ECO Farm ECO Z Lite 700W LED Grow Light VS MedicGrow Fold-8 720W LED Grow Light
Is your apartment lacking natural sunlight? Looking to get a head start on your summer vegetable garden? Perhaps you’re hoping to fill every nook and cranny of your home with houseplants. Chances are, you’re going to need an assist. Mother Nature is great and all, but even she can’t make the light appear where the sun doesn’t shine.
Thankfully, the best grow lights today come in a variety of looks, colors, and power levels, and most have done away with that garish blue/red/purplish hue in favor of an easy-on-the-eyes daylight feel. With so many options, there’s something to fit every plant lover’s style and needs. Here are some of our favourites.
What Color Light is Best?
Alright time for some science. The light spectrum ranges through red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. The colors at the far ends are most useful to plants but all colors are absorbed to some extent. When purchasing your grow light, make sure to read the packaging as it will outline what spectrum is provided. Full spectrum is always the best choice or one that offers a mix of red and blue (which is what my light has in the pictures). Different colors serve different purposes which I will outline below.
Blue light (and for the most part violet) is extremely important as it is how our plants get chlorophyll and therefore grow and strengthen their foliage.
Red light is needed for flowering varieties. You must be cautious when using this as too much red light can kill your plant which is why a lot of grow lights offer a mix of both red and blue so your plants are getting all their needs met.
Green and yellow light is said to have minor benefits when it comes to germinating seeds but otherwise is not essential to your plant.
ECO Farm ECO Z Lite 700W LED Grow Light
Features:
This ECO Farm LED grow light features an 8-bar design for more even and complete canopy coverage. Equipped with high efficiency diodes with extremely low thermal resistance. Grow lights are flicker-free and dim, with a lifespan of 50,000 hours. LED grow lights consume 750 watts at 2069 µmol/s for a satisfactory PPE of 2.8 µmol/J, ideal for 6 x 6 ft. plant areas or 5 x 5 ft. flowering areas. Each full spectrum LED grow light uses a custom made 2100 diodes. The abundance of wavelength types is consistent with the spectral range of plant photosynthesis. It concentrates specific wavelengths of light to illuminate crops evenly, controlling plant height and plant nutrients. Accelerates the synthesis of plant carbohydrates and vitamins and shortens the growth cycle. The indoor plant LED grow light adopts advanced heat dissipation aluminum. High-quality components ensure that the product works better during its life cycle. At the same time, it can also make the planting in the tent safer and more comfortable.
MedicGrow Fold-8 720W LED Grow Light
Features:
The MedicGrow LED Grow Light is the latest LED grow light for indoor plants from industry leader MedicGrow. Designed for a variety of growing operations, this full spectrum LED grow light is designed for home or commercial indoor growing operations or gardens with an emphasis on cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Offering impressive coverage up to 5' x 5', the Fold 8 LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants supports all stages of the plant’s growth cycle, whether used in a personal grower’s tent or with up to 100 Fixtures are connected together in large commercial operations. This grow light has an impressive PPFD of 1944 µmol/s to increase your plant yield (requires 20–40 moles of light per day). In addition, the Fold-8 is dimmable from 40% -100%, allowing you to easily adjust the light intensity of vegetables and flowering stages.
Buyer’s Guide to Best Light for Indoor Plants’ Growth
Choosing the best light for plants’ growth can be an overwhelming experience. There are so many factors to consider. It can also be confusing knowing where to start if you’re new to gardening and trying to grow plants in pots in your home.
What are the essential features that you will need to look for in a grow light to ensure that it will be perfect for your needs?
We’ve put together this handy buyer’s guide to help you. As long as you bear the below factors in mind when you start to choose your preferred grow light, you can rest assured that this will be the right fit for your greenery.
We’ve included all of the essential factors that we bore in mind when choosing our best light for vegetative growth products that we’ve reviewed in more detail above.
Full Spectrum
The most important thing to consider when choosing the best light for vegetative growth is the spectrum of light that your grow light is able to offer your plants. To get the best value for money, it will be ideal to opt for a grow light that offers a full spectrum of light. This will be able to cover all stages of your plant’s growth.
In terms of vegetative growth, you will need to ensure that your grow light comes with the blue light you need.
This light works to encourage photosynthesis as well as chlorophyll absorption, which is what your plant needs to grow up big and strong. If your grow light covers this spectrum of light, then it will be ideal for vegetative growth.
Want to get more bang for your buck? Look for a grow light that also offers red light. This will be just what your plants need during the budding and flowering stages of growth. This is why you should opt for a grow light that offers a full spectrum of light if possible as you will get more value for your money.
Easy To Use
It will be important to opt for a grow light that will be super easy for you to use. This will make it much easier to set up the grow light with your plants, and ensure that they get the right amount of light that they need to complete a successful vegetative growth stage.
How easy is your preferred grow light to use straight out of the box? Is it fairly easy to set up? Does it include a stand, or do you have to hang the grow light from hooks or attach it to a surface before you can use it? All of these factors will dictate how easy your new grow light is to use.
It will also be worth considering how easy your new grow light is to use once you’ve got it all set up in your home. Does it come with a range of features for you to use? Do you have to change the settings manually?
Does it include a timer function to make it easier to use throughout the day? The easier your grow light is to use in general, the easier it will make your life.
Versatile
Another factor to consider is what type of gardening you need your grow light for. It will be worth opting for a grow light that is more versatile, as this will be a model that you can use with a variety of gardening styles.
No matter whether you prefer hydroponics, traditional gardening, or other styles of gardening, the more versatile your grow light, the better.
This will mean that if you switch up your gardening styles, you can easily do this without having to buy additional grow lights to give your plants the light they need to power through the vegetative stages.
Size
You will also need to consider the size of the grow light you need for your plants.
The larger the light, the more plants it will be able to cover. If you only have a small handful of plants that need a helping hand, then it will be worth opting for a smaller sized grow light. If you have lots of plants that need light, then you should opt for a larger grow light.
It will also be worth noting that the price of your chosen grow light will differ depending on the size you choose.
Energy Saving
It will be worth opting for a grow light that is able to save you money while also delivering a powerful performance.
Out of all the grow lights on the market, you should choose an LED indoor grow light. These bulbs are highly energy-efficient, so will save you money, deliver a solid performance in terms of plant growth, and won’t use up too much energy to do so.
Conclusion
Indoor gardens can be a rewarding and fun hobby. It’s easy to be successful when you have the right tools at hand. LED grow lights specifically designed for indoor plants make this an enjoyable process. There are many systems to choose from as well as various price points, so there is something for everyone.
