April 21, 2022
Are you thinking about buying a grow light for your houseplants but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be complicated! This post will guide you through everything you need to know so you can pick the best grow light for your plants.
Ready to learn more about grow light? Let’s dive in!
Generally speaking, you won’t need to leave your lights on all the time. A good rule of thumb here is to try to mimic the sun as best you can, meaning you should have periods of “night” when your grow lights are off.
The total duration, though, is really going to depend on the individual plants. Do a bit of research for your specific types of plants to find out how many hours of direct light they thrive in.
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So after all is done and said, do you need grow lights to keep healthy plants? Not necessarily, but they can be very beneficial depending on your local climate, the amount of sunlight you get in your home, and the season (hours of daylight within a day).
Of course, if you do live in a place with sparse sun another option is to stock up on some gorgeous low light plants to begin with. Check out our best low light plants and see if any tickle your fancy.
All light is technically considered radiation, as it consists of waves radiating from a source. Of course, some frequencies are more dangerous to us than others.
The visible spectrum, red through purple, are not damaging to humans. Once you go past blue and purple light, however, you find ultraviolet light. UV light is what causes your skin to become damaged when spending too much time in the sun.
Some grow lights do include ultraviolet wavelengths, as they have been shown to provide some benefit to plants. This would not be enough UV light to pose any risk to people in the same room near the light.
Dangerous wavelengths, such as X– or gamma-rays, are not produced by grow lights. These lights provide only a very narrow range of light wavelengths to provide specific benefits to the plant.
Mammoth Lighting Commercial UV Series — 10 Bar 740W LED Grow Light
Features:
Mammoth Lighting has been developed by indoor growers over many years of careful experimentation and testing. Scientifically engineered to deliver the highest level of PAR output and balanced Coverage in the LED grow the market. At 1850 µmol/s of PPF, the Mammoth Lighting 10 Bar fixture measures up to the best LED Grow Lights on the market. The Mammoth LED grow lights are built with high-quality Samsung diodes. The lights encompass a continuous range of wavelengths from blue and green to red, creating a light blend matching the natural sunlight. The grow light customized the light spectrum to optimize plant growth and increase yields while consuming less energy and reducing operating costs compared with traditional horticulture technologies.
HEO 1700Pro 700 Watt LED Grow Light
Features:
The HEO 1700Pro 700W LED Grow Light is an excellent light for any and all stages of a plant’s growth life cycle, whether you’re using it in a tent in your personal indoor garden or hooking it together in a large commercial operation. The 1700 Pro’s 8 powerful lighting strips evenly focus intense light on your plant canopy for healthy, efficient, high-yielding plants. The HEO 1700Pro 700 Watt LED Grow Light provides full-spectrum light to 4' x 4' flowering areas and 5' x 5' vegetable areas. This high-efficiency LED grow light offers a fully programmable spectrum to suit every stage of a plant’s life cycle. High efficiency of 2.4 µmol/j and power consumption of up to 630–700 watts make it an efficient and affordable indoor grow lighting solution.
You might think all grow lights are the same thing, but you now know this isn’t true. No matter if you want to replace your lights or if you’re buying them for the first time, you want to keep a few key features in mind. They’ll help you narrow down your choices and pick out the best option to suit your wants and needs.
Burn Time
All types of grow lights burn at a different rate. This is why it’s a good idea to check and see what the burn time is on the light you buy. Spending a lot doesn’t mean that your light will last longer, and you’re not necessarily getting the best value. Double-check the packaging when you compare lights to see which one burns the longest while being the most energy-efficient.
Ease of Use
Your time is very important, even if you only have a small vegetable patch or a few indoor house plants to tend to. The last thing you want to do is spend hours setting up and adjusting your lights over and over again. Pick out the lights that have a simple operation, are easy to set up, and are easy to maintain. Double-check how easy it is to adjust your light intensity as well.
Garden Size
How big do you want your indoor garden or growing space to be? This is something you have to know before you start shopping because it’ll help you decide how many lights you need. If your plants need a higher amount of light, you’ll have to have around 32 watts for every square foot of space. If your plants need a lower amount of light, you’ll want to have around 14 watts for every square foot of space you have set up.
Smaller garden sizes won’t need as many grow lights to support them, but you will need more if you have bigger plants in general.
Internal Chip Strength
Inside every grow light you buy, you’ll have a chip that converts electricity into light. Your internal chip should be extremely high quality because it’ll help ensure it’s powerful enough to jumpstart your plant’s growth cycle. As a rule of thumb, look for lights that have a chip of at least 3W. In turn, this will help ensure your light emits enough power to help your plants grow.
Light Shape
These come in several different shapes ranging from light bars to saucers and panels. You’ll have to consider where you want to set up your space before you buy the light. This will help you pick out the correct shape when you shop for you grow lights for plants. Smaller lights let you set up scattered light patterns, and they’re better for tight spaces. A panel light will cover bigger areas.
Lower Heat Generation
Heat generation is something you really want to keep an eye on with your lights. Some LED-style lights will put out a large amount of heat to create a warming growing environment. If this is the case, you’d have to have a fan or two going to help cool the area and keep your plants comfortable. To save yourself this step, get lights that have a lower heat output. They tend to have longer burn times because they don’t overheat, and they put out less atmospheric heat as a whole.
We hope that this Guide to Choosing the Best LED Grow Light has given you the basics you need so you can buy your first LED grow light, dig deeper into the details concerning grow lights for your indoor garden, or just serve as a review of the information you need.
October 20, 2023