How to Grow With Low Wattage

Set your plants in an area that receives strong sunshine. Your strongest light comes from windows with a southern exposure, while windows facing west or east have about 60 percent as much light. Windows looking north offer the least light of all and are not likely to be of much help when growing plants. The more sunlight they get, the less artificial light your plants will require.

Hang a fluorescent light directly over a table, shelf or counter that has plants on it. Houseplants and herbs for use in the kitchen can grow under fluorescent light only. If you want to grow flowering plants, such as begonias or violets, use a grow light instead of a standard fluorescent tube. Standard fluorescents provide mostly blue light waves, while fluorescent grow lights -- which can still be low wattage -- add red light waves, a color necessary for plants to flower.

Place the fluorescent light fixture directly over your plants, 4 to 6 inches above the top of the plants. This will insure that your plants get the maximum light intensity from the light. You can use one or two 4-foot long 40-watt tubes in the light fixture.

Add a timer to switch the light on for 16 hours each day to further help your plants to grow. Additional time under the lights helps to make up for any lack of intensity resulting from the use of low-wattage bulbs.