Lighting Terms That You Should Know About LED Grow Lights
First, let’s see some key terminology that you’ll encounter when researching grow lights. I’ll introduce the concept of color spectrum, light intensity.
These things are not essential to every grower but are the core of why and how grow lights work. Knowing this you’ll be able to tell the differences between various types and models and grow your plants more effectively.
What Is A Color Spectrum?
Well, sunlight has all the different colors of the rainbow merged into one. When this happens, the light becomes white in appearance.
So, where does color spectrum come into play?
Electromagnetic-spectrum simply put, it is a visual display of all these different colors within the sunlight. If you looked at a color spectrum, it would resemble a rainbow.
We humans see light in wavelengths from 380 to 680 nm, while plants’ sensitivity to light ranges from 300 to 800 nm.
What we know as ‘blue’ can have a wavelength between 420 and 460. It looks the same to us, but they have different properties.
When you use grow lights, they will use a custom color spectrum, with values in between this ranges, to help plants grow and flower more efficiently.
Best Color Spectrum For Plants
Color spectrum for plants that is the best color spectrum to use when growing plants? Or, does this even exist?
There is no ‘one ring to rule them all’ with the color spectrum. All colors are needed, but some are a lot more than others.
Plants respond well to both blue light and yellow/red light. Blue light is at the lower end of the spectrum and we see it as very bright and direct lighting. Yellow/red light is much warmer in our eyes.
Let’s take a step outside into the world of outdoor plants growing for a second, and take a look at the spectrum of the sun throughout the year.
Blue Light For Vegetative Stage
The blue light will be most prominent during the summer months as the sun is high and very bright in the sky. Your plants will grow stronger while using grow lights with a higher ratio of blue light.
Blue ranges from 400–500 nm, the ideal value would be 460 nm.
Red Light For Flowering Stage And Better Yields
The warmer light is seen later in the year when the sun drops lower in the sky and isn’t as bright. A plant notices this as a sign to start flowering, therefor grow lights with higher amounts of red are best for the flowering stage.
Red ranges from 620 to 780 nm, with the ideal being 660 nm.
ECO Farm ECOZ 700W Samsung 301H Chips LED Grow Light
Features:
A high efficiency of 2.75 umol/j and 700W power consumption of this ECO Farm LED grow light contributes to efficient growing operations that helps you effectively optimize plant growth, enhances the yields quality, and cuts operational costs. This ECO Farm led grow lights full spectrum promotes photosynthesis at all stages of growth especially bloom, from cutting/ seeding, vegetative and flowering. Grow lights for indoor plants replicates the spectrum of natural sunlight and outputs a broad, consistent and significant wavelength in the range of 400 to 700nm that can grow through entire plant life cycle. It helps your plants to grow healthier and yield better harvests. This robust Led Grow Light uses foldable robust design and 8 bar technology delivers uniform amount of light over the canopy which creates an even light and plenty of penetration power. It offers a large 4 x 4ft bloom coverage area and 5 x 5ft foot vegetative coverage area. Maximize grow space for higher yields, ideal for high PPFD cultivation with single or multi-tier canopy or indoor grow room.
Optic Slim 720S Dimmable LED Grow Light
Features:
Slim720S is the Most Powerful Triple Dimmer LED Grow Light Ever Created. Slim 720S delivers all the amazing Proven technology from the highly refined Slim 650S with a Cranked up Meanwell Driver System beaming up to 720 Watts through 3,096 of the world’s most efficient LEDs. Slim 720S is specifically engineered for growers in 5x5 areas or growers who just want power to spare in the 4' x4' area. Slim720S is engineered to give you performance far beyond what any other LED Grow Light company has in the market today including Samsung’s all-new record-breaking LH351H Version 2 660nm Deep Red LEDs at 3.75 umols/j and LH351H 450nm Royal Blue LEDs paired with the Samsung White LM301H LEDs which are above 3.0 umols/J with a 3way dimmable system running 3,096 LEDs total for next-generation efficiency and tuning capabilities.
VOLT FL-1 Full-Cycle LED Grow Light
Features:
This LED grow light is the highest output LED grow light on the market, with 2000 µmol/s PPF and 2.8 µmol/J efficacy. At 720W, it has is a higher light output than 1000W DE HPS Lamp and uses 28% less energy. This full-cycle commercial LED grow light utilizes Samsung and OSRAM LEDs to produce full spectrum white light. Full spectrum light mimics the spectrum of the sun, which is optimal for maximizing crop yield and quality. It includes a built-in dimming control knob with remote dimming capability, mounting hardware with height adjustment, and a 120V power cord. Passively cooled by its ladder design. The low heat output allows it to be placed as close as 6 inches from canopy without damaging plants. The recommended mounting height is 6–12 inches from the canopy.
Light Intensity: What Is It?
Light intensity refers to the power of light source. In more technical terms, it is the magnitude of light energy per unit of area.
Different grow lights will have different intensities, as it highly depends on the type and the quality of the bulb.
Light intensity it’s at its greatest point at the bulb itself, then weakens as you move further away from it.
So, a plant that’s directly under a grow light will receive far more light intensity than one that’s a few feet away.
Light Intensity For Plants
All plants need light to thrive — which is the whole reason you need grow lights in the first place!
But, light intensity can improve or hinder the way your plants grow.
For example, imagine you place all your plants very close to the grow light for maximum intensity. Sounds pretty great, right? Well, not quite.
Prolonged exposure to intense light will burn up the plant. The leaves will shrivel up and die. This is because the plant absorbs too much energy and destroys itself.
With too little light they are unable to produce chlorophyll. Worse yet, they start to grow all long and gangly. You end up with stretchy plants because they’re literally reaching out for more light.
Thus, having the right light intensity is essential to ensure your crop is successful.
The best grow lights will provide you with the perfect amount of light intensity. And will also come with details about the area they cover and plant distance instructions.
Conclusion
LEDs have the best long-term running costs, they pack serious amounts of power to provide ample wattage. They have a built-in cooling system, and they are so easy to use and install.
If we look at the importance of the color spectrum, then they come out on top yet again. LED grow lights are the best lights for tuning to different wavelengths, allowing for optimal growth.
So if you’re thinking about getting the best grow lights for your indoor facility, then LED is the most sensible choice.
