How much light does Tulsi need? Direct sun or indirect sun? Do I need a grow light? What grow lights are best for Tulsi plants? How do I set it up? This article will answer these questions and more.
There are five major factors that determine Tulasi’s health: light, water, soil, air, and devotion. In the majority of places a grow light is necessary for growing Tulasi in the winters. Grow lights have come a long way over the past few years. Technology is always improving and becoming more accessible to the public. Quality grow lights that were once reserved only for high tech farming, are now affordable for consumer use.
Choosing a light is super confusing, luckily we have done the hard work for you and have chosen a selection of lights that have been proven to work well and last a long time.
Summary:
When giving Tulasi sunlight keep her in partial shade during intense summers
Keep grow light on for 14-16 hours a day
Follow the manufacturer instructions on how far to keep the light top of her leaves, but it is generally about 16cm or 6” for LED lights
Buy a good light (it will be worth it)
How Much Light Does Tulasi Need?
Sunlight is of course much better than grow lights, but sun light is not available everywhere all year around. Remember that Tulasi is native to India, which is very hot and sunny for the majority of the year. When you have sunlight, Tulasi will do best with partial sun for the whole day during intense summers. If you’re using a grow light keep it turned on for 14-16 hours a day.
Best Grow Lights for Tulsi Plants
For Tulasi lighting we recommend using LED lights because they are very energy efficient, cost effective, give good results, and last a long time. We recommend Migro or Spider Farmer LED lights, they are high quality and available world wide. If these two options are not available then look for one that is minimum 100w.
How to Set up Your Grow Light
The easiest way to set up your grow light is by hanging it from the ceiling, or inside a grow tent. For those who cannot hang from the ceiling or do not have a grow tent, using something like a movable clothes rack will work. Both lights we have suggested come with an adjustable cable for hanging. Follow the manufacturer instructions on how far to keep the light from her, but it is generally about 16cm or 6” from the top of her leaves. If her leaves are turning reddish then raise the light higher.
A Good Light is an Investment
The grow lights we have recommended above have an expected life span of 8.5 years while low quality grow lights may last only fraction of that time and not even give good growing results. Think of getting a good grow light as an investment, it takes less maintenance, gives better results, and uses less electricity.
Grow Tents
Grow tents are a good way to create a controlled environment for Tulasi. They are nice because they can be placed practically anywhere, and when they are properly configured Tulasi will have optimal growing conditions. If you are not able to have a small enclosed space designated for Tulasi, then getting a grow tent could really help for over the winters. Grow tents are especially good for Tulasi lighting because they help spread the light evenly and efficiently.
Check out our other foundational articles on watering, nutrients, bugs, temperature, humidity and soil to learn how to take care of the Tulasi plant. If you don’t already have a plant, get some seeds here, and watch our video on how to grow them.
Look over this article to learn how to diagnose your Tulasi plant when she’s sick and feel free to contact us with any questions.
Dive deeper into the glories of Srimati Tulasi Devi.
Check out Tulasyamrta: The Nectar of Srimati Tulasi Devi — a treasure trove of rare Sanskrit texts about Tulasi Maharani, many translated into English for the first time, enriched with profound commentary by HH Bhakti Visrambha Madhava Swami. Available in print and digitally. [Read more »]
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Tulsi is happy if she is producing a lot of Manjari’s; however; if you have an LED light and the light is too intense then Tulasi will produce flowers out of control also. I recommend light intensity of 250 micromoles and a daily light Integral DLI or I should say light period of 11 hours which is 9.9 moles (9,900,000) of light per day. This will keep your Tulsi compact bushy and maybe stop her from excessive growth of Manjari’s. Too intense of light can also cause too dense of foliage growth which will not allow air circulation between branches to prevent fungus. Too intense of light can also cause leaves to become purple as well. The LED light should be anywhere from 150 micromoles minimum to 300 micromoles. 275 is a sweet spot. I recommend buying PPFD meter to measure the light intensity at the top of your Tulsi. If you are growing Tulsi in the full sun, this might produce excessive flower growth. I recommend a less intense light by changing location. 4 hours partial shade is sufficient for Tulsi somewhere in the 4-7 hour range. Any other questions, please email me. All I do is serve Tulasi devi.
Hare Krsna Prabhuji !! Kindly could you tell me if its not possible to ge the LED lamp you recommend, spider or array. What is the most ideal LED wattage lamp to get? Full spectrum grow light? But specifically which is best wattage for Srimati Tulsi Maharani? 🙏🙂
Haribol!
Hare Krsna.
1000 watts works well for most situations. It can generally light up around 90cm x 90cm or 3’ x 3’ of space. If she is really large or if there are many plants then 2000 watts would be better, or multiple 1000 watt lights.
Full spectrum is ideal. Don’t get the ones with the pink colored light, they don’t work that well for Tulasi Devi.
I recommend a range of 100 -250 watt. I have a 250 watt LED Plant Light. I have a dimmer on it to control the intensity, so I do not use all the wattage. I recommend this type because you don’t have to keep raising the light off and on as Tulsi grows. You can adjust the intensity as Tulsi grows closer to the light. Most LED plant light have full spectrum of colors. Make sure you do not have one that has a lot of blue or red wavelengths. Usually, they will show you an image of the amount of light in the spectrum. on their units 300-700 nanometer full spectrum is recommended. Wattage only tells you how much electricity your light is using. It tells you nothing about how much usable light reaches your Tulsi. Professionals look at PPFD which is how many photon particles reach your Tulsi. A lot of the wattage in some lights are wasted on heat. When buying a plant light find out how many PPFD reaches the top of your plants in one second. They should give you a number called micromoles. That is the unit of photon particles per square meter per second. Wattage is not irrelevant. It will help you understand operating cost, heat output. A high-quality LED light of 100 watts with high-quality LED’s can outperform a 200-watt light with low quality LED’s. A high-end good quality LED light will produce 2.7-3.3 micromole/J this number shows you how efficiently your light converts electricity into usable photons (PPE- Photosynthetic Photon efficacy). There are many lights on the market that are overpriced. I live in China and a general price range could be $13 U.S. dollars and r a little higher 1000 rupees. If you go on Amazon, you will pay more. I recommend wearing LED glasses to protect your eyes from the LED light intensity. Never look directly at the lights without LED glasses. They are pretty cheap to buy
Please help me in suggesting a good LED light model and brand for Tulsi , I need to purchase from Amazon – India
Thanks & Namaskaar ,,🙏
I recommend the Spider Farmer SF-1000 or SF-2000 from Amazon. I’m not sure if this is available from Amazon India, but anything similar should work. The other light I recommend is the Migro Array 2, which can be ordered from Migro directly at migrolight.com.
Hare krishna I would like to know why Tulasi doesn’t stop blooming? That is, since it has reached a certain height of 40cm each new internode a Manjari .. It does not grow any more, it has a nice color sprouts but it makes two leaves then immediately the Manjari.
During summer time especially she will give manjaris, if she’s giving a lot than she must be happy.
too many Tulsi Manjari’s means to intense of LED light. I would use 250 micromoles of light or just raise your light up a few cm so the light is not too intense. I have a PPFD meter to know what intensity my Tulsi is getting. If you just have Tulsi in the sun, then move her to a minimum of 4 hours direct sunlight a day. Too many Manjari’s drain energy from Tulsi to grow.
Hare krishna
I am not sure but is there any recommended color of light to be used for Tulsi plant?
Hare Krishna,
Preferably a good balance between red and blue light, but leaning more towards the blue side. Red promotes flowering, blue promotes growth. Generally the full spectrum LED lights like the ones we recommend have a good balance and work well.
Hare Krishna.
What a nice service.
I just ordered Tulasi seeds. I live near Boston, MA. My question is what is the right month/time to start sowing the seeds? I may have missed reading it if you already mentioned it. Just please then let me know to read your articles again.
Thank you,
Atulya dd
Hare Krsna.
The easiest time to sow seeds would be in the spring, but they can also be sowed indoors any time of the year if you have a grow light ready for when they sprout.
View this page for info on how to grow from seed. https://tulasisevamrta.com/how-to-grow-tulasi-devi-from-seed/
– Nandini Tulasi das
I recommend sow them under a grow light. indoors I had seeds that never sprouted until I planted them under an LED plant light for some reason. I questioned why would they need light before they sprout? But I was wrong. I recommend 60-90cm distance under LED plant light at 150 micromole. You don’t want to burn their leaves.