October 19, 2022
Along with nutrients and watering, light source is one of the most important factors to consider when growing houseplants indoors. You should provide them with adequate lighting on a daily basis and pay attention to the light spectrum.
We’ll give you more guidance in this article, but first, here are the best LED grow lights for indoor plants, handpicked by our experts.
Lumens are an important consideration when selecting a grow lamp or lightbulb. The wattage of a light bulb is measured in this way. Light output is measured in “lumens,” and the term refers to the amount of emitted light.
Remember previously when we talked about the different light intensity levels? Each category requires a certain amount of light:
High Sun: 7000 lumens per square foot
Part Sun: 5000 lumens per square foot
Low Sun: 2000 lumens per square foot
Per square foot is what you’ll observe in the pricing section. The truth is, you can’t just buy a 7000-lumen lightbulb and be done with it. Lumen output begins to drop as soon as they depart the bulb. That doesn’t mean that the amount you start with is the amount your plant is soaking in.
Before buying a light, you can use the following calculation to figure out how many lumens it needs to have: If you’re a mathematician, use this equation:
Lightbulb Lumen Output ÷ Distance in Ft. to Plant² = Light Intensity
That was the last thing on your mind, weren’t you? If you square the distance to your plant, you’ll be alright.
Spider Farmer SE5000 480W Full Spectrum LED Grow Light
Features:
This Spider Farmer LED grow light features a uniquely designed 6 extended LED strips that provide more even canopy coverage, especially on the outer edges of the growing area. With 1680 SAMSUNG LM301B diodes, the SE5000 Led Grow Light consumes 480 watts at 1333 umol/s, achieving an impressive PPE of 2.75 umol/J, covering a high yield full-cycle growth of 4'x4'. The full spectrum (380–410nm, 660–665nm, 730nm, 3200–4200K, 4800–5000K) is ideal for vegetable flowering to suit every stage of the plant cycle. The dimmer knob is ideal for growers to adjust the light intensity for different growth stages. The daisy chain feature allows you to connect up to 30 spider farm grow lights — dimming multiple lights at the same time.
Features:
This GrowPros grow light, with an increased lifespan over traditional grow light sources, cultivates healthier, happier plants. The HM480 Series produces 1.8 gram per watts (dried) of crop yield. A high-PPFD and PAR indicates high efficacy, or light output produced per expenditure of unit of power. Generating about 50% more in energy savings over traditional HID and HPS light sources, the HM480 gives you meaningful savings over time. Will not produce the same results without CO2 supplementation. A full-spectrum LED rack lighting solution designed for commercial indoor and greenhouse applications, enabling control over the plant cycle from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage.
High-Efficiency Diode
When most people are looking for LED grow lights, they will focus on the appearance of the grow lights. However, the LED diode itself is more important than the appearance of the grow light. LED diodes are light sources, so having high-quality LED diode is a must. One thing you need to be aware of is that there are many fake LED chips on the market, and some LED grow lights claim that their products use Samsung LED diodes, but this is not the case. In addition, the diode model of LED grow lights is also intuitive and important.
For example, Samsung’s 3030 (LM301) LED diode series includes LM301H, LM301B and LM301D models. Both the LM301H and LM301B are true top-of-the-line LED diodes, The LM301B was released first, and its efficiency also stands out among all white LEDs — 2.92 µmol/J at 65 mA. Compared with LM301B, the efficiency of LM3301H is improved by 0.18 µmol/J. Therefore, when you buy, you need to pay attention to choose the most suitable series for planting — Samsung 3030 (LM301) series chips.
Uniform PPFD
What Is PPFD?
PPFD stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density, a measure of how many PAR photons fall into a particular area in micromoles per second per square meter.
Uniformity of PPFD
So what does the uniformity of PPFD mean? Quite simply, that is the uniformity of the number of photons present at a specific density. And the more evenly the light covers the branches and leaves of your plants, the better yields you will get. If you choose a grow light with uneven PPFD coverage, it will result in inconsistent growth rates between exterior and interior of your plants. Therefore, you need to use LED grow lights with uniform PPFD that evenly cover the entire growing space. Most grow light brands generally have PPFD diagrams attached, which you can view and identify.
Full Spectrum
Outdoor plants grow under natural sunlight, and every color in the sunlight spectrum is a catalyst for plant growth. Therefore, the best grow lights should have a full spectrum to best mimic natural sunlight and optimize plant growth. Across the spectrum, each wavelength (color) has a different effect on plant growth. Blue and red light are the most conspicuous colors, as blue promotes the thickness of the plant during its vegetative stage. Red light helps plants stretch and bloom during flowering. It is not difficult to see that choosing a full-spectrum LED grow light with both blue and red light is your best choice.
Dimming Function
LED grow lights consume less energy than other types of grow lights, especially dimmable LED grow lights, saving electricity can save you money and ultimately provide better results, they allow you to tailor the light your plants receive according to the different needs of each stage during their growth, because only the specific light that is suitable for each stage of growth can encourage plants to thrive. The light adjustment can be achieved by a dimmer, and the brightness range is generally 10%-100%. Dim the lights can also give your plants a break, after all not every stage of plant growth is suitable for high-intensity lighting throughout a day, which helps them stay healthy and strong.
Plant lights are an important part of indoor gardening. By learning about the different types of grow lights and how to use them, you can create a healthy environment for your plants to grow. Whether you’re new to growing plants or have been growing for years, using grow lights is a great way to help your plants thrive.
October 20, 2023