How to Install Grow Lights for your Houseplant Collection

Thinking about upping your grow light game? This article describes the artificial light set-up I use for my plant collection. Tried and tested, these grow lights will help to boost the light your houseplants receive.

Whether you need more light throughout winter, or because you have some darker areas in your home, this grow light solution is practical, efficient, and stylish. What’s more, this set-up is such an easy way to achieve a DIY installation that doesn’t impose on your interior aesthetics.

This set-up requires you to install a grow bulb into a clip-on lamp, which plugs into a socket in your home. Using a dimmer switch allows you to set routines for the light to turn on and off on your phone. I've linked everything you need to have a go at this set-up on my Amazon storefront!

What kind of plants does this grow light set-up work for?

This set-up works for growing any tropical plants and is best suited to indoor usage. I use it in my bedroom for both ordinary houseplants and more unusual, rare plants, such as anthuriums and philodendrons.

How difficult is this grow light set-up to install?

Although it definitely helps if you have a good understanding of technology, you can set up these grow lights easily. You don’t actually need to set the devices up with a wi-fi dimmer switch and automate routines in an app, but it is really helpful if you go on holiday!

These clip-on desk lights are easy to attach to shelves or mirrors and you can hide the cables by taping them around any shelf or room edges. On the other hand, you could just grow a giant Philodendron Burle Marx up the wire, like I have!

How does this grow-light set up work?

I’ve designed this grow light solution to work with the Smart Life app, to turn on and off on a timed routine. The Candeo wi-fi dimmer fitting I added at the socket allows me to dim the lights to a percentage, and simulate gradual lighting increases and decreases throughout the day.

My grow light system just basically runs itself as it’s all linked up to the Smart Life app. I have set timed routines where the bulbs turn on and off at specific times throughout the day. It saves me so much time and worry, especially when we go away on holiday! The only time you have to worry about it now working is if you have a power cut.

If using a wi-fi dimmer switch sounds too complicated to you, then these grow lights can be turned on and off using a switch on the Zevnico clip-on lamp. This means you don’t have to install a dimmer or add them into your Smart Life app to turn them on or off.

If you’re really tech-y, then you can actually add the devices to a smart hub for your Google or Alexa device. However, I won’t be covering how to do that in this article!

What will I need to set up these grow lights?

1 x Candeo Wi-Fi Dimmer Fitting

1 x E27 Sansi Grow Bulb

1 x Zevnico Clip-on Lamp You can find the full list of items on my Amazon storefront.

How to set up this grow light solution.

1) Insert the E27 Sansi Grow Bulb into your Zevnico clip-on lamp. You may have to fiddle around a bit to make sure the bulb is secure, because they’re quite heavy. You’ll know once the bulb has been inserted properly because it won’t feel like it’s about to fall out.

2) Plug the Candeo Wi-fi Dimmer Fitting into the plug on the Zevnico clip-on lamp and insert the whole thing into the plug socket.

3) Download the Smart Life app. When setting up the wi-fi make sure that your phone is connected to 2.4GHz Wi-fi when you’re setting up the candeo switch, not 5 GHz or it won’t work.

4) Pair the Candeo Wi-fi Dimmer Fitting with the Smart Life app. There are two ways to pair the Candeo dimmer – using EZ mode or using AP mode. (I went for AP mode.) Click the power button on the candeo dimmer fitting three times in quick succession. If your light is plugged in, it will flash. Three flashes quickly together means EZ mode and three flashes with a break between them means AP mode.

5) Go to the Smart Life app and click the ‘+’ in the top right corner and select ‘Add Device’. Tap ‘Lighting’ section from the menu on the left and then select ‘Light source Wi-fi’.

6) Smart Life asks for your wi-fi password and you enter it, tapping ‘Next’. The app will talk you through some settings so follow the instructions and press ‘next’.

7) Select the blinking speed (slow – AP or fast is EZ) by tapping the one that you’ve set up.

8) Tap ‘go to connect’ which takes you to your wi-fi settings and connects the wi-fi to the Smart Life device you just discovered. It will be named ‘Smart Life’ and then a bunch of numbers.

9) Tap the Smart Life device to connect to the wi-fi. You may get a notification that the switch doesn’t have an internet connection but tell it you still want to connect to the device.

10) Go back to the Smart Life app and it should be loading. Once loaded it will tell you that the device has been added successfully. You can rename the device so that it’s recognisable.

11) You can now use the Smart Life app to create automated routines for your grow lights. Set up specifics timings for them to turn on and off and set the brightness.

It really is that easy! You can control all your grow lights from your phone and set routines and dimmers. Magic!

My Top Tips for using this grow light set-up:

✅ You will need to have your plants half a metre or so away from the grow bulb to avoid sunburn.

✅ Set your grow lights to a reasonable brightness that works for your plants. These 27 watt bulbs are pretty bright so I set the dimmer to 65-80% as the plants get no natural light to substitute them.

If you’re thinking of giving this grow light set-up a whirl, then why not head over to my Amazon influencer storefront? I’ve linked everything you’ll need!

If you have a go at setting this up in your home, then share your photos and videos on Instagram, tagging @theplantparlourgram, so that I can see how it looks!