December 27, 2021
Growing plants can be as easy or as hard as you’d like to make it. If you’re growing a couple of plants for personal use and you live somewhere relatively sunny, you can simply place your plant outdoors. However, not everyone has the luxury of growing plants outdoors. In that case, you’ll need to bring your plants indoors and ensure they have enough light.
Another reason why you might need lights for growing plants is when you grow multiple plants. A single plant in a sunny room or discreetly placed on a balcony can grow just fine with sunlight and perhaps a small LED. However, multiple plants will need more substantial lighting.
Less heat
Compared to incandescent lamps, LED bulbs and panels emit much less heat. This is very important for plants, as extra heat can damage your crop.
Less heat also means that you can keep the lights much closer to the plants without fear of damage to the crop. That is one less factor to worry about when planning your grow system.
Less Power Consumption
Older incandescent lights are inefficient because a lot of the energy supplied is lost in the form of heat.
But since LEDs emit less heat, less electricity is being wasted as well. If you supply the same amount of electricity to an LED and HID, the LED will provide more light.
Typically, you can expect energy savings to the tune of 25–50% from LEDs.
Compact & Space Saving
In indoor grow areas, space is a precious commodity. LED systems take much less room than HIDs, and are easier to move around and manage.
Again, since they emit less heat, they also don’t need extra cooling equipment, unlike older HID lamps. This means less clutter.
LED grow systems these days are very flexible and can often be chained together. So you might even be able to reduce the mess of extra wiring.
Better Light Optimization
Plants require different light wavelengths during various stages in their light cycle.
These days, LED lights are available in different wavelengths. Many LED grow light systems also come with the option of adjustable wavelengths (Full spectrum LED lights).
By using specific wavelengths for plants at the correct stages, you can get maximum growth with minimal wastage of input energy.
Longevity
We all know about the fragility of incandescent bulbs. They have a propensity to burn out sooner or later.
LEDs are a different breed altogether. As they produce less heat, the components have less chance of burning up.
Modern LEDs often have a rated lifespan of tens of thousands of hours. So despite their higher cost, they are a more economical proposition in the long term.
Flexstar Foldable 645W Dimmable Led Grow Light
Features:
Flex Star 645 Watt professional Horticulture grow light comes preassembled. It has a really large footprint, its dimension is 127.34cm x 110.76cm. You have the option of attaching the drivers directly on top of the LED bars with rubberized plastic mounting clips or you can keep the driver outside your tent if you prefer. The LEDs are spread out over six individual bars, which passively cool the PCBs through an anodized aluminium rear plate. The six bars are configured in a foldable design. This allows easy transport and the LEDs themselves are Samsung 5630 3000K warm white and 6500k cool white LEDs and in between those are space as round 3535, 660-nanometer red Led diodes. This gives a light of full-spectrum coverage and makes it ideal for pretty much any type of growing situation. The driver is Flex Stars own and it’s dimmable, so the dimmable function goes from 40%, 50%, 60%, 80% or 100%.
Spectrum King 600W LED LowPro Flower
Features:
The Spectrum King grow light flaunts a true wattage of 660W and is HID equivalent to 1000W. The LED delivers 102,000 lumens and 141.57 efficacy. The grow light emits full-spectrum light, which is perfect for the overall plant growth and development. The LED grow light feels like the plants are just closer to the sunlight. The grow system has been purposely designed for the vertical racking solutions at 3’’ tall solutions. The LED grow light system is the shortest, and the brightest LED grow light system available in the market. The LED is rated at 50,000 hours, which ensures long life. So no worries about spending on the grow light fixture unnecessarily.
Lighting intensity: This goes a long way in determining how your plants fare when exposed to these plant-growing lamps. The lighting intensity refers to the amount of light that travels from the source of light to a specific surface. Certain plants do not fare well when the lighting intensity is high. On the other hand, some plants are perfectly suited to high lighting conditions. You must decide if you want a high or low-intensity lighting source for your plants.
Lighting color: The science of plant growth using light sources includes the color range of the lighting source. Certain light colors stimulate growth in plants, while other colors simply result in stunted growth. In most cases, blue light results in vegetative growth in plants. Also, red light stimulates the production of fruits and flowers in those plants. You can always opt for full-spectrum lights that have most of these colors. You could also pick a specific color if you’re looking to stimulate a particular section of the plant’s growth.
LED or fluorescent lamps: It’s often tough to choose between both lighting types as they both provide full-spectrum lighting to plants. However, there is a small difference between LED and fluorescent lamps, and you must know those differences. Usually, LED lamps are better for plants as they emit less heat and stimulate growth in plants.
Durability: It’s not okay for you to change your plant grow lights every now and then. You must pick a lighting option that will stand the test of time while in use. There’s a high chance that the lamps will always be in use; go for a durable one.
Efficiency: Certain plant-growing bulbs consume huge chunks of electricity units when in use. The cost of servicing these bulbs could prove difficult, especially if you’re not running a large-scale garden. Check the power rating of the plant-growing lamp to determine if it’s okay for use.
These lamps are relatively inexpensive
They’re earth-friendly and extremely efficient
Plant grow lights allow you to keep indoor plants.
These lamps enhance growth in your plants by stimulating the roots and stems.
While LED grow lights cost more upfront, they save commercial producers and hobbyist growers on things like electrical costs and replacing bulbs. However, to get the best results from LED technology, you must understand the appropriate applications of these lights.
Even for the most seasoned cultivators, shopping for LED grow lights can be an extremely intimidating process. As such, learning the basic differences between the many shapes of LED lights is a great foundation in choosing the right tool for the job. Once you have identified which shape LED is best for your needs, you can begin thinking about other attributes like red spectrum vs full spectrum.
As horticultural lighting technology continues to advance, there is no doubt that manufacturers will continue to create innovative new LED products. Whether you are a hobbyist tent grower or commercial producer, there is likely a perfect grow light available for your garden.
October 20, 2023