Provide year-round nourishment for houseplants, herbs, and even start seeds in the off-season, LED grow lights help start, nourish, and maintain healthy plant growth without burning leaves. Getting the spectrum right helps maintain plant growth.

Indoor gardening has become a popular hobby for many who like to add fresh vegetables to their salads or just love seeing greenery around their home, basement, office or kitchen. Providing the right amount of light is critical to the growth and health of these plant friends.

Will plants grow faster with LED lights?

While regular LED lights can provide sufficient light for certain growth stages, LED grow lights are specifically designed to aid in the nurturing growing process. Plants need both natural sunlight and artificial light to survive and thrive. For example, the blue wavelengths emitted by fluorescent light bulbs are good for promoting healthy plant growth.

However, LED grow light systems are a better solution than regular LED lights when it comes to providing a more comprehensive light spectrum for different stages of plant development. LED grow lights will ensure your plants get the correct combination of color and intensity needed for optimal health at each specific stage of their growth cycle!

ECO Farm ECOD Samsung UV+ IR 480W Dimmable LED Grow Light

Features:

The ECO Farm full spectrum LED grow light was designed to help enhance photosynthesis so you can enjoy stronger and healthier crops! This linear horticulture lighting fixture produces a broad-spectrum lighting output made for Vertical Farming and indoor use. This premium LED growth light is an energy-efficient system that helps you to make important savings. This full spectrum LED grow lights come with 876pcs leds. Excellent spectrum mimics the sun spectrum, optimizing the whole stages of indoor growing plants from seed to flowering, to maximize the yields and ensure crop quality. It has a 2.8 umol/J efficiency level so you can make sure that this grow light system is a sustainable and eco-friendly solution for your garden.

Spider Farmer® G4500 430W Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Features:

Spider Farmer LED grow light adopts a unique light bar design to provide more even and comprehensive canopy coverage, especially at the edge of the planting area. With 1484 Bridgelux diodes, the G4500 grow light is capable of delivering 430 watts of power to an impressive 2.8umol/J PPE, covering 4×2 feet of plant growth over a full cycle.

How to choose LED grow lights?

Now that LEDs are widely used by growers around the world, there are different versions on the market. But instead of convincing you to buy from a single brand, we let you decide what to buy. So, here are some tips and questions to answer so you can choose LED grow lights:

Looking for chips
For your plant to grow, it must have the right chip. In this case, you should choose LED grow lights with at least 3 watts. Any LED under 3 watts won’t give your plants enough light coverage to help them grow. Therefore, each chip in the LED should have 3 watts, because 3 watts of chips provide the best lighting solution.

You can notice this in the blue, red and white LEDs, so keep an eye out for those that only provide 1 watt each. Meeting this requirement with 3 chips of 1 watt won’t work either.

View total output
Just like any other lighting solution, you should also check its product description for total output. Check the total unit count of the light as it will also affect the amount of light it produces. Some LED grow lights come in 300, 400, 600 or even 1,000 watts. Before you head to the counter, check that it has at least 300W. Higher wattage is better because you can compensate for lost wattage over time.

Consider its spectrum
Plants can grow under different kinds of light. However, it requires a specific number of wavelengths and spectra to help them photosynthesize. The best LEDs for growing indoor plants can provide the full spectrum that plants need to grow.

In this case, it should be able to provide adequate amounts of blue and red as well as ultraviolet and infrared. Depending on the growth stage of plants, the light spectrum they need may also change to assist them in the process of photosynthesis.

Look for the cooling aspect of it
In general, LEDs generate less heat, so some units don’t actually need a cooling system. But since you’re going to be keeping those lights on for 10+ hours a day, you might as well check its cooling. Some units have internal fans that keep lights and plants from burning quickly. The heat dissipated behind the bulb should be protected with a cooling system so as not to burn its chips.

Growing space
If the LED is a different color, it will be a different size. Therefore, be sure to measure the space where you want to grow your plants to determine the exact size to purchase. You’ll also want to measure the lighting area to make sure every plant you have is well lit. For high light plants, there should be at least 32W/sq. ft. LED and low light plants should have at least 11–18W/sq. foot.

Easy to use
One of the most important factors when choosing an LED grow light is its ease of use. The best LED lights for growing houseplants should give you no trouble while operating them. It should be flexible so you can adjust its lighting depending on the types of plants you have. Also, its growth stage should determine the placement of your LEDs.

Conclusion

If you are trying to grow plants indoors, LED grow lights are a good choice as they are energy efficient and provide a suitable light source for photosynthesis.