How to Use a Heat Lamp to Keep Plants Warm

Heat -- or grow -- lamps provide both warmth and light to plants that don't have any or enough exposure to the sun. Plants use light to make food for them using the process called photosynthesis. Therefore, illumination is vital for their survival. Specially designed heat lamps exist, but you can also create your own plant incubator with 40-watt fluorescent tubes and a height-adjustable light fixture.

40-watt fluorescent bulb
Lamp fixture with adjustable height

Instructions

- 1
  Place the fluorescent light 1ft. above the pot's rim. If the plant is still growing, adjust the light fixture's height as the plant gets taller.
- 2
  Shine the light on plants grown for foliage 12 hours a day.
- 3
  Determine under which of three categories your flowering plants fall. Short-day plants begin to bloom when days are short and nights long. The opposite occurs with long-day plants. They set flowers when days are long with short nights. Day-neutral plants bloom under either condition.
- 4
  Give short-day plants (e.g., aster, salvia and poinsettia) 12 hours of light a day. Long-day plants require 16 hours of artificial light every day. Two flowers in this group are hibiscus and delphinium. Day length hardly affects day-neutral plants, such as geranium and pansies.

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