Whether you’re designing for nature or improving the air quality in your lakeside home, grow lights can ensure your indoor gardening success. They also offer convenience, since you don’t have to keep all your plants by the windows. So, if you’re ready to fire up your gardening skills, check out these top grow lights for indoor gardening!

Types of Plant Indoor Lighting

Fluorescent lights are very affordable, but not as durable or energy efficient as LED lights. Many do not provide the wavelength range most suitable for healthy plant growth. However, due to their low cost and high availability, they are great for beginners.

Plants do best in full-spectrum light. Plants use blue light for growth and photosynthesis. Red light promotes flowering and leaf formation. “Purple” lighting (primarily blue/red) is the most affordable LED option, but can be uncomfortable for the human eye and make it difficult to spot pests or soil problems. While pink light is common, light can be white and still have the full spectrum. The best lighting setups also include far red, green and yellow light.

ECO Farm ECO D700 700W Samsung LM281B Chip LED Grow Light

Features:

This ECO Farm LED grow light features the highest output white chips and Osram chips, with a high energy efficiency of 2.6 umol/J, PPF 1820 µmol/s, LED grow lights provide plants with powerful and high-quality light to maximize yield . The vegetable footprint is 5 x 5 feet and the flowering footprint is 4 x 4 feet. This grow light has an excellent full spectrum (3000K, 5000K, 660nm, 730nm IR, 395nm UV) and is ideal for all growth stages (germination, cloning or cuttings, mothering, vegetative and flowering applications) for higher yields . The dimming knob can adjust the light intensity at will. Designed with daisy chain function, up to 100 lights can be connected. Multi-light connections with uniform dimming are especially beneficial for large-scale indoor and commercial cultivation.

Mars Hydro FC 8000 LM301H LED Grow Light

Features:

The Mars Hydro LED Grow Light is designed and engineered with commercial cultivators in mind, but is also perfect for nearly any personal grow. This powerful light delivers impressive results with an average uniform PPFD of 1500 μmol/s, sufficient to activate 100% photosynthesis and achieve maximum yield with or without CO2. The FC 8000 is the ideal light for almost any indoor growing scene, including single- or multi-shelf vertical farms, thanks to its versatile design and Samsung LM301B diodes for stronger canopy penetration and more consistent output. The FC 8000 LED Grow Light provides uniform standard readings thanks to an excellent 12-band spectrum, including IR, for maximum photosynthetic response. With enhanced blue and red light, plant growth increases with higher yields, larger flowers, and a more potent, higher-quality end product.

What to Look for in Grow Lights

When it comes to LED grow lights, there are many aspects to consider before deciding on the best option. You must consider the type of light, the crops you are growing and how much light you need, the spectrum, the size of your plantation, and other factors.

Listed below are factors you should consider:

#1 Spectrum
Everyone knows that getting the necessary light output is critical for plant growth. But you don’t know that the spectrum they receive is just as important. Plants you grow outdoors are grown in natural sunlight and will produce every color on the spectrum. Therefore, the best LED grow lights feature full-spectrum grow lights that stimulate natural sunlight and promote plant growth.

Each wavelength in the spectrum affects plant growth differently. Red and blue comprise the most pronounced hues, as blue adds stoutness to plants when they are in the vegetative stage.

Once the plants are in the flowering stage, the red light causes them to stretch out. In addition to these two, plants also utilize different colors; for example, plants do not readily absorb green light for photosynthesis, but it is feasible to transmit light through the plant canopy to areas of less light saturation.

That’s why full-spectrum LED grow lights are a must. With all the color combinations it can help in all stages of growth.

#2 Power/efficacy
When comparing the light output of various grow light fixtures, it’s critical to look beyond wattage. Wattage indicates how much energy the light consumes, not how much light it emits for the plant.

Grow light efficacy, defined as the ability to convert energy into light that crops can use, is an even more important consideration. Since efficiency fluctuates depending on the type of light, even fixtures with the same wattage can produce vastly different light outputs.

When shopping for grow lights, look for ones with high efficacy so you get the most light per watt you’re paying your power company.

#3 Heat Output
One of the concerns when using grow lights is that the heat given off by the bulbs can harm your plants.

LED lights, on the other hand, emit very little heat compared to the amount of light they produce. However, since they generate heat, many versions are equipped with built-in cooling systems to maintain optimal temperature regulation.

Some LED lights include aluminum heat sinks, while others have fans. When choosing grow lights, keep in mind that units with fans can be noisy.

Conclusion

Plants, just like humans, need some vital things to survive, but making the most of what you need will only result in better quality. In other words, if you provide your plants with the best LED grow lights that cover every aspect of the lighting your plants need, your crops can and will be the best. We hope these top-rated grow lights help your indoor garden.

Every grow room is different, and some aspects of LED grow lights may not be perfect. By considering the variables of your grow room, plants, and soil, you can easily determine which LED grow light is right for you, and more specifically, your plants.