Powerful houseplants are the result of seedlings that provide enough light. Just say. . . Enough is enough; light should be prioritized, not just water and minerals. However, lighting can be a problem when your plants are grown indoors. You can’t just rely on window lighting. While you may be scratching your head, indoor LED grow lights are the solution. Given the sheer number of brands on the market today, it can be difficult to find the right product. We’ve put together the best LED grow lights for you.

What’s the benefit of using different coloured lights during a plant’s growth cycle?

Red light can help during a plant’s germination stage and during flowering. When used during germination, it can help roots to grow and seeds to germinate. Some studies suggest that blue light may even impede germination.

Blue light is responsible for assisting plant growth — helping the plants grow strong stems and leaves. These lights are frequently used during the vegetative growth stage for this reason.

As mentioned, red light is also used to encourage plants to flower and produce fruit. It is useful to use red light later in the plant’s lifecycle, as well as during germination. At this stage, often a combination of red and blue lights will be used.

ECO Farm ECOD Samsung UV+ IR 640W Dimmable LED Grow Light

Features:

This ECO Farm full-spectrum LED Grow Light uses 1314 pcs upgrade SMD lamp beads (3000K, 6500K and 660nm). Adequate and sun-like light can prevent the growth of plants from spindly and moulding. The best lighting solution for indoor hydroponics and soil cultivation, such as potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, etc, is most suitable for the various growth stages of plants. The high-reflective optical principle guarantees emitting uniform light, 98% of light can be absorbed, and plants love it. LED light spread at a close distance from the crop canopy and delivers outstanding results for indoor grow, greenhouse and grow tents. Increase 15% — 30% yield, help plants grow healthier. The 6 bar led grow lights, are suitable for all plant growth stages, seedlings and any other fruits and vegetables. The LED grow lights use a high-quality aluminium heat-sink design, it makes excellent heat dissipation.

Fluence SPYDRx Plus 685W LED Grow Light

Features:

This Fluence LED grow light is a full-cycle top lighting solution for commercial horticultural planting with the ability to grow from vegetative to flowering. The SPYDR series is only 4.6" thick, with a recommended installation height of only 6" from the top of the canopy, and is designed for vertical farming — from vegetables to flowering — with an average PPFD of up to 1,030 µmol/m2/s on a 4'x4' top on the canopy. All SPYDR models can be dimmed with an optional light intensity Dimmer for precise control of the PPFD and provide flexibility to instantly adapt to new crops with varying light requirements. Recommended installation height is 6" for optimal light uniformity, penetration and flux density above a 4'x4' canopy.

How to Choose the Best LED Grow Lights

In fact, even in the summer it can prove challenging to get enough light to plants.

LED grow lights mimic the sun’s light spectrum, and are therefore an artificial way to deliver ‘sunlight’ to plants. This can help at all stages in the plant’s lifecycle, from germination, to seedling, to bearing fruit.

Choosing the best LED grow light can be a complicated process — there’s a lot of specialist terminology and know-how tied up in the subject.

The following information will clearly explain the basics, to help you on your way!

Useful Technical Terms
If you’ve already stepped foot into the wonderful world of LED grow lights, you’ll likely have noticed that there are a lot of abbreviations used. These can be complicated to understand at first, but are useful to have an awareness of.

These are the most commonly found abbreviations, along with what they mean and why they’re relevant.

LED vs. HID
You’re probably already familiar with ‘LED’ (light emitting diode) — in simple terms, these are a type of bulb that emit light. Nowadays, these are often very bright and energy efficient. When presented as grow lights, lots of small LEDs are used to make one grow light. The LEDs are different colours, in order to simulate the full spectrum of light when used altogether.

HID stands for ‘high intensity discharge’. This is used as a broad umbrella term for all gas-discharge lights. The most popular of these lights today, especially for use as grow lights, are metal halide (MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS). MH bulbs can be more useful in the vegetative stage of a plant, whilst HPS are better associated with encouraging flowering.

LEDs for grow lights have become more popular in recent years because they can produce the same light potency as HIDs whilst using less energy. Therefore, they are much more economical to run. Some people find the intensity of HIDs more effective for growing; however, the bulbs can get very hot, which is less of a problem with LEDs.

PAR
This abbreviation comes up a lot when looking at grow lights and it may be confusing if you’re unfamiliar with the term. PAR stands for ‘photosynthetically active radiation’; in simple terms this refers to the amount of light that is available to be used for photosynthesis. Different grow lights will produce different levels of PAR. Also, just because the light produces PAR, it doesn’t mean that all of the PAR is produces will be available to the plant. That’s where PPF comes in.

PPF
PPF stands for ‘photon synthetic photon flux’. PPF measures how much usable PAR could arrive at the plant from the grow light. This might be improved by lights that are angled in a certain direction. Sometimes, manufacturers will claim a high PAR rating, but it will only be relevant if the plant is directly under that one small area of LEDs. PAR needs to be distributed across the whole light canopy for it to be effective, which can be better measured by PPF.

The Importance of ‘Full Spectrum’ Lighting
Different lights are more effective at boosting certain stages of a plant’s growing cycle.

Nowadays, most grow lights have the potential to deliver a ‘full spectrum’ of lights, including IR and UV. This means that they can supply plants with light that has the same qualities as sunlight.

Nevertheless, if you want to make sure that your plant is channelling all of its energy into a certain process — for example growth, or flowering — you may wish to “artificially” influence this yourself. This is where different colours and light settings come in.

Different Light Settings
Not all LED grow lamps have the option to use only some of the lights; however, some of them will make it possible to only use certain colours at a time.

Red light is required for growth at the germination stage (as well as later in a plant’s life). It helps roots to grow and seeds to germinate. There are studies to suggest that blue light could actually impede germination.

Blue lights are responsible for assisting plant growth — helping them grow strong stems and leaves. Therefore, these lights are often used for the vegetative growth stage of a plant.

Red light is also used to encourage plants to flower and produce fruit. For this reason, it is useful later on in the plant’s lifecycle as well. At this stage, often a combination of red and blue lights will be used.

For these reasons, it can be useful when a grow light has settings for illuminating only bulbs of a specific colour. If this is the case, the grow light will usually have two settings, a ‘veg’ setting, and a ‘bloom’ setting. These can be used individually, or together.

Power
Whilst it can be tempting just to assess the wattage of a particular grow lamp, it’s actually more important to be aware of its PAR output.

Wattage refers to the amount of power inputted into the lamp to create a specific brightness, whereas PAR (and PPF) will be a more accurate way to assess how effectively the light will help plants grow.

Many LED grow lights will display to ‘wattage’ ratings — the actual numbers of watts that the light will consume, and the number of watts that would be required to achieve the same brightness if using HID bulbs.

Energy Efficiency
LED lights cost less to run than traditional HID bulbs. They also produce less heat so you will not need to use as much energy cooling the lamp or the space as you would with HID lights.

Optimum Light Placement
LED lights can be placed much closer to plants than HID light because they give off less heat. This is a great advantage as it means the lights can be placed closer to the plants and therefore the light can penetrate the canopy of the plants more easily. In addition, it means you don’t need such a tall growing space.

Positioning the LED light the correct distance from your plant wills result in strong healthy crops with no burning or yellowing leaves. When your light is placed too close to the plants you may see bleached or yellow spots on the leaves.

If the LED is too close it can also result in nutrient deficiencies for your plants.

However, it is not always easy to calculate how far away your LED light should be — it’s something that differs depending on the size and power of your lights. It’s best to check the directions that come with your grow light and follow their recommended distances.

However, the following are general distances, to give a broad idea:

For germination: Hang roughly 92–100 cm above plants (for approximately 10 hours/day)
For seedlings: Hang roughly 81–92 cm above plants (for approximately 12 hours/day)
For plants in vegetative stage: Hang roughly 60–80 cm above plants (for approximately 18 hours/day)
For plants in flowering/fruit stage: Hang roughly 45–60 cm above plants (for approximately 12 hours/day)

Conclusion

After reviewing all the best LED grow lights for indoor plants, we can’t declare a clear winner, as each type of grow light has its own unique characteristics. Now it all comes down to your personal preference. If you’re on a budget, you can opt for budget-friendly options, otherwise you can opt for premium models. Find a lighting system that works best with a variety of plants and has a blue and red spectrum. You’ll also want to make an adjustable timer range.

So which of these LED lights are used for indoor plants! Share your experience with us by leaving a comment below!