April 29, 2022
As we move into the autumn, we are getting a lot less sunlight and harvest time for our outdoor gardens is here. Do you want an indoor garden, but don’t know where to start? We can help demystify the process in our Best LED Grow Lights Of 2022 (Buying Guide).
Growing your own plants gives a certain satisfaction, and is theorized to help people live longer. While an outdoor garden is a nice thought, indoor space can give you control that nature won’t provide. Indoor lights have made it possible to bring the garden into your home. When keeping plants indoors, you don’t have to worry about blazing summer heat or frigid winter temperatures. LED lighting made especially for plants allows you to move away from the windowsill and create your own botanical space.
Once you have decided to start an indoor garden, you next need to consider how much space you can dedicate to your plants. This will determine what setup will be best as well as what type of lighting you need.
Although it is true that both LED and fluorescent units can do a good job of producing full-spectrum light and mimicking sunlight — LED grow lights have been proven to be more superior than their counterparts on every aspect:
For your indoor plants, advanced LED units are designed to meet their requirements for growth. With very little heat generated while providing more blue light that stimulates stronger roots and amplifies the photosynthesis process — they are guaranteed to help your plants reach peak growth.
For the environment, mercury-free LED grow lights are less likely to be disposed of in the rubbish dump — since they are not easily-shattered like glass.
For your money, although LED units seem to be more expensive upfront — keep in mind that they only consume half the electricity that fluorescent bulbs do while lasting 5 times longer. This makes your investment more cost-effective even though you might have to pay a little bit more at first.
ECO Farm FLD 320W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Lights Bar
Features:
The ECO Farm LED Grow Light adopts an upgraded SMD 3030 chip and adopts 6 passively cooled LED light strips. The professional SMD design provides uniform and wide canopy coverage, higher light intensity and less light decay. A total of 1200 LEDs consume only 320W on a 3x3 ft growing area, resulting in a smaller footprint and better crop quality and quantity. Equipped with white 3000K LED, white 5000K LED, 660nm red LED and 740nm infrared LED, the foldable grow light provides more precise and uniform dynamic PPFD for all plant stages from seeding to flowering, accelerating growth and increasing crop yield. The dimming knob design can adjust the light intensity in the range of 0–10V according to the growth needs. It is the perfect sunlight grow light for full cycle hydroponics, soil, grow tent/room growing. The best choice for your greenhouse growing, horizontal and vertical farming, best for grow tents and indoor warehouses. The foldable design brings you the convenience of no installation, no assembly, and plug and play.
Spider Farmer SE3000 300W Dimmable Full Spectrum LED Grow Light
Features:
This Spider Farmer LED grow light features uniquely designed 4 LED strips that extend to the edge to provide more even canopy coverage, especially on the outer edges of the growing area. With 896 SAMSUNG LM301B diodes, the SE3000 Led Grow Light consumes 300 watts at 822.82 umol/s, achieving an impressive 2.75 umol/J of PPE, covering a high yield full-cycle growth of 3'x3'. The full spectrum (380–410nm, 660–665nm, 730nm, 3200–4200K, 4800–5000K) is ideal for vegetable flowering to suit every stage of the plant cycle. The dimmer knob is ideal for growers to adjust the light intensity for different growth stages. The SE3000 grow light comes with a detachable driver and long power cord to reduce ambient heat in the grow space for a longer lifespan.
Viparspectra KS3000 300W LED Grow Light
Features:
The Viparspectra KS3000 LED Grow Light is a beneficial and reliable choice for your plants. Other brands distribute too much light to the center and too little light to the outer edges. The larger size of the KS3000 ensures enough light for every plant from corner to center. The KS3000 enables indoor farms to reduce energy usage. This grow light consists of 3000K warm white light, 5000K neutral white light and 660nm deep red light. In addition, this grow light features industry-leading photon efficiency of 3.10 μmol/J SAMSUNG LM301H and OSRAM 660nm diodes. The flexible dimmer allows you to adjust the light intensity from 0% to 100%. High-end components give the KS3000 incredible performance. The KS series is designed for individual or commercial growers who want to optimize their growing space for maximum crop yield while producing the highest quality crops.
A grow light is an important part of most indoor growing setups. They emit the exact wavelengths of color necessary for plants to thrive and are great because they offer a convenient alternative to natural sunlight. Before you decide on which one to buy, there are some things that need consideration:
How many grow lights do I need to grow plants?
One of the most difficult aspects of growing plants at home is determining how much equipment you need. If your space can accommodate only 6 or 12 plants, a single light should be enough for them when they’re in vegetative growth stage (before flowering). However, if you plan on running two separate rooms with one serving as an area where the plant will grow from seedling all the way up until it’s ready to go into flower mode, then having 2 lights would make this process easier and more efficient since each room could have their own lighting set-up while still getting adequate sunlight exposure during daylight hours.
Depending on the number of plants you plan to grow and your available space, a light’s size will vary. A small closet or tent may only need one plant with an appropriately sized bulb; but if there is more room in your basement than that, say for example 10×10 feet square then it would be possible to have two large lights set up instead.
A rule of thumb when going shopping for bulbs is power equals poundage so if you want big yields from growing plants indoors invest in having as much watt juice running through each area as possible– start at 200 watts per high grade LED which can double the work done by several smaller lamps
Ventilation
Ventilation can be a problem if you are cramming your grow space with equipment. You will need to make sure there is room for the hot light, but also enough air circulation so that it doesn’t get stale and moldy. One way of ensuring this is by installing an exhaust fan in between any lights or lamps used during growth cycle — these fans not only provide ample airflow, they help keep temperatures at bay too!
Plant Stage
What kind of grow lights do you need? The answer is different for vegetative and flowering plants. For example, LED lights are best suited to light up the plant’s leaves while HID (high intensity discharge) lamps can be used to paint a room with green hues that simulate sunshine.
Safety
If you’re choosing the location for your grow space, make sure to consider factors such as wiring and power supply. You don’t want a circuit breaker that’s going to shut down in the middle of an important harvest! To calculate how much electricity is needed for all pieces of equipment used during cultivation, start by calculating how many lights are being run at once and then add up their wattage requirements (is it 600W or 2×600 W?). Then take into account things like fans if they’re necessary or dehumidifier capacity; be careful not to overload circuits with these items. For safety purposes, never exceed more than 80% load on any single outlet when powering multiple devices simultaneously.
LED lights are currently the future and one of the most efficient lighting sources for your plants. This technology can help your plants crops thrive and produce big, healthy yields. It can be hard to switch from a different lighting source, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Energy-saving, friendly for our environment, and affordable. LED lights for plants are a game-changer, and once you get the hang of it, you won’t look back.