Walking in a garden at night might start to look a lot more like something out of the planet Pandora from Avatar.
Instead of electric lamps, soft colors glow from the plants themselves.
Glowing leaves in hues of red, blue, and orange. It sounds like a scene from science fiction, but it’s actually here, thanks to a remarkable breakthrough in China.
Scientists have created succulents that glow in the dark after soaking up sunlight. Using tiny phosphor particles, the same materials that make glow-in-the-dark toys shine, they’ve managed to turn ordinary plants into natural lanterns.
A few minutes under the sun or an LED lamp is enough to “charge” these plants, which then emit a steady, colorful glow for hours.
Succulents after being treated with phosphor.
The Secret Inside Succulents
Not every plant can pull this off. While the researchers tested bok choy and pothos, only succulents worked.
Their thick, structured leaves distribute the glowing particles evenly, producing a soft, uniform light. Think of them as the perfect natural canvas for illumination.
A Spectrum of Color
Unlike earlier attempts at bioluminescent plants, which only glowed faint green, this method allows for a full palette.
By swapping different phosphor materials, scientists created succulents that radiate green, blue, red, and violet.
When dozens of glowing plants were arranged together, the effect was bright enough to read by, a true living wall of light.
After “charging” for just a few minutes, the phosphor-injected succulents glowed brightly enough to illuminate nearby objects
Affordable and Scalable
The process is surprisingly simple. Each plant takes just 10 minutes to prepare and costs around $1.40. The glowing effect lasts around two hours, before fading.
Showing the glowing effect on the succulents.
It’s easy to imagine entire glowing gardens, pathways, or even city parks illuminated this way.
We can imagine sustainable, self-recharging, and breathtakingly beautiful plant life that becomes lighting elements themselves.
Of all the plants tested, succulents had the right thickness to their leaves, and evenly distributed veins to glow brightly.
A Glimpse of Tomorrow
There are still hurdles: the glow fades over time, and scientists are studying the long-term effects on plant health. Clearly that needs to be safe to the plants before this becomes more widespread.
But the promise is fascinating and intriguing.
As one researcher noted, “The way these materials and plants merge is almost magical.”
In a future shaped by climate concerns and creative design, glowing plants could do more than light our homes and cities. Could glowing trees replace street lights?
They might transform how we experience nature itself, blurring the line between technology and the living world, and turning the night into a sci-fi like glowing landscape.
Read more about this unique innovation on Matter, which dives deep into the science of how this works.
Nature Fact of the Day: A single strand of spider silk is five times stronger than steel of the same thickness, yet it’s so light that a strand spanning the entire Earth would weigh less than 500 grams (just over a pound).
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