Question: All of my violets are producing flowers on stems well above the foliage. The leaves are growing upwards at a 45 degree angle, not like the pictures I’ve seen. I use a GE incandescent grow-bulb at the recommended 24 inches above the plants.
Answer: The leaves are reaching upwards in search of more light. In addition, though you have enough light to produce flowers, there would likely be more of them, on shorter stems, if there were better light. Though you are properly following the instructions for using such a bulb, this is the inherent shortcoming with incandescent light–at the recommended distance, the light isn’t bright enough. You could move the bulb closer to the plants, which would provide the desired light intensity, but would also generate too much heat, as well as not illuminating much of an area beyond that immediately beneath the bulb.
This is why most growers using artificial light choose florescent lighting. Floresent lights are far more efficient, producing more light, rather than heat, over a larger area, for the same amount of electricity consumed. Today’s florescent fixtures don’t even have those heavy, hot, ballasts to deal with. Most of these come with solid-state ballasts that consume virtually no electricity and generate little heat. The fixtures are cheap enough, too. $10 usually is enough to purchase a 48″ shop light plus two T12 florescent bulbs. At anywhere from 10″ to 18″ above the plants, these can adequately illuminate an approximately 2′ x 4′ area. T8 bulbs are brighter, so a greater distance or use only one tube. For LED bulbs, these are bright as well–use a 10 watt strip about 18″ above plants. Don’t have the space (or desire) for such a large fixture? Florescent bulbs and fixtures can be found in any number of shapes and sizes–you can even find one to screw into that incandescent bulb socket! You’re only limited by how resourceful you want to be.
“Grow bulbs” can be expensive, but that would be the case whether using either incandescent or florescent lighting. The good news is that plants care far more about the intensity of the light rather than its color spectrum. The only difference will be in how the plant and blooms will appear (not, in fact, be). “Red” blooms may appear more red or more purple, depending upon the bulb chosen, even though its actual color is the same. The biggest advantage of a good “grow bulb” is that the plant’s appearance will be closer to that in natural light and is “warmer” and more pleasing to the eye–which can be important when plants share living space with you.