves.

The HPS produces an early morning or late afternoon heat, which gives a more yellow to orange to red spectrum. This is effective for and helping peppers flower and produce fruit.

The HID is an ideal indoor grow light solution because it supplements a greenhouse or sun room. This provides you with a solution if you do not receive enough natural light in your location.

​Final Notes On Using Indoor Grow Lights 

I​f you are going to use a regular fluorescent light, make sure your plants are completely covered and that the light isn't too far away.

I once made the mistake of not covering all my chile seedlings, and they died overnight trying to reach for light!

And if you can't get your hands on an HID light, don't sweat it. I've had great success using my CFL, specifically the T5, so I haven't seen a need to upgrade just yet.

Please feel free to leave a comment below and let us know what plant lights you use.

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And for those of you looking for a specific grow light recommendation... ​ Make sure to check out the ​​T5 indoor grow light that I use to ​support my seedlings after they germinate. By the way, the Amazon link above is an affiliate link, which means that I earn a commission if you do end up purchasing this product. It's at no extra cost to you, and if you have any questions related to this item, I'd be happy to answer them for you!

Using A Fluorescent Grow Light: The Cost-Effective Way To Grow Chillies Indoors

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If you read our post about the different types of http://growhotpeppers.com/indoor–grow–lights“>indoor grow lights, you know fluorescent lights are a great choice.

They are much cheaper that traditional grow lights, and a lot easier to pick up in a store.

After your pepper seeds germinate, be sure to have your light ready so that the seedlings continue to grow.

Heads up…

Lighting can be a bit tricky because:

  • Too much light burns the tender seedling foliage.
  • Not enough light interferes with the growth. (In other words, they’ll flop over and die.)

But don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it fast.

Let’s proceed…

Getting A Fluorescent Grow Light

http://growhotpeppers.com/wp–content/uploads/2010/02/plant_light.jpg” alt=”fluorescent grow light for growing peppers indoors” width=”300″ height=”209″ />The 4 foot long lamps are an ideal source of artificial light for your peppers because they provide the right amount of heat and do not cost a lot of money.

You can buy these lights, typically called “grow lights” or “plant lamps,” at a nearby hardware store.

Each lamp usually sells for $12 to $15.

Before you run to the store, check around your house. You might already have what you need!

For example, I had an old fish tank and noticed the aquarium light on top.

Sure enough, I verified it had fluorescent grow bulbs. (And thank goodness! I was a new chile grower and didn’t know I was supposed to give my plants light after they germinated.)

You might want to take a look in your garage or shed too. Those unused fluorescent shop lights work pretty well. (That’s what I’m using in the picture.)

Nothing is more cost effective than being free!

Light Positioning

Indoor plant lights are designed to be hung or mounted directly above your plants. Don’t worry, it’s safe to do this because they don’t contain the lumens that burn too hot.

The key factor here is making sure that the light is close enough to the pepper seedlings so that they don’t become “leggy” and use all their energy to grow really long stems.

Most pepper growers place the lamp 2 to 4 inches away from the top of the plant to avoid this problem.

Also, make sure the light is directly over your plants. I recommend using multiple lights if needed.

When I first tried growing peppers, I used a fluorescent grow lamp that was too short so it didn’t quite cover all the pepper plants in that row.

Not knowing any better at the time, I watched as the plants in the middle grew well, while the ones on the right and left bent at dangerous angles trying to get to the heat.

Luckily, I replaced the light in time to save most of them, but one beautiful early jalapeno plant bent so much that it fell over and never recovered.

Again, buy extra lamps to cover your chillies completely. Better safe than sorry!

How Long to Keep Your Plant Lamps On

Leave your fluorescent grow light on for about 12 to 16 hours each day. This time frame gives your chile seedlings the exposure to the heat that they need.

You can make this process easier by getting a plant timer from a hardware store (about $10) to turn the lamp on and off automatically. This is actually really helpful when you’re not at home.

And don’t worry, your electric bill shouldn’t suffer because the fluorescent bulbs typically use the same wattage that a regular light bulb does.

You’ll find that fluorescent bulbs do the job well. I use a T5 now, but that’s just because I like the full coverage it provides over my propagator.

Again, it’s all about personal preference!

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