Light bulbs serve more purposes than most people realize. They can replace the sun in more ways than just providing illumination. Indoor gardens, or even outside gardens that are blocked from the sun by tree cover can benefit greatly from compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Indoor garden plants need the sun just like any other plant, but inside a house it's not as easy to find sunlight for them. Compact fluorescent light bulbs solve this problem by acting as the sun for plants. Wide-spectrum daylight color temperature (6500K) compact fluorescents emulate sunlight and provide the catalysts plants need for growth.

Color temperature is one of the big advantages compact fluorescents have over incandescents, especially with plant growth. CFLs have a variety of color temperatures available, starting at 2700K and going up to and even beyond 6500K (daylight color temperature). With this variety you can use compact fluorescents of the perfect color temperature at different levels of plant maturity.

Placement of the light bulbs is of course of paramount importance. There is a specific optimal band of light that emits from the compact fluorescent light bulb; around 90 degrees of light output is optimal. Reflectors attached to the light bulb can help direct the light where it needs to go so you can get the best and most efficient use of your compact fluorescent light bulbs.

LED light bulbs can also be used, though they are not quite as developed as compact fluorescents, and so CFLs remain the best choice. Research and development on LED light bulbs continues, however, and I expect that in time they could very well be just as good as compact fluorescents for gardens.