I want to give my plants the best life possible, but I'm not sure how I should go about it. My apartment has a lot of indoor lights and a few windows,

I was thinking of getting a strip of those blue and red led lights and a small panel one, or a few bulbs. What would be the best option do you think? I have some under cupboardl ights I could swap out for smaller plants?

Currently I have, sorry if these are incorrectly spelled.
Majesty Palm (despite lots of water, its fronds are getting a bit crispy??)
a elephant plant (just a baby)
An echi..veria??
christmas cactus
annnnd
a diffenbachia

What are the best lighting situations for all?

Fluorescent Lights

Welcome to NGA, @Knotsolas .

What direction do your windows face? If your answer is "north" then they probably won't be of much help, but otherwise your plants would benefit from the natural light, possibly supplemented with some fluorescent lights.

T5HO 6500k give me great results, very little heat produced by the bulbs and low energy consumption. I have some of the red/blue LED strips that add supplemental light, a 24 LED spot that my spider plants love.

If you have a good way to mount a T5 that would be my recommendation.

At least 6500 k bulds ! Yes !😎!
Since you are starting out. Get the LED 6500 K. Grow bulbs ! Compared to florescent, they use alot less electricity. Last twice as long. And put out no heat...
My sister found a new one, online.
It looks like floresent bulbs. Its two bulb 2 foot lite, with white metal frame, with reflector behind bulbs. Nice looking. You can suspend it, mount it on ceiling, put it horizontally or vertically on wall.

Now the part that REALLY TICKED ME OFF 😭 She got it for ......
Get ready......

ONLY $20.00 DOLLARS ## 😭😭😭.

LED's last 50,000 hours ! Think of the money you'll save on power bill over that time.
😎😎😎

C'mon, Philip, where did she get it? Inquiring minds want to know! I'm in the market for one as well.

Woofie: howoa !!!!🐕
I'll have to check with her.
I'll be BACHK !👺!
😎😎😎

@woofie
Oops ! Pie in my face !👺!
Well. Woofie.... I had the price wrong. 😞 It was $50.00 @ home depot. They have a single bulb 2 foot for $30.00
Butt ! Either way. Still worth it, when it lasts twice as long and uses around half the energy of a floresent ! It will pay for itself, over its lifetime.
Go surfing ! Maybe you'll find something cheeper? ?
😎😎😎

Well, rats. That sounded sooooo good! I'm contemplating one I saw on Amazon, but it's only 4000K and 3600 lumens. But it's 4 ft long, 2 tubes and only a bit over $28 with free shipping. I also got a couple of regular base LED grow lights and they seem to be helping a lot. My tiny tomato seedlings are growing up nice and straight under them. I'm hoping the combination will do the job for my (hopefully) temporary indoor setup.

@woofie. Yea ! RATS ! Dog gone it !
ME ###
Butt ! If i were you. I would spend an extra few dollars. And get 6500 K bulbs.
I'm no expert. Butt. I dont think you can add up the K's.
Say like a 4000 K bulb and a 3000 K bulb is equal to a 7000 K bulb.
K's are diferent than watts !
And were talking grow lites, also.
Pertty sone your gonna have a crazy amount of bulbs hangin there and nothings growin. Butt ! The power company will be smiling down at you. 😁👹😁 $$$$
Ya know what i mean ! Jelly bean 😁
😎😎😎

Just an FYI.....

Walmart has these for $10.97 with great reviews.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lig...

Well, this is supposed to be a temporary setup, and the trays are on a table in front of two south-facing windows. The LED shop light appears to provide a better light source than the fluorescents I have in my greenhouse, so I'm willing to give it a try. And I can always use that shop light in the shop if it doesn't work out for the seedlings. (I HATE fluorescent lights!) And, hey, these lights combined use less power than the heat mat alone! I'll let ya know how they work out.

Hey @Shy_gardener that looks like a pretty good deal! Too bad they don't ship them; we're pretty well house-bound right now. But I'm planning on doing a couple of shelves and those would be a nice addition. Thanks for the tip!

Ooppps Sorry Folks....

I though they did ship them, thought they shipped anything you wanted. I know they'll say out of stock, then they have them, then they are out of stock. Must sell a lot of them...

OH My, The things we can come up with to get the plants some light, or getting seeds started, but as long as it works, it's all good.

Philipwonel said:@woofie. Yea ! RATS ! Dog gone it !
ME ###
Butt ! If i were you. I would spend an extra few dollars. And get 6500 K bulbs.
I'm no expert. Butt. I dont think you can add up the K's.
Say like a 4000 K bulb and a 3000 K bulb is equal to a 7000 K bulb.
K's are diferent than watts !
And were talking grow lites, also.
Pertty sone your gonna have a crazy amount of bulbs hangin there and nothings growin. Butt ! The power company will be smiling down at you. 😁👹😁 $$$$
Ya know what i mean ! Jelly bean 😁
😎😎😎

Doesn't the "K" stand for kilowatt?

I use these in standard 48" shop lights - F32T8 6500K, box of 10 for $33.97:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Phi...

K (Kelvin) relates to "color temperature". Here's a reference:

http://www.lumens.com/how-tos-...

Thanks 😁 Mac !
Electricity is strange. Like kelvins. Watts. And Amps , are all diferent creatures.
😎😎😎

Philipwonel said:Electricity is strange. Like kelvins. Watts. And Amps , are all diferent creatures.

And sometimes hard to explain in non-technical terms. Color temperature is best when observed. Box stores that sell all kinds of lamps need a side-by-side display to actually show the difference.

Mac -- if you know -- is there some "standard" for what is best for starting seedlings?

I'm particularly curious about how one adjusts using the T8 or T5 fluorescent bulbs as compared to the old T12, which I use, for growing -- as in, how far away from the plants should the bulbs be, and how many hours/day to leave them on. (With the T12 bulbs, I keep the lights very close to the seedlings, and leave them on for about 16 hours per day.)

Sandy, I don't think there's any definitive answer as to "standard". In general, the smaller diameter lamps use less and less power for any given lamp length. I use the T8's because I already had fixtures for them. As far as plant to lamp distance and hours/day on-time, it depends on the plants, intensity of the lamps and any number of other factors. For new seedlings I think 2 to 3 inches is more or less accepted, 24 hrs/day, and color temperature can affect that. Some plants require a dark period. My best suggestion is read everything you can find on the subject, keeping in mind that you will get a lot of different suggestions to the same question. I hope that helps .