August 03, 2021
When growing plants indoors, replicating the effect of sunlight is often the biggest hurdle. Sodium, fluorescent, and HID lamps emit too much heat and are very power-hungry.
Modern LEDs are superior in these two aspects. Check out our review and the buying guide to learn how the best LED grow lights can improve your hydroponics/aquaponics system.
There are two options: full-spectrum lights, and separate vegging and blooming lights.
Full-spectrum lights are all-around products that can provide adequate lighting for a plant throughout its life cycles.
But in some situations, you might be opting for a more focused approach. For example, your system may be having separate growing areas for the growing period and flowering periods.
In such conditions, you can opt for a vegging LED light for the growth stage, and blooming LEDs for the flowering stage.
Many good-quality full spectrum lights these days come with programmable settings. With these, you can opt for veg or blooming light settings depending on the age of your plant.
Wattage doesn’t accurately determine coverage area when it comes to LEDs. It is a measurement best suited for HID / MH / HPS lights, but it’s often used to approximate LED coverage area.
PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) and DLI (daily light integral) are the correct metrics to use in order to determine the number/power of lights required. For the purposes of this article, we will be using wattage to approximate the coverage area, which doesn’t need to be much more than the area your cannabis plants occupy.
The flowering cycle requires the most intense light, so we will be estimating watts based on this phase.
On average, an LED grow should use a minimum of 32 watts per square foot, ideally closer to the 50–80 watt range.
Consult the grow room sizes below for a quick guide to how many watts you’ll need:
1’ x 1’ : 32 watts
2’ x 2’ : 128 watts
3’ x 3’ : 288 watts
4’ x 4’ : 512 watts
5’ x 5’ : 800 watts
6’ x 6’ : 1152 watts
TopoGrow Professional 800W LED Grow Light
Features:
Durable IP65 waterproof aluminum material used, Branded led chips and drivers provided. high Efficiency is 2.6 umol/J, delivers a powerful light output and uniform canopy penetration to resulting maximum higher yields. PPF is 2080 umol/s, maximize yield with 50% higher Average PPFD, achieve 60% higher yield & quality compared with the traditional led lights. Consume power is 800W, make it a High-End and High-Performance commercial grow light. utilize the latest in high yielding LEDs technology today, max yield Spectrum with enhanced red 660nm led chips and warm 4000K led chips, it speeds up blooming & fruiting stages, perfect for Density Buds. The light could be used for commercial, home, grow tent, grow room, hydroponic, soil growth. this 800W led grow light is best for 6x6 FT growth.
Actual Power:800W
Numbers for light bars:8
Input Voltage: 100–277V
Mounting Height:≥6”(15cm)
Lifetime: 50000hrs
Chip: Samsung LED LM283B+Chips.
Color rendering index:90ra
Power factor: >90%
Ambient temperature: -40–40℃
Manual Dim:350W/500W/650W/800W
Mammoth Lighting Commercial Series 10 Bar 800 Watt 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 2159 µmol/s of PPF and a PAR rating of 2.7 umol/J, the Mammoth Lighting 10 Bar fixture measures up to the best LED Grow Lights on the market. Compare this to Fluence SPYDR 2i @ 1700 µmol/s. Lower your cost and increase yields! 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. We customized our light spectrum to optimize plant growth and increase yields while consuming less energy and reducing operating costs compared with traditional horticulture technologies.
Power 800 Watts
Samsung Diode LM301B SK
PPF µmol/s 2159
PAR µmol/J 2.7
Veg Coverage 7' x 7'
Flowering Coverage 5' x 5'
Voltage 100V-277V — 120V standard
Spectrum 3500k + 660nm
Power Factor >95%
THD <6%
Fixture Lifetime >=50,000 hours
Choosing the right LED grow light is important if you want to get the absolute most out of your indoor plant growth. There are a few key things to look for when considering the best LEDs for your growth, but a lot comes down to your personal needs and budget.
Full-spectrum LED grow lights are more costly than broad-spectrum models, but they provide the best results as they closest mimic the sun’s spectrum.
LED bulbs emit less heat than other grow lights but they still radiate some heat, especially the larger, higher wattage models. Look for options with built-in heatsinks and fans that pull the heat upwards and away from your indoor plants.
A single LED lamp will only provide enough light for a certain area. Depending on how many plants you’re planning on growing, you may need a large light, or perhaps multiple. The LED grow lights reviewed above all have a coverage area specified to help you gauge how many lights you’ll need to complete your grow room.
Purchasing your grow light from a trusted manufacturer is important for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that they often offer a limited warranty for added peace of mind. Buying quality LEDs will help protect you from technical difficulties. Replacing a light halfway through a grow can be a big problem, not to mention a costly one. A quality LED light panel should last anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000+ hours, so you won’t need to worry about replacing them for a while.
Choosing the top grow lights for your indoor grow doesn’t have to be a confusing and daunting endeavor. We’d suggest going with LEDs regardless of the size of your grow or your experience growing plants, they’re simply the best in our opinion. It will be slightly more costly initially, but well worth the price when you take into account the convenience, quality, and lifespan that LEDs offer. Our hope is that the best LED grow lights reviewed will supercharge and simplify your indoor grow.
June 27, 2024
When choosing Best LED Grow Lights, you should also consider the durability of the lamp, energy efficiency and whether it can meet the light needs of specific plants. For example, the LED plant growth lights provided by Philips Lighting are designed for specific crops to promote uniform growth and improve quality and yield.
June 20, 2024
June 15, 2024
On Amazon, hot growth light types include LED Growing Lights, which have a variety of functions and features such as automatic on/off timing, red and blue LED light combinations, multiple dimmable modes, and flexibility for indoor potted plants or indoor gardens.