ECO Farm FLD 320W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Lights BarVS Rapid LED FM320 LED Grow Light

Being stuck at home — even during the winter months — is a great opportunity to grow an indoor garden. It’s a relatively cheap hobby, even factoring in the number of plants that might not make it, and can significantly improve the air quality in your house too.

Along with water, plant food, and the optional operatic singing (there’s still debate as to why, or if this works, but it’s worth a shot), an indoor LED grow light can be enormously helpful to kick growth into high gear. The various colors of the bulbs simulate sunlight, which plants need to capture and process, and eventually helps them grow up green and healthy just as if they’ve been outside.

Why Choose LED Grow Lights?

LED grow lights are a great solution for today’s indoor plant grower. When buying LED grow lights, you need to consider their durability. The construction should be of high quality. If not, then you’d be wasting your hard-earned money. LED grow lights provide the spectrum of light your plants need. If your plant doesn’t get enough light it will not grow strong. Then the productivity of the plant will decrease as well. So, if you don’t get enough fruits and flowers from your indoor garden, you can use some cheap led grow lights. Also, if you need to save them from snow or cold by providing enough daylight for your plants.

What’s the difference between PAR, PFD, and PPFD?

As you’re shopping for your LED system, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the barrage of technical terms on each product. Although you don’t have to know every technical detail, you should be familiar with a few essential terms. Don’t worry if you slept through science class; we’ll try to make this lesson as simple as possible.

Before we get into PAR and PPFD, keep in mind plants are far more sensitive to lightwaves than humans are. So, when measuring light intensity in horticulture, we can’t rely on measurements that only account for what humans perceive.

To understand the amount of light that can photosynthesize, we first have to examine PAR (aka Photosynthetic Active Radiation). The PAR, expressed as W/m2 tells us how much light your unit can produce for photosynthesis. PAR does not, however, tell you anything about the light’s strength.

For more detailed info, we need to consider the Photosyhtnetic Photon Flux (PPF) and the Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD). Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, the PPF should only express the PAR per second (μmol/s). The PPFD, on the other hand, takes the area into account (µmol/m²s).

Technically, the PPFD is telling you how many photons are hitting one square meter of space every second. Since PPFD takes area into account, you’ll notice different measurements at different heights.

Although plant cultivators have different ideas for the ideal PPFD, most people subscribe to the following ranges:

200–400 PPFD for early stages of development
400–600 PPFD for the vegetative stage
600–900 PPFD for the flowering stage

ECO Farm FLD 320W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Lights Bar 

Features:

This ECO Farm LED grow light with upgraded SMD 3030 chip 6 passive-cooled led bars, higher light intensity, less light decay, better lumens, and PAR values than ordinary LED chips. FLD 320W uses 1200 LED chips that consume only 320W, perfect coverage for 3x3ft, helps you achieve maximum quality and quantity. The intensity of light can be adjusted according to the needs of plants. It can be freely adjusted lighting intensity as plants need growth at different stages with dimming options ranging from 0 to 10 levels. SMD leds spectrum is white 3000K leds, white 5000K leds, 660nm red led, and 740nm IR leds. Master light is easily controlled for commercial & home horticulture.

Model: FLD320
Actual Power: 320W
HID Replacement: 1500W HPSMH
LED Quantities: 1200pcs LEDS
Input: AC100–277v,50–60Hz
Full Spectrum: 3000k+5000k+660nm+730nm
Lifespan: 2150,000 hours
Weight: 14.3Ibs/6.5kg

Rapid LED FM320 LED Grow Light

Features:

The FM320 is Rapid LED’s easiest-to-use fixture perfect for those that want a reliable, affordable lighting option ready to go out of the box. With system-level efficiency between 2.5–2.7 umol/J and a choice of either 3200K or 4000K color temperature this fixture is great for either full-cycle/veg/rooting (4000K) or flowering (3200K). This LED grow light has lower power consumption and a fanless design. It is a slim profile for space-constrained applications such as vertical farming. Units can be connected in series for simple power and dimming wiring Finally, it can be dimmable via any 0–10V/1–10V dimming signal.

Wattage Draw : ~300W From LEDs (320W From Wall)
Coverage Area : 4' x 4' Veg / 3' x 3' Flower
Dimensions : ~47" x ~21" x 2"
Dimmable : Yes (Manual Dimming Down to 40% Included)
Veg Footprint 4' x 4'
Flower Footprint 3' x 3'
Spectrum: Full
Light Output : HID/HPS Equivalent 500 watts
Dimensions: 47" x ~21" x 2"
Manufacturer’s Warranty 3 Years

Our Comprehensive Buying Guide

So, you’ve decided to grow your own veggies and plants inside but you’re not sure how that works? Apart from fertilizers and water, you will also need to pick the best LED grow lights for indoor plants. And, since there are plenty of options available on the market, these aspects will help you pick the right product, according to your needs.

Consider the plants you’re growing
Keep in mind that not all plants require the same amount of heat and light to grow big and strong, meaning too powerful full spectrum LED grow lights could easily burn them. This is why it is extremely important to know your plants and their needs.

For example, heavy crops like tomatoes will need more light to maximize growth, as opposed to most flowers. Lights should also be picked based on the growing stages you are focusing on, meaning certain types of lights are used for vegetative cycles, while others are required for flowering or complete growing processes.

The size of your growing space
Space availability is another important factor that will help you determine which type of lighting goes best. Make sure to properly measure the total size of your garden and calculate the lighting area size of the lamps you will need.

As you can find later in this article, most growers recommend 32 watts of actual power per square foot of growing space, if you think about growing high-light plants like peppers and tomatoes. Low-light plants like herbs or lettuce will only require between 11 and 18 watts per square foot.

Full-spectrum LED lights
Although plants can grow under different types of light, efficient photosynthesis needs different wavelengths that can be easily provided by LED grow lights full spectrum.

To grow efficiently, many plants require light in the blue and red spectrum, as well as ultraviolet and infrared, depending on their growth stage. Most cheap LED grow lights won’t be able to cater to the specific needs of the plants, which can result in smaller crops. So, if you want your plants to properly grow with LED lights, the full spectrum ones represent the perfect solution.

Quality of the materials
Growing your own garden implies having high-quality lighting at all times, and this is why the durability of the materials used to make the LED lights is crucial. When properly built, LED lamps can last for around 10 years.

All lights should have the same intensity otherwise they won’t lead to a uniform growth of your plants. If some of the lights flicker or burn, your crops will become under-developed.

If you want to avoid these problems, it would be best to test the lights before purchasing them. Similarly, buying from reputed brands that abide by the industry standards in the United States can guarantee you high-quality products.

Low heat output
This is one of the most important features you need to consider when picking your LED grow lights for indoor plants because it contributes to plant protection and durability.

Depending on the type of plant you are growing, the lights will be positioned some inches above, and having low heat output guarantees they won’t get burnt.

Conclusion

Choosing the LED grow light that’s best for you really depends on what you need it for. A small bulb with low-wattage LEDs can be plenty for your little herb garden, but if you have a huge crop of plants, you might need something more powerful. The most flexible of our top picks is the ECO Farm 320W LED Plant Grow Light, which offers a good balance of power and light to help indoor plants grow. It is a good grow light to get smaller plants started. You can’t beat its warranty, which helps protect your purchase in case of any defects. Plus, it’s an affordable option if you need to grow plants even in the winter.

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