Ficus Indoor light

[Warlock]

I will have to keep my Ficus Benjamina in garage over winter. They are outside all year except during winter.

Any recommendations for lighting? I plan to put them on a counter under cabinet where I can hang lights from.
Would a led shop light work??

 

[MHBonsai]

I will have to keep my Ficus Benjamina in garage over winter. They are outside all year except during winter.

Any recommendations for lighting? I plan to put them on a counter under cabinet where I can hang lights from.
Would a led shop light work??

Photos of the tree and situation would help. Fluorescent shop lights can get the job done if you keep them close to the tree. Same with cheap LED if it's the right spectrum. Benjaminas are tough and can limp through a winter without much of anything. It really just depends on what you are trying to do. If you are content keeping it alive and dormant through the winter, a cheap grow light and not getting too cold/drywall keep it going. If you want it to actually grow/thrive, the sky's the limit with grow tents, humidity, full lighting systems, etc.

 

[Warlock]

Photos of the tree and situation would help. Fluorescent shop lights can get the job done if you keep them close to the tree. Same with cheap LED if it's the right spectrum. Benjaminas are tough and can limp through a winter without much of anything. It really just depends on what you are trying to do. If you are content keeping it alive and dormant through the winter, a cheap grow light and not getting too cold/drywall keep it going. If you want it to actually grow/thrive, the sky's the limit with grow tents, humidity, full lighting systems, etc.

My idea is to put an led shop light over them in the garage. There is zero natural light in there. It's temp situation.. once first freeze comes along I wanna have them in garage. After mid February comes thru were are out of freeze times and they can go back outside.

They are tough little guys.. they get full Texas Sunlight and got thru 70 days of 100°f heat this summer..

 

[WNC Bonsai]

We grew a Ficus benjamina in our living room without any direct sunlight for over 35 years so they can grow and prosper on very little. Ours went form a small plant store cutting to a tree that had to be cut back every year when it scraped the ceiling. It never had any more light than what filtered in through some windows and lamps. We even stopped putting it outside in summer since when we did it always came back in covered with scale.

 

[Carol 83]

If you want it to actually grow/thrive, the sky's the limit with grow tents, humidity, full lighting systems, etc.

I have to overwinter mine indoors and they thrive with just full spectrum LED's, no grow tents, extra humidity ect.

 

[Thegrants82]

 

[August]

View attachment 517617

Beautiful! Makes my setup look like the Kowloon Walled City

@Warlock , I love your name. I used just plain old LED shoplights last winter with no problems. The tropicals love to grow right up into them and dont break a sweat. I still use the two that I bought that year but have also aquired "grow lights" since then; mostly a couple freebies from work (really nice but sat on a shelf for 3 years) as well as a 4 pack of Barilla lights off amazon (very cheap, easy to situate, work well, I endorse). My plants under these lights seem to grow much more compact and thats great for my succulents (tendency to legginess) as well as my bigger trees that I dont want to torture with cutbacks all winter.

I wanted to be thorough but all that is to say that, yes, your ficus will do great with the cheapest led shoplight at home depot or lowes. Especially if you get a couple and double up. Many ficus can grow for decades in malls and offices with no real light; our trees get the privilege of real unfiltered sun every summer. I'm pretty sure you could keep them in a closet all winter and they would be perfectly healthy and ready to go in spring.

 

[Warlock]

@August that's what I was thinking about using.. thanks!