Lights for plants

Surfinbride

Have you ever used lights to help a plant that needs more sunlight? If yes, do you suggest a particular kind of light?

I'm asking because I have a dwarf Meyer lemon tree in the Seattle area. It's in a pot... goes out every spring/summer and comes in when temps get below 54. Last year, it had flowers in the summer, produced fruit in the late fall... however... green fruit! The lemons never ripened. After waiting months (yes, plural), I just cut them off. This year, it looks like the delayed cycle is repeating. I would like to pull it inside now and give it light. We have a couple of fluorescent lights from IKEA... is it silly to try using them?

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00095588

FoxinFiji

Well I'm not an expert but the master gardeners in my garden club use the standard, cheap commercial florescent fixtures to start seeds indoors.  Most hardware stores should carry them.  Any florescent should work but you want one that puts out a good amount of light (they use the 2' long bulbs) and I would think you want the light to be overhead not from the side like the IKEA fixture you have shown. 

~NB~

FoxinFiji:

...standard, cheap commercial florescent fixtures to start seeds indoors. Most hardware stores should carry them. Any florescent should work but you want one that puts out a good amount of light (they use the 2' long bulbs) and I would think you want the light to be overhead not from the side. 

FoxinFiji is correct. It doesn't even have to be full-spectrum light (Grow-Bulbs). It can be anything, most people use flourescent because they don't generate heat. Incandescent bulbs get HOT. It's a challenge to maintain consistent moisture, and the sprouts can get cooked.

dirtyred

You can buy grow lights that have both the red and blue light waves that plants need for best growth, but they're pricey.  Florescent bulbs have the blue; incandescent the red. 

I'd do as a pp said, and use a long florescent bulb 3-6 inches away from the top of your plant.  You may want to supplement with a couple of hours of incandescent about two feet away.

Some fruit matures based on temperature; others on the length of daylight.  I don't know what it is for Meyer lemons, but if it's temperature, you're going to have to keep that plant WARM.  An incandescent light could help with that.