January 18, 2022
When attempting to grow vegetables indoors or to start plants from seed, natural light isn’t always enough, especially in colder climates or during the winter. Though some houseplants can survive in low lighting conditions, others need more than the light from your windows. Grow lights are quite effective at replicating the light from the sun to give your plants what they need to grow.
Light-emitting diode (LED) grow lights are the go-to pick for many home gardeners, because they’re energy-efficient and eco-friendly, and they can produce full-spectrum light. LED grow lights are different from the standard LED bulbs such as those used in home light fixtures.
Read on to learn more about how to choose the best LED grow lights for your home.
Now that we understand a bit more about what an LED grow light is, let’s look at the many advantages they offer, year-round, to indoor gardeners.
Efficiency: The biggest advantage of LEDs is efficiency. According to the Department of Energy, LEDs offer the most energy-efficient lighting technology. The bulbs use about half of the energy as fluorescent bulbs, which is better for the environment and better for your wallet.
Greater light intensity: With my old fluorescent grow lights I hung the fixtures on chains so I could move them up or down to keep the bulbs close to the top of the plants’ canopy. If the bulbs were more than a couple of inches away, the amount of light the plants received was inadequate and they grew leggy. With high-output LED lamps, you don’t need to worry about light intensity or fuss with moving light fixtures to be closer to the tops of plants or seedings.
Less heat: Unlike fluorescent bulbs, LEDs emit little heat. In fact, LEDs run up to 80 per cent cooler than fluorescent fixtures. Why does that matter? Excessive heat can affect moisture levels in the soil and foliage as well as potentially burn the leaves.
Long-lived light: LEDs have a long lifespan, typically lasting for up to 50,000 hours of use. That’s about five times longer than fluorescent bulbs. This is convenient for the gardener but also reduces waste.
Cost effective: LED technology has come a long way over the past few years. One benefit of this is that prices of LED grow light units have declined. Combine this with their lower operation costs and LED grow lights are a cost-effective option for indoor gardeners.
Mars Hydro Mars Reflector 144 LED Grow Light
Features:
The Mars hydro grow light uses ten bands of light. It has an infrared inclusion as well. This rich spectrum provides well-balanced light for your plants. The panel emits lights that are similar to wavelengths of sunlight. This means that your plants is able to grow in a customized outdoor-like environment. It has a compact design that minimizes the amount of light that is wasted through dispersal. This is an especially important feature because it will help ensure your utility bills do not go over the top. Mars Hydro 144 has switchable modes that allow you to either turn half of the diodes on or all of the diodes on. When using this grow light, it is best to use half power for seedlings and full power during the bloom phase.
VIPARSPECTRA 300W LED Grow Light
Features:
The VIPARSPECTRA grow light provides plants in all stages from veg to flower with everything they need in the natural sunlight. This results in bigger buds and higher yield all while saving you on energy costs. The Daisy chain feature assists growers to connect multiple lights together with fewer outlets. No additional cords are needed, just simply plug in the provided power cord into the second light’s outlet to achieve connection among multiple units. Sturdy durable construction with fire-resistant iron housing. Suitable for each growing phase. Upgraded aluminium cooling heat sinks and advanced high-speed quiet fans are great for heat dissipation. Comparable to traditional 250W HPS/MH while consuming only 130W! Perfect for a 2’x2’ vegetative coverage at 24” and 1.5x1.5’ flowering coverage at 18”.
The following sections detail some of the most important qualities to keep in mind when shopping for the best LED grow lights for your needs.
Light Spectrum
Natural sunlight features all the colours on the electromagnetic spectrum. Some LED lights can reproduce only certain color frequencies, while full-spectrum white LED grow lights produce all the hues necessary for every stage of the growing process.
Blue light helps plants grow in the earliest stages of their lives. It’s the first color that plants can absorb in their vegetative state.
Purple light is also used in the vegetative state; however, it’s not as effective for photosynthesis as blue light.
Red light helps in the latter stages of growing and is essential for buds to flower.
White light encompasses all the colors of the spectrum. Used alone, it can be effective for every developmental stage.
Power
It’s a bit difficult to compare LED grow lights because manufacturers use a variety of metrics to measure the power of their lights and the amount of light they emit. The brightness of LED lights is measured in lumens. Seedlings require approximately 2,000 lumens per square foot to thrive, while flowering plants may need as much as 10,000 lumens.
While lumens measure visible light, biologists often use photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) or photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) to measure light intensity in terms of the light that plants will actually absorb. PPF is measured in μmol/second, which is the amount of photons of light emitted every second. PPFD is measured in μmol/m2/s and measures the density of light distributed per square meter per second. The higher the PPF and PPFD, the more effective the light should be.
To establish how much electricity a light uses, look for its “actual power draw” or “actual power consumption.” This is measured in watts and gives a good indication of the light’s power. Bulb wattage is not a good indicator because LEDs are designed to be energy-efficient.
Heat Output
One of the risks when using a grow light is that the heat emitted by the bulbs can damage your plants. However, LED lights give off very little heat relative to the amount of light they produce. But they do produce some heat, so many models are equipped with built-in cooling systems to ensure proper temperature regulation.
Some LED lights have aluminium heat sinks, and others come equipped with fans. A unit with a fan might be loud, so factor noise level into your choice when selecting a grow light.
Connecting
Many LED grow lights are designed to link to other units to cover larger areas, which is typically referred to as “daisy chain connectivity.” Products with this capability simply plug into each other and then plug into one outlet, which minimizes the number of cords required for setup.
If your plants need a little top-up when it comes to sunshine, the best LED grow lights can provide just that in an affordable, efficient way. If you’re getting serious about growing, you’ll want to make sure you get the right kind of light for your plants, but there’s almost certainly an LED option out there that can give you exactly what you need.
October 20, 2023