Soltech Solutions Vita Grow Light (2023)

In this comprehensive review of Soltech Solutions Vita grow light, I will delve into the specifications, pros and cons, installation process, and usage tips for this popular light. I will explore which plants you can grow under the Vita grow light’s illumination, address any concerns about potential plant damage, and provide a research section outlining my rigorous selection and testing process. Dive in and discover whether the Vita grow light is a good solution for your needs.

Products similar to Vita Grow light

The Vita grow light from Soltech Solutions is an easy-to-install, beautifully designed, powerful full-spectrum light source that is great for growing most houseplants, including tropical plants, succulents, and cacti. However, there are cheaper options available, such as the Sansi 36W and Sansi 70W grow lights, which provide better light output.

Vita is designed and assembled in the USA, and can be used with existing desk and floor lamps.

The Vita grow bulb comes in 2 colors – white and black. It has 2 versions with different light beam angle (60 degrees and 36 degrees). In most cases, the bulb with a 60-degree beam angle will be a better option. For this review, the 60-degree bulb was used.

The 30-degree bulb will likely be brighter due to the light being more focused, however, it will cover a smaller area. Buy the 30-degree bulb for plants that are very narrow (that do not occupy a large surface area). As the 60W light already provides a sufficient amount of light for most plants, there isn’t much of a reason to buy the bulb with the 30-degree beam angle.

Vita grow light has a dimmable and a non-dimmable version. Buy the non-dimmable version as there will rarely be a reason to use a dimmable version. You should maximize the amount of light your plants are getting. If you want to provide less light for your plants, you can always move the light further away and reduce the number of hours it’s on.

The Vita grow light bulb is easy to install and there are 2 methods to do it. Screw in this plant grow light into any floor lamp, desk lamp, or light fixture that accepts E26 light bulbs and point it toward your plants. The second option is to buy a cable, use a screw-in hook to hang the cable from the ceiling and screw the bulb into the cable socket.

If you are not comfortable with using a screw-in hook or drilling a hole, you can use sticky ceiling hooks instead.

Below is a video of the installation process:

Since the bulb is heavier than traditional incandescent bulbs, small and light lamps might topple due to the bulb’s weight. Make sure the bulb can fit your lamp, as it’s larger than standard incandescent bulbs.

To use Vita grow light on your tropical foliage plants, the hanging height should be 1.5 feet (45 cm) from your low light tolerant and medium light plants for 8 to 12 per day. This will provide 4.75 DLI to 7.13 DLI of light. For bright light plants, keep the Vita light 1 foot (12 inches away or 30cm) from the plants, between 8 and 12 hours. This will provide 11.23 to 16.85 DLI of light.

For full-sun plants (succulents and cacti) the hanging height should be 1 foot (12 inches or 30 cm) from the plants for 16 hours per day, as shown in the diagram below. This will provide 22.46 DLI of light. If you want more DLI, keep the light closer.

If you are not familiar with plant categorization according to their light requirements, see my table of light requirements by plant, which will tell you which plants are low light tolerant, which have medium light requirements, and which have bright light requirements.

Vita grow light covers a relatively small surface area of 1 by 1 feet. Grow lights like this one provide light from a small area. Light intensity drops exponentially with distance, so the light that reaches the edge of the coverage area loses a lot of its intensity. This means not a lot of light reaches the plants at the edge of the coverage area, as you can see in the images below.

With Vita grow bulb you can grow small (less than 1 foot tall; less than 30cm), medium-sized (between 1 and 3 feet; 12 cm and 36 cm), and large (over 3 feet tall; over 36 cm) tropical plants, succulents, and cacti. You can use it to grow low light tolerant plants, medium light plants, bright light plants, and full-sun plants. If you are not familiar with plant categorization according to their light requirements, see my table of direct and indirect light requirements by plant. You can see which plants are low light tolerant, which plants have medium light requirements, and which have bright light requirements.

Even though you can use the Vita light to grow all the aforementioned plants, there are several plant lights that are a better option. These lights provide the same amount of light but are much more affordable. Those grow lights are Sansi 36W and Sansi 70W grow light.

While Vita grow light can damage your plants by burning the leaves or bleaching them, if kept too close for too long, if you stick to the guidelines from this article, your plants will not be harmed.

I have been growing indoor plants under grow lights for over 10 years. I owned a carnivorous plant business where I grew hundreds of indoor plants under LED lights for several years. All of this helped me learn about different types of grow lights (LED technology, fluorescent lights, fluorescent bulbs, full-spectrum lighting…), how to measure their brightness, how to determine the distance between the plants and the grow light, and other intricacies of growing indoor plants under grow lights.

I identified the key decision-making factors for buying grow lights and I tested the Vita grow light to determine how it measures in each of the factors. The key decision-making factors were: 1) brightness 2) design 3) price 4) ease of setup 5) unique features that set it apart from the competition 6) warranty 7) glare.

Soltech Solutions’ Vita grow light is a visually appealing and easy-to-install full-spectrum lighting solution that seamlessly integrates with your current desk and floor lamps. This American-made product is well-suited for cultivating a wide range of house plants, encompassing tropical plants, succulents, and cacti of different heights. Nonetheless, it’s worth considering more cost-effective alternatives like the Sansi 36W and Sansi 70W grow lights, which offer comparable light intensity.

Products similar to Vita Grow light