Do plants grow better in artificial light or sunlight?
If the plant needs high intensity light, then sunlight is better. Intensity at the equator at noon is about 10,000 foot-candles. It is not feasible to try to reproduce intense sunlight artificially. Indoor light runs anywhere from about 30 foot-candles to about 200 fc. Indoor light can be made with any spectral changes desired, if that is what is needed. It also has the advantage that it can be on as long as necessary. Some plants require long day lengths in order to flower. These would do well in artificial light that was kept on longer than 12 hrs per day. So, sunlight has the intensity advantage and artificial light can be on as long as necessary and can be any blend of wavelengths desired. Other than that, there is no difference between man made photons and natural.
