August 10, 2020
Lighting is an important factor for your indoor grow room. There are many popular lighting options, which include LEDs, HIDs, and fluorescent lighting options. But among all these alternatives, the LED lighting option stands. These lights stand out because they are energy-efficient, durable, and compact. These lights also have adjustable wavelengths. Choosing the wrong kind of light can be detrimental to your medicinal plants.
As such, you’ll need to make careful considerations, which may include your growing location, grow room design, and the stage of your plants among others. According to surveys on medicinal plants growers, approximately 84% of the surveyed subjects have a plan to increase their medicinal plants production by expanding their facilities in the next five years. If you’re one of them, then here is an outline of the important factors that you should consider when selecting ideal LED lights for your medicinal plants grow room.
Spectrum
We always recommend that you get a full spectrum light. This is of course unless you are just looking for supplemental lighting with a specific color spectrum.
The only time you should consider going for a specific light spectrum during a grow cycle is when you are vegging or cloning. And even then, most growers have proven that fluorescent grow lights are perfect for cloning.
Wattage
You need to consider the size of the grow room and the plants that are inside to determine the right wattage of the light strips to buy. For a small grow room with only one or a few plants, you will already be good with a light that has a minimal wattage. If the grow tent is large, you need a more powerful light or use several light strips.
Coverage
It is tricky to translate the coverage in a number. This is because the coverage depends on the distance from the LED grow light to the top of the weed. Increasing the coverage by installing the LED higher translates to a reduction in PAR as well as the canopy penetration.
Given that the coverage can be varied by moving the LED lights closer or further away from the plants, the coverage values by manufacturers are varied. But despite the many claims, the powerful LED grow lights will provide you with coverage of 4×4-feet (maximum).
And since the PAR values of any LED light are highest in the middle, you should ensure you rotate the plants often to ensure that the weed plants on the outer cover of the LED light enjoy the same light intensity for quality yields.
Plant Space In Your Full Dedicated Grow Room
The space of your grow house trailer or grow pods determines the number and size of lighting units that you’ll need for good crop growth. You have to measure the size of your full dedicated grow room and find out the size of the lighting area that one LED lamp unit can serve. Using this information you can compute the number of lighting units that you’ll need for the total area of the grow room. Most growers use the general guideline, which holds that low-light plants need an estimated 11 to 18 watts per square foot, whereas; the high-light plants need approximately 32 watts of power per square foot.
Low Heat Emission
High heat omission may be of substantial damage to your lovely plants due to burning issues. Choose only those light that is durable and protect your plants from the heat burns. The lights remain close to the plant’s foliage whereas high heat omission lights are prone to burn plants when kept lightening for several hours during a day. So, make a careful choice by selecting a light that omits a balanced heat.
Build and Quality of Materials
When it comes to LED lighting, durability is one of the top factors to be considered. A lamp that has been built from quality materials can last for up to 10 years. With such durability, you get to save yourself the hassle of getting below average yields and repair costs in the process.
To learn if a product is of high quality, you can look through the product reviews of the particular grow light. Additionally, US made lights prove to be among the best in the industry. They have a reputation for using the best components to make the LED grow lights and strictly adhere to the industrial production methods and standards.
Energy Consumption
The LED lights in your full dedicated grow room has to be on for approximately 10 to 11 hours per day, and this may lead to growing energy bills. To contain such a problem you should read the detailed product descriptions, ask your vendor some questions, and make an informed choice that can save you some money. Available unit options may reach 1000 watts, but you should go for lighting units with less than 300 watts.
Brand
As you might have noticed by now, the industry is full of many different brands with each brand presenting LED lights with slight differences. They make choosing the best almost an impossible process.
In case you are stuck between choosing different LED lights that are similar in appearance and the prices are close, let the brand name be the tiebreaker. A company with a reputation preceding itself, long history of quality and extensive research in the industry is best. The latter are more inclined to provide you with a quality product.
Lifespan
LED lights are supposed to operative for the years under normal conditions in your grow room. Check for the maximum viable guarantee that consists of years with the replacement options. Don’t compromise on quality for cheap purchase as it would harm you in the long run.
Now that you have a guide to follow, you stand better chances of landing the best LED grow light for your medicinal plants indoor farm. Take your time doing your research and here are three lights which are highly recommended to you.
ECO Farm V4 Pro LED Grow Light
1. Best Samsung LM301B/ LM301H LED Chip offer high yielding
2. IP65 waterproof silicone coating.
3. Samsung Normal Spectrum: Full Spectrum, 660nm+730nm, 660nm+730nm+385nm.
4. Applicable to diversify greenhouse vegetables, flowers and plants for cultivation lighting
5. Color control dimming separately: 3 dimmers, one MEAN WELL HLG power supply to control white light, one MEAN WELL ELG power supply to control red light (including 660nm and 730nm), and one domestic power supply to control UV (UV light due to its low power. The power supply has no suitable model, use Domestic power supply.
Fluence SPYDR 2i 630W LED Grow Light
The SPYDR 2i is a high-performance top-lighting solution for commercial growers who want to push the envelope with high-PPFD cultivation practices and experimental applications or treatments. SPYDR 2i provides superior intensity, uniformity and efficacy and is not intended for beginners or growers not supplementing with CO2. SPYDR 2i delivers an average of 1060 µmol/m2/s of light over a 4’x4’ area at only 6” above canopy.
SPYDR 2i fixtures are suitable for operation in still air ambient temperatures from -10°C (-23°F) to 35°C (95°F). SPYDR 2i operating temperatures range between 25°C (77°F) and 30°C (86°F) above ambient air temperature. Please note; when mounting SPYDR fixtures, a 1 inch gap or greater must be present between the top of the fixture and the surface it is mounted under to enable adequate air flow.
Like all of our lights, the new LED was built on the principle of design, test & repeat. The LUXX 645 LED PRO has been developed by assessing SMD (Surface Mount Device) chips and drivers from leading manufacturers in controlled test applications and cultivation facilities for +3 years.
The LUXX 645 LED PRO is made up of Samsung horticulture whites / blues and Osram reds. The respective companies lead the field in LED R&D, delivering high efficiency, reliability & diode performance. The LUXX 645 LED PRO deploys a lens angle of 120 degrees, from a 6 bar design, with a total of 2,226 diodes.