When you make the decision to invest in your indoor grow, you'll definitely want to learn about the best LED grow lights.
LEDs are regarded as some of the best indoor grow lights on the market, but there are so many out there that it can be tough to weed out the cheap, unreliable brands and models from the legitimate ones.
And with the price of some of these grow lights, it's crucial that you do your research before purchasing.
Before you buy an LED, you should make sure its the right light for your grow. Best LED Grow Light Bar with UV&IR
As simple as it may sound – just shining a light on a plant – the world of grow lights is a dense online jungle to navigate for someone just starting out seeding.
The biggest basic difference is in the bulbs: brightness strength is measured in lumens, which are much more powerful than wattage, and 100 lumens is equal to about 20 watts. You’ll also notice that bulbs are measured in kelvin too, which is a way of measuring a light’s temperature spectrum.
LED lights often have blue and red, and sometimes purple, often referred to as “blurple” when it’s all three. A warmer tone will be a lower kelvin, and a cooler tone will be higher. If you’re planning on growing veggies, a full spectrum light with a color temperature in the blue range (5,000 – 7,000K) is recommended, and for fruits and flowers, the red range (3,500 – 4,500K) is the guiding light. These tones boost growth and absorption more than others, but for photosynthesis, plants really still need the full color spectrum if possible.
A leaf’s chlorophyl absorbs the red and blue light extremely well, but can block that light from penetrating further into the plant below and preventing deeper growth beneath the leaf’s structural surface. White LEDs fuel growth in the mid-spectrum, bringing out the deep greens in a leaf, but often slacking on the sides of the spectrum, leaving out cool blues and intense infrareds.
What do they mean when they talk about full spectrum light?
I opened this article mentioning “PAR” which stands for photo-synthetically active radiation. This measurement of light is often referred to as full spectrum light. Full spectrum lights are the wave lengths of light between 440 nm and 700 nm which includes ultraviolet and infrared. Cannabis plants use this whole spectrum to photosynthesize light into simple sugars.
When purchasing a LED grow light system, you will find that the higher end systems will all be full spectrum. Be cautious when investigating cheaper grow lights as manufactures sometimes claim to be full spectrum but don’t provide IF and IR LED Chips in their units.
Is full spectrum LED grow light absolutely a requirement? You can get away without ultraviolet and infrared but this could leave your plants open to unwanted issues such as molds and mildews. Ultraviolet light is natures sterilizer, it’s even used to kill virus’s. When growing in a small area such as a grow tent it really is important to have ultraviolet to mitigate the risks of enclosed growing.
If you have decided on your LED grow light, here are a few pointers that you should not miss before making the final purchase:
This is a first step. Take out your measurement tape as it is better to know accurate measurements than to buy a grow light on an estimated guess. As each light has a specific coverage area it can offer, hence, you need to know what can you fit within the space you have at home. Knowing you space measurements will also help you out in knowing the feedback from reviewers who had the same growth space as you.
This will be critical as the grow lights offering better quality will generate maximum benefits. If you’re a learner, you’ll probably want to get your feet wet with a low-priced solution. If you’re skilled, you will know that with LED grow lights – good quality means more price. Knowing the product brand and their reliability is equally important. A popular brand with raving reviews is almost always – a safe bet.
A full spectrum LED grow light will help your plants grow to their maximum nutritional value. Depending on the stage of growth, you will need a red and blue spectrum, as well as infrared and ultraviolet lights. To ensure maximum growth, it is important to have a powerful light with different wavelengths.
The industry’s full spectrum yields are slightly newer, but they are quick to take their place in a grower’s catalog. Full spectrum grow lights run cool and need no extra fans. They save on energy and cost less overtime. Most LED lights have a variety of colors emitted – including the best LED grow lights that have a full range of IV/UR rays.
As they use a lot of electricity, it is wise to get a grow light that cuts down on the electricity bills. An average LED grow light operates for around 10 to 12 hours a day. The higher light intensity you choose (1000w, 400w, 300w etc), the lesser electrical usage takes place in the most cost-effective ways.
Depending on the stage, you’ll want to ensure that your plants receive the proper amount of lighting (down to the exact hour). It’s extremely important that light cycles are followed to a tee as it can severely alter the growth and potency of your plants.
Final Thoughts
The best led grow lights are the ones for indoor plants if you want to grow fruits, flowers, and vegetables. Nowadays, the large commercial sectors are using LED lighting technology for large yields. That’s how they control the growth of plantation, crops, fruits, and flowers.