February 04, 2023
When you decide to invest in indoor growing, you definitely want to know about the best LED grow lights.
LEDs are considered one of the best indoor grow lights on the market, but with the sheer variety of grow lights out there, it can be hard to sort out cheap, unreliable makes and models from the legitimate offerings.
Considering the price of some of these grow lights, it’s vital that you do your research before buying.
Before you buy an LED, you should make sure it’s right for your grow.
LED grow lights, also known as dedicated artificial lights, can enhance the growth of plants and their environment in a number of ways.
Here are some of the main reasons why extra lighting can help plants grow:
Grow Lights Extend the Growing Season
Grow lights are a good investment for the amateur farmer who wants to extend the growing season.
If you live where you have a cold season, that will greatly limit growing outdoors year-round.
However, using supplemental lighting for houseplants or plants in a greenhouse means you can grow successfully year-round.
LED lights allow flowers to bloom early or late, depending on demand
When you can control the intensity of light and the type of light they have, you have more control over how they grow.
This can be especially useful when growing sensitive plants like orchids and roses in large numbers.
Grow during less sunny and low light intensity seasons
With LED lighting, even when the days are short, you can still enjoy year-round blooms.
This is defined as less than 13 hours of light.
Photoperiod lighting is ideal for low-intensity lighting to create long days when daylight hours are short.
It can also be used after transplantation.
Grow lights to promote growth
Photosynthetic lighting is a higher intensity lighting.
You can use it to promote root and shoot growth, improve plant quality and increase plant yield.
You can also create long days with photosynthetic lighting.
ECO Farm FLD 320W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Lights
Features:
Equipped with SMD 3030 chip, this ECO Farm LED grow light has a maximum yield of 2.5 grams per watt, 30% higher average PPFD, and 50% higher yield and quality compared to other similar lights. Consumes only 320W. This LED grow light has a Yield Max spectrum (3000k, 6000k, 660nm red, 730nm IR LED), which can make the light more uniform, truly simulate the sunlight, and perfectly meet the entire growth cycle of all plants from seed to harvest, including Medicinal plants, flowers, vegetables, etc. Newly designed fast heat dissipation material aluminium with 4 slim cooling strips, produces less heat and saves 50% energy than other old grow lights! The whole plant grow lights are waterproof. No need to worry about wet growing conditions. LED grow lights can be folded 180°, easy to install and move.
Spider Farmer G3000 300W Full Spectrum LED Grow Light
Features:
Spider Farmer LED grow light is designed with a unique elongated light bar to provide more even and comprehensive canopy coverage, especially at the edge of the planting area. With 896 Bridgelux diodes, the G3000 Grow Light is able to draw 300 watts of power, achieve an impressive 2.75umol/J PPE, and cover 3×3 feet of plant growth over a full cycle.
Power
The first thing you need to look at is the power provided by the LED fixture. When it comes to power, this includes not only wattage, but also other specifications such as photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), efficacy, and average photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD).
PPF and PPFD
PPF
PPF is the amount of light produced per second by a light source, in this case an LED grow light; it is measured in umol per second. Now, if your growing area is 36 square meters, and your strain needs about 500 umol per square meter, then your growing area needs 1,800 umol/s of light.
So you need an LED grow light that produces 1,800 umol per second. You can use several in series to get the desired PPF. Note that PPF does not automatically equate to the amount of light received by the plant, but to the amount of light produced by the light source.
PPFD
Meanwhile, PPFD is the efficiency with which plants use photons. You’ll want something evenly distributed throughout the planting area.
If you run a commercial-scale facility, you will need a PPFD of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 umol/s per square meter per second, which can be supplemented by a CO2 enrichment system and other environmental control systems.
However, if you have a small acreage, 1,000 is too much as it wastes energy as small growers or individual growers rarely use control systems to increase environmental and CO2 levels. Finally, power efficiency relates to how many photons can be obtained for the same power consumption.
Spectrum
Some LED grow lights are full spectrum, which makes them adjustable for different growth stages. Ideally, you’ll want full spectrum, which includes UV lighting. This will help you save even more because you can do most, if not all, of your growing stages with one set.
Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights feature red and blue spectrums, as well as infrared and ultraviolet lighting. These light colors are important as they aid in the different stages of growth, inducing photosynthesis and bud opening.
Cooling System
It is also important to have an efficient cooling system on your LED grow lights. While LEDs are much cooler than traditional lighting, keep in mind that growing plants emit more heat than other types of plants. This is why many grow light manufacturers emphasize building cooling systems into their products. In most cases, modern LED grow lights have built-in passive cooling. There are many good options for LED grow lights, and they have excellent heat dissipation designs.
There is no doubt that using LED grow lighting has its advantages.
The spectral output of LEDs is superior to any other type of light.
LED grow lights are the newest option for lighting plants and vegetables.
With the best LED grow lights for indoor greenhouses, you can extend the growing season and maximize the potential of each plant.
October 20, 2023