If you’ve ever grown plants indoors, you know how frustrating it can be to find a well-lit spot. Many (aspiring) indoor gardeners underestimate the amount of light their plants need, especially when they’re trying to grow herbs, succulents, and other light-demanding species. Sometimes even a spot by a sunny window won’t cut it, and the plant will grow lanky trying to reach for more. That’s where the best LED grow lights come in.

From simple tropical houseplants to your fancy hydroponic system: almost all plants benefit from some extra lighting and will reward you with lush growth. For this reason, there are countless different types of grow lights out there.

To make choosing the right system for your plants easier, we’ll describe the most common types of grow lights below. After that, we’ll get into some of the best grow lights we love.

How many LED grow lights do I need?

Getting the right amount of LED lights is something you want to get right the first time, or you could end up wasting money and time.

There is a way to determine how many LED grow lights you will need — there are two steps. You need to determine the plant’s lighting needs and your plant area’s dimensions. The plant’s needs are measured by watts per square foot.

Do not measure the plant area (your grow tent or wherever else you’re growing your plant) but instead measure the footprint or your plant’s canopy.

Example: A 5 feet by 5 feet space with a plant canopy of 4 feet by 4 feet needs only LED lighting for the 4 feet by 4 feet area.

To calculate the wattage needs of your plant, you will need to do some research about your plants. It is not always a case of more is better. In fact, too much LED light can burn plants and even bleach them.

This sounds complicated, but once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll get the hang of it. Alternatively, you can just search the internet for this specific information about your plant.

ECO Farm SP-600 Samsung Foldable Dimmable Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Features:

With a high efficiency of 2.8 umol/j and a power consumption of 630W, this ECO Farm LED grow light facilitates efficient growing operations, helping you efficiently optimize plant growth, improve yield quality and reduce operating costs. This full spectrum LED grow light promotes photosynthesis at all stages of growth, especially flowering, from cutting/seeding, nutrition and flowering. Grow lights for indoor plants replicate the spectrum of natural sunlight and output a broad, consistent and pronounced wavelength range from 400 to 700nm that can be grown throughout the plant life cycle. It can help your plants grow healthier and have better harvests. LEDs generate far less heat than HPS and other HID lights, making them ideal for gardening. The aluminum heatsink, along with the wide 6 passive cooling strips, better removes heat to keep you cool and reduces ambient heat in the grow space for longer lamp life.

Spectrum King 600W LED LowPro Flower

Features:

The Spectrum King LED grow light is a 660W grow light system with an efficiency equivalent to a 1000W LED. The grow light system is designed for vertical shelving solutions; you mount the lights 3 inches from the plants. Grow lights offer a 4X4 footprint. It offers 141.57 efficacy and a lumen output of 102,000 lumens. LED grow lights feel like plants are getting closer to the sun. The planting system is designed for a 3" tall vertical racking solution. The LED grow light system is the shortest and brightest LED grow light system on the market. The LEDs are rated at 50,000 hours to ensure long life. So don’t worry about spending unnecessarily on grow light fixtures.

Things to Consider

Hopefully, this guide was of help. Let’s revise what you should pay attention to when selecting a good plant light:

Light spectrum. The closer it is to the natural sunlight, the better. There should be a solid balance of red, blue, infrared, and ultraviolet light. Especially check the wavelengths to see if the lamp is ‘nutritious’ enough.

Wattage. The Watt output is necessary for calculating how many grow bulb units you will need in your greenhouse. So, the bigger it is, the more space you’ll save.

Cost-efficiency. Mind that a good lamp for indoor gardening should not be too greedy about electricity consumption. With our models, you can save up to 75% on your next electricity bill.

Longevity. A sturdy aluminum frame is a must. Not only will it serve you longer, but also prevent the lighting setup from overheating. And your hands from getting scorched.

Cooling. If a bulb has an inner mini-fan — that’s wondrous. In other cases, check if the architecture allows heat dissipation.

Conclusion

Choosing to grow houseplants with artificial lighting “plant lights” is critical for certain types of plants and necessary for ideal indoor gardening results.

You probably know these points, however, they are still worth mentioning. All plants have light requirements for the photosynthetic process to occur and grow, but the amount of light can vary widely for each species, genus or type.

Also, certain times of the year vary greatly. Many houseplants have periods of dormancy or rest — too much light can make them tired and unhealthy. So it is necessary to have a LED grow light.