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Use an LED Grow Light for Your Indoor Gardening

The post Use an LED Grow Light for Your Indoor Gardening appeared first on Homedit.
Growing plants indoors takes away a lot of the hassles that traditional outdoor gardening entails. But if you’re like most indoor growers, you’ve experienced a bit of a dilemma: how to get your plants the sunlight they need, without scorching them by the window sill. What you need, friend, is an LED grow light. LED…

Published

3 years ago

March 29, 2021

walter@graefika.com

Essentially, you should provide seedlings and vegetative growth with mainly blue light; as seedlings develop and move into the “flowering” and “fruiting” stages, they’ll require more red light. In addition to the basic blue and red, you should provide your plants with other types of light (white, green, far red, and IR). These are considered secondary, however, and play much less of a role in the plants’ development than the blue and red lighting do.
SHOPLED T8 LED Grow Light
Most LED grow lights provide what’s known as “full spectrum” lighting, which means the light source provides a mix of blue and red light (and sometimes the secondary types, as well). Full spectrum lighting makes caring for your plants so much easier!
Keep in mind, however, that wattage is less important in LED lights as it is in other lighting types (such as HPS or HID). There are really only two reasons you should consider wattage here:

Curious to learn more about growing plants?

Top 3 Picks

There are two main types of cooling methods:
When shopping for an LED grow light, you’ll come across an awful lot of numbers. Among them, the wattage numbers may be the most difficult to decipher!
The time factor is often overlooked when people are figuring out how to best care for their plants via an LED grow light. But really, it’s one of the most important to consider!
The Freelicht FL-1000 LED Grow Light is our pick for “Most Versatile” due to its extreme level of user control. You can adjust the lighting intensity via a knob, which allows to you get the lighting just so for any plant or growth stage.
Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the height of the LED grow lights as your plants grow, so investing in a cable or chain (or purchasing a unit that comes with this accessory already) is a great idea!
Pros:

What to Look for in LED Grow Lights

While this may sound like a trivial factor, the form of your LED grow light can impact the light intensity of the bulbs, the overall coverage area, and even how much you can expect to pay each month on your electricity bill.

Form

– Because it can help you determine the monthly cost of operation.
– Because larger grow areas will require a higher wattage.
There are two sub-types in this category: quantum boards and spider LEDs.

Traditional

Another important factor to look at is the size and coverage area of the LED grow light. This refers to how much area the lights can effectively cover, and you can normally find this information on the product’s webpage or listing page.

Spread-Style

This LED grow light is quite energy-efficient with an 80W actual draw, and it features an automatic on/off setting with a timer so you can choose when and for how long the lights are on. The heads are adjustable for maximum user control, and this model comes with a strong clip to hold the light in place and a control panel for ease of use.
Though LEDs do produce less heat than many other lighting solutions, it’s still imperative to keep safety at the forefront of your mind. Any LED grow light you consider purchasing should employ a solid cooling method that will keep the unit from overheating.
Are you looking for a more affordable, low-key way of keeping your plants healthy? Then check out the EZORKAS 9 Dimmable Levels Grow Lights with 3 Modes. This model features 4 heads and a total of 48 lamp chips (32 red and 16 blue), as well as 9 dimmable modes and 3 cycle timing modes. Its blue/red light combination provides a spectrum that’s ideal for growing high-quality plants, which means more color, more flavor, and even a longer flowering period!
Spider LEDs are a bit more expensive, but they feature a superior “multi-leg” design that results in a more compact unit.

Chip on Board (COB)

A fan works to continuously cool down the unit as it operates, sort of like how an inbuilt laptop fan keeps the laptop from overheating during use. This method is effective, but it can also be a bit noisy—which is why many people prefer the following method.

Size / Coverage

The MARS HYDRO TS 1000W LED Grow Light is a champion in its field, employing 342 white LED lights that allow for 30% higher yields than the more traditional “blurple” LEDs. This higher yield rate is possible because the plants absorb up to 90% of the light produced—which also means you’re getting more for your dollar and less waste! Its actual power draw is about 150W, and it provides even coverage for areas up to 3 x 3 feet.
Full Spectrum Grow Lamp with IR UV LED

2 x 2 feet
5 x 2.5 feet
3 x 3 feet
4 x 4 feet

PPFD

Light Intensity

Chip on Board (COB) LED grow lights produce a higher level of light intensity and use more energy than the other two types. They’re great for growing plants in smaller areas, but may cost more to run each month.
– Size / Coverage Area
– Light Intensity
– Temperature
– Cooling System
– Warranty
How many hours per day should your plants be getting? Should they receive more light at certain times of day than others?
There are several things you need to look at in order to determine the light intensity of an LED grow light, and no two people completely agree on which factors matter the most. *sigh*
The exact needs of your plants may vary, so it’s best to consult with the manufacturer (most LED grow lights come with an instruction manual). Many LED grow lights actually come with a timer and an auto on/off feature, which will automatically turn the lights on or off after the specified amount of time has passed.
Spread-style LED grow lights are better-suited for growing larger quantities of plants or covering plants spread out across a larger area. They feature many smaller-sized diodes, spread across a large surface.
Pros:
Usually, a 1000W LED light will cover an area of 4 x 5 feet or 5 x 5 feet. Within this area, you can only house so many plants. For cannabis plants, this would equate to roughly 20 plants per light (maximum).
This is the kind of grower you can use with a variety of plant types, during each stage of that plant’s growth cycle; this is because its white LEDs possess a spectrum of color and are dimmable for greater user control throughout the process. You’ll also appreciate its noiseless operation, as it uses heat dissipation via its aluminum construction—the aluminum also intensifies the light produced for best growing results. You can connect this LED grow light with up 14 others via daisy chains, and it comes with a thermometer, hygrometer, and timer.
That said, each type of plant has different lighting needs and you should choose your LED glow light accordingly.

PAR

Pros:

Color

Related: How to Grow Gorgeous Tomatoes In Pots from Seeds

Kelvins

You should also consider the PPFD. A quick rule of thumb is that you should use:

CRI (Color Rending Index).

There are:

Wattage

Lumens
The traditional form is the most common type for indoor plant growing. This is because it uses diodes that provide a medium wattage output level and tend to feature “full spectrum” lighting, which is considered ideal for growing plants. In addition, traditional LED grow lights tend to be more compact in size, which makes them perfect for smaller indoor growing spaces.

	What it is	Importance Level
Actual Power Draw	The amount of power the LED actually gets and uses from the power source.	Most important.
Combined LED Max Power Usage	The maximum amount of power the LED could potentially use.	Less important.
HID/HPS Equivalency	he amount of power the LED is designed to replace if used in place of HID or HPS lights.	Less important.

Best Price: SHOPLED LED Grow Light

Cooling System

led grow lights
While there are other, more traditional light types used for growing plants (HID, HPS, etc.), more and more people are opting to use LEDs. There are a few reasons for this, including more intense brightness and lower cost of operation.
Pros:
Per 2 square feet
Wondering how much light your different plants need?
While shopping, make sure you opt for LED lights that are specifically marketed as a plant grower. LED plant growers are designed with optimal plant growth in mind and are able to provide plants with the exact intensity (and temperature) of lighting they need throughout their growth cycle.

Linking Ability

LED grow lights are used to grow plants indoors. While they can be used year-round, they are particularly useful during the winter months and in locations that receive less sunlight.

Warranty

Another affordable yet effective option is the SHOPLED LED Grow Light. This model produces a full spectrum of light for optimal growing for all types of plants, while emitting a warm white glow that’s easy on the eyes. It also features a useful controller with 3 different timing settings so you can even further optimize the growing process. The units are linkable so you can grow more plants, and you can order the unit in one of two models: the 2-foot or the 8-foot (specs vary). Finally, you’ll love that this grow light comes with a 2-year warranty, including free replacements when needed!
Pros:

About LED Grow Lights

As with most things in life, you should only purchase an LED grow light that comes with a solid warranty (and preferably a moneyback guarantee). Most units come with a 2- or 3-year warranty, though some offer up to a 5-year warranty. In addition, some companies give a 30-day moneyback guarantee.
Best Overall: MARS HYDRO TS 1000W LED Grow Light
Pros:

They last longer and retain their brightness for longer than other types (HID, HPS, etc.).
LEDs also produce less heat than other lighting methods.
In the long run, LEDs cost less to operate (though they do cost more up front).

Pros:

The Best LED Grow Lights

Cons:

MARS HYDRO TS 1000W Led Grow Light

Cons:
PAR stands for “Photosynthetic Active Radiation.” The PAR is presented in map form to show how the PPFD is distributed across the LED lighting unit as a whole. This is important because no LED grow light will produce even lighting intensity across the board; the center will have the greatest intensity, and the edges/corners will have less intensity.