April 11, 2022
Most people have some green thumb or interest in gardening. And with the right plants and some sunlight, many can grow a garden in their backyard. But not all regions are as sunny as they seem. Many people struggle to keep their garden alive and thrive in less direct sunlight and cloudier days, such as the Pacific Northwest or Northeast. That’s why grow lights provide an excellent solution for people who live in these areas. There are many ways you can use grow lights to help your outdoor plants thrive in indirect sunlight!
If you’re having trouble with your plants not getting enough light, or if you’re looking for a way to add more light for your plants all year long, grow lights can be a great solution. But before you buy any grow lights, you’ll want to know what type of grow light is best for your needs, how to set up your grow light, and what kind of plants will thrive under these lights.
This article will help you understand a bit more about the benefits of LED grow lights and how they can help you grow healthy plants in indirect sunlight.
If you are growing plants indoors, it is important to have lights that emit the proper amount of light and color. These lights are called “grow lights” and can be found in many different shapes and sizes. The most common types of grow lights are HID (high-intensity discharge) lights, which provide a high amount of light. Fluorescent grow lights are also used to grow plants, but they provide a lower level of light.
Plants use light to produce food. Photosynthesis takes place when light is absorbed by the leaves. This process creates carbohydrates that are then stored in the plant for future use. When you start to eat your vegetables and fruits, you are eating the carbohydrates that were created during photosynthesis.
Light is also important because it regulates growth. Plants will grow at different rates depending on how much light they get. For example, spinach grows much faster when it has a lot of light. You can see this by comparing the size of your spinach with other types of greens that grow slower.
When using grow lights, it’s important to leave them on for the amount of time needed for the plant to be at the desired height. The ideal time to turn them off is when the plant reaches the desired height, but if you are growing a lot of plants, this may not be feasible.
For example, say you wanted to grow the plant with the tallest stems. You would probably want to keep it on until the tallest stem was about 2–3 feet tall, and then take the plant out of the light for the remainder of the growth cycle.
But what if you want to grow the plant as a small plant? This would mean that the light would need to be turned off when the plant reaches a height of about 2–3 inches. If the light is turned off too early, the plant will grow much more than it should. If you turn it off too late, the plant will be stunted and have shorter stems. Therefore, it’s important to know how tall the plant will get before turning the light off.
If you are growing a lot of plants at once, this may not be feasible because you can’t watch all the plants at once to make sure they reach the desired height. So, you might want to keep the lights on for only a few days or weeks. If you leave them on for longer than the ideal time, you risk the growth of stunted plants or plants that grow more than they should.
ECO Farm ECO Z Lite 1000W LED Grow Light
Features:
This ECO Farm LED grow lights ensure concentrated and even lighting and reduce light waste. This plant light brings a 30% increase in output, consumes a total of 1000W, 2800 LEDs, and replaces the traditional 2000W plant light. Achieve higher yields while saving energy costs! Grow lights are easy to assemble yourself in minutes. You can install as many LED strips as you want. Plug and play, effectively save your installation cost and time. The aluminum backplate enables excellent heat dissipation. Pure aluminum light bars better dissipate heat and stay cool, essential for heat dissipation while ensuring long lamp life. No fan, no noise. The cost-effective grow light is designed for home/commercial growers, long-term use of the fan will make noise, but the LED light panel uses aluminum to cool it instead of using a fan, giving you a fanless and quiet growing experience.
Iluminar 1000W iLogic™9 Full Spectrum LED Grow Light
Features:
The Iluminar LED Grow Light is an efficient product that helps growers produce quality crops. This grow light consists of 9 replaceable LED strips with a total energy of 1000W. If you want to use a less powerful LED strip, you can always replace it. This grow light emits just the right amount of light and can easily penetrate dense tree canopies. Plus, it doesn’t create hot spots, which means it spreads light evenly to all plants. The Iluminar 1000W grow light uses Osram and Samsung diodes to dissipate heat. These diodes are soldered into the grow light’s circuit, making it easier for growers to clean without worrying about damaging any wires. This grow light has a maximum installation height of 12 inches, which is sufficient for all types of vegetative and flowering plants.
Whether you’re growing microgreens or an herb garden, having an indoor grow light setup can take your efforts to the next level. With that move, your plants can get all they need to thrive and provide bountiful harvests. There are a few requirements for this type of project, however.
You need the right bulbs, placement and runtimes to achieve your goals. To help you get started, here’s a quick guide to setting up indoor grow lights.
Pick the Right Spectrum
To best mimic the power of sunlight for your indoor plants, you need to select full-spectrum bulbs. Like the rays coming from the sun, these bulbs generate all the colors of the rainbow for the perfect cool-warm light balance. With that, they work well from the germination through fruiting stages, so you don’t have to switch out your grow lights halfway through.
You can choose either fluorescent, LED or high-intensity LED lights to give your plants the full spectrum of light. Fluorescent bulbs will generate a bit of heat to help your seedlings sprout but cost much more to run than LEDs. Pairing LEDs with a heat mat can mimic that effect without using up excess energy.
Determine the Ideal Distance
When using indoor grow lights, you need to set the fixture at the perfect height. For most plants, 12- to 24-inches from their canopy is a great place to start. You can then adjust the position as you monitor your plants’ growth.
If they are looking too leggy, you’ll want to lower the light a few inches to keep them from reaching ever upward. Lights that are too close to the plants can cause them to spread outward as they grow or even damage their leaves.
Set up a Timer to Match Plant Preferences
Plants grow best when kept on a strict daytime/nighttime schedule. At the seedling through vegetation stage of growth, they need the indoor grow lights for about 12 hours a day. Once they begin to flower, you can turn up the lights for around 16 to 18 hours a day.
You should never have the lights on for 24 hours a day as that can disrupt the growth of your plants. They need the off hours to rest and cycle nutrients up from the roots and through their systems. If you think you may forget to turn the lights on and off, put them on an automatic timer set to your ideal preferences.
Monitor Plant Growth and Make Adjustments
Experiment with the placement and timing of the lights to see what each plant prefers. You can even switch light types if you’re not satisfied with the results or just want to gauge the difference.
As you do, jot down data on their growth speed and harvest size to determine what works best. Remember to note any changes you made to their watering and fertilizer schedule as well to control the other variables.
Over time, you’ll find the perfect formula for every type of indoor plant you like to grow. Then, you can branch out by adding other types of flowers, veggies and fruits to the mix and expand your indoor garden by leaps and bounds.
Learning how long to leave grow lights on is important so you do not end up damaging your plants. The more time you leave the more the plants will grow and the more nutrients they will use. Leaving them too long on the lights can also damage the plants as it is hard for them to regulate their growth while being left on light 24/7. How long to leave grow lights on depends on the type of light you have. Some grow lights are more efficient than others and some use less electricity.
October 20, 2023