We’ve all tried to grow houseplants in less than ideal lighting conditions.  At first the plant looks great and we pat ourselves on the back.  Inevitably, though, it starts to lose leaves and look sickly.

Nurseries might go out of business if indoor gardeners only knew how important proper lighting is to houseplants.  Unlike humans and animals, plants produce most of their own food.  Light triggers and energizes the process of photosynthesis, a procedure that makes the carbohydrates that fuel plants.   Without sufficient light, plants can’t photosynthesize and instead use stored food to maintain growth. As the plant wears down its energy reserves it cannibalizes itself, eventually starving to death.

While some plants die when lighting is poor, others get just enough light to live a feeble existence. You’ve probably had them in your home.  They’re the sickly ones with poor growth, sparse foliage, no flowers, and pest and disease problems.

Good news!  There’s an easy and inexpensive way to replicate natural sunlight indoors—full spectrum lighting  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_light
Used for years to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder, (SAD) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder, full spectrum lights simulate the sun at noon, and plants love it.  Manufacturers even produce screw-in full-spectrum light bulbs so all you have to do is replace the light bulbs in nearby light fixtures, and voila!—you’ve got happy plants basking in the next-best-thing to sunlight.

Don’t want to bother with lighting?  Try low-light plants like Arrowhead Vine; Cast-Iron Plant, Chinese Evergreen, Dracaenas, Peace Lily, Pothos, Philodendron, Radiator Plant, and Snake Plant.

You can also check the real light levels in your home with a light meter.  These handy tools can be found at http://www.charleysgreenhouses.com.