The Popular Indoor Plant That Thrives Under Grow Lights

If your home is lacking when it comes to abundant natural lighting, you may feel like having a thriving indoor garden is out of the question. While grow lights are a helpful substitution, shedding light on those dimmer spots within your home, not every plant grows as well with artificial lighting as with  natural sunlight. Fortunately, artificial lights aren't a problem for pothos, a popular houseplant that can thrive when grow lights are used correctly.

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) is among one of the most popular indoor plants — and for good reason. This plant is versatile and easy to care for, making it one of the houseplants that even beginners can grow. To top it all off, they're also one of the plants that don't just survive, but actually thrive, under artificial lighting, which is perfect if your goal is to add greenery to the parts of your home that lack a window.

Even though grow lights can make a solid alternative when sunlight isn't available for your prized plants, there are a few things to remember. For example, although grow lights can provide for your pothos' light needs, it's often not as strong as natural lighting. As a result, your plant may need to spend more time under the light than if they were sitting on a window sill. There are also other care requirements to keep in mind when growing a pothos indoor, including watering and humidity.

One of the best parts of using a grow light for your pothos is that you won't need to decide which window in your home has the best lighting. However, you will need to learn how to appropriately use your grow light — and that can be a little more complicated than simply flipping a switch.

The exact sunlight that your pothos needs can depend on the variety, as well as if any variegation is present. However, overall, these plants do best in either partial shade or dappled sunlight. With natural sunlight, this often looks like no more than six hours of light per day. However, with artificial light, your pothos could need as much as 10 to 12 hours of light. Pay attention to how your plant responds and adjust as needed. You should also opt for indirect light over bright, direct light; this ensures that your pothos receives the amount of light it needs without the light being so overpowering that it damages the leaves.

Aside from adjusting your grow lights to give your pothos the right support, these plants are relatively low maintenance. There are common watering mistakes to avoid with pothos plants — as with many other plants, a pothos with waterlogged soil can lead to root problems, so avoid overwatering. Pothos will let you know when they need more water thanks to their droopy leaves. While not required, they also thrive with higher levels of humidity. If you don't want to invest in a humidifier, there are other ways to ways to increase humidity for plants.