I’ve had 2 types of grow lights and to be honest it doesn’t have to be a grow light to work for plants. You just have to know what kind of lighting the plants need and if that light can provide it – PAR/PPFD readings are important and if a company doesn’t give those details on a light I’m not purchasing it for my succulents.

I’ve used Barrina LED shop lights for almost a year and now a Mars Hydro grow light.

The Barrina LED lights work great for succulents or plants that don’t require high lights but obviously since I put the plants really close to the lights they weren’t working super well unless one likes the look of close lights, ahaha. I did have echeveria perle von nurnbergs that didn’t do well as they slowly stretched under these, so I eventually gave them away.

I didn’t know about PAR/PPFD before getting the first grow light and when I bought the Barrina LED shop lights all anyone would say when someone asked about lights for succulents that if it provided 6000-6500 lumens it would work for cacti and succulents. I can’t remember the range of lumens for the Barrina LED lights – I wanna say over 2500 lumen per light strip or maybe that was for the two light strips combined, I don’t know. They worked well if the plants are 4-6 inches but for cacti it won’t work in my opinion.

They were very easy to set up and I used strong Velcro to attach them to my entry table – the bad side was I didn’t get the ones with reflectors so the lights weren’t directed enough, but they did the job and most of my succulents did fabulous.

When I ordered my rainbow hedgehog cactus I knew this setup wasn’t going to last because the cactus needed more than what this light could provide.

So I fell down the rabbit hole of light requirements and I still don’t fully understand everything and definitely don’t feel comfortable giving advice on it (Here But Not has a good lighting article) and I think most cacti need more than what I gave it still but the Mars Hydro grow light I ordered seems to be doing a decent job. I’ve had the mars hydro light and I’ve actually had to remove the risers for some of the succulents as it was sun stressing and burning them.

I live in a two bedroom apartment that is not very large so and I wanted something nice to use for my succulents and cacti now and repurpose later so I bought this entry table and while it was pretty bright with the LED shop lights the Mars Hydro is like having the sun in the apartment especially with the cloudier days…..so it’s next to the trash can being blocked by the kitchen island, ahaha. The setup is definitely jury rigged but I absolutely love it. I cannot wait to add more cacti to my collection!

What I wish I saw more of is beautifully designed grow lights that provide high PAR/PPFD for high light plants that wouldn’t necessarily be stuck to a shelf for succulents and cacti – they can displayed individually or in a smaller group around the home. That would be amazing but this set up works for me and I’m very pleased with it. 

Side note: I haven’t even thought about winter lighting for my regular houseplants and it’s already November……do I panic? Not right now but I probably will knowing myself, ahaha.