How are you today? You might be searching for the best greenhouse grow lights or a specific item to buy. We’ve done this for you so you don’t have to. Find out what’s going on right now at the best grow lights for greenhouses that interest you.

This blog post is for people who want to buy the best grow lights for their greenhouse and need help picking which one. You can count on me to provide you with my honest thoughts on several of the best greenhouse grow lights that have been highly recommended by professionals in the field.

How long should you leave your greenhouse grow lights on?

Although plants cannot survive without light, they also need time to rest for optimal development and health. Plants need darkness in order to carry out the necessary chemical reactions. No need to keep lights on for plants. A timer should be set to regulate how long the grow lights are on.

Plant sunlight requirements fall into three categories. To stimulate flowering, short-day plants require a daily photoperiod of 12 hours or less. Strong sunlight is not good for these plants.

In a sunny greenhouse, grow lights may not be needed to grow plants such as azaleas and begonias.

Long-day plants need 16 to 18 hours of light per day, depending on the species. Vegetables and flowers are long-day plants, which means they need more light in the early stages of development.

For optimal growth, sun-neutral plants such as geraniums and foliage plants need 8 to 12 hours of sunlight per day. If your greenhouse doesn’t get enough sunlight all winter, you can choose to turn on grow lights during shorter days.

ECO Farm MB660 Foldable Grow Light Bar

Features:

The UV+IR bars of this ECO Farm LED grow light can increase your plant THC content. UV light causes the plant to create more resin to protect itself, which means higher THC and CBD levels. This LED grow light utilizes the latest technology on the market–from intensive research for optimum performance, to customized spectrums to achieve the highest yields possible. This grow light is the most powerful commercial-grade LED grow light on the market. No fans = silent & noise-free operation. The full spectrum(2112pcs LM301b 3030 White chips+48 Osram 660nm Red chips) allows you to drastically increase yields and quality. Using this LED grow light is a great way to save on lighting for larger grow rooms and greenhouses.

RayonLED GLMF-640W FOLDABLE LED Grow Light

Features:

This Rayonled LED grow light has everything to appeal to hobby and commercial growers with its impressive expertise in LED technology. The GLMF640 is designed to replace and exceed the results of 1000W HID luminaires. From spectrum to certification, it’s engineered to compete with the top grow lights on the market. With a high output of 1,728 μmol PAR and impressive efficacy of 2.7 μmol/J/W, this grow light bar provides full spectrum, broad coverage light for long-term growth. IP65 certification allows the light to function and last in even the wettest grow rooms. And independent strips and drivers ensure that even if something goes wrong, the lights can be repaired without losing production of the entire fixture.

ChilLED Growcraft X6–660 Watt DIY Kit

Features:

The ChilLED LED Grow Light is an intense, high-efficiency light that was designed for all stages of your plant’s growth. The LEDs in the X6 produce full-spectrum light to maximize your indoor garden yields for increased profits by 30% — 70+% without any additional heat, energy, or cooling requirements. The ChilLED LED Tech Growcraft X6 660W DIY Grow Light is designed to be super DIY friendly with a modular design and U frame structure that requires no drilling or tapping — it’s ready to assemble and start growing. This durable. An innovative light system features a large footprint for excellent canopy coverage and a 1.4” slim profile thanks to a passive cooling system.

Factors to Consider When Choosing the Best Grow Lights

Whether you’re looking for grow lights to supplement natural light for overwintering your garden potted plants indoors, or want to start seeds indoors for transplanting into your garden in the spring, grow lights can help.

Cold, Warm and Full Spectrum
Grow lights are marked with numbers such as 2,500K or 6,500K to tell you the temperature of the lights based on the Kelvin measurement scale. The higher the number, the cooler the light. So a bulb with a Kelvin rating of 6,000K will have a white or blue tinge, while a bulb with a 3,000K rating will have a yellowish cast. Each type of light — warm or cool — stimulates specific plant behaviors.

If your goal is to improve foliage growth on houseplants or to grow leafy greens or seedlings, choose a cooler spectrum bulb around 6,500K. Warm light has a lower Kelvin rating, making it ideal for houseplants and flower production for fruit trees like citrus. When in doubt, full-spectrum lights take the guesswork out and offer a combination of warm and cool light for the best of both worlds.

LED vs Fluorescent Bulbs
Standard fluorescent bulbs are a weak source of household light, but they’re great for supplementing natural light for houseplants or seedlings. Their cooler light makes them one-dimensional, so they’re ideal when the goal is lush foliage rather than flowers. Because their light cannot penetrate the leaves of plants with high intensity, growers must position the light within a few inches of the top of the plant to be effective.

Full-spectrum compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are a better choice. CFL grow lights come in both tube and bulb form and are brighter than standard fluorescent lights.

LED grow lights, not to be confused with regular LED lights, are more expensive than fluorescent lights, but they make up for that with longevity and energy savings. LEDs come in blue and red to mimic the full color spectrum of the sun, and possibly bright violet. This isn’t a big deal if the lights are in the basement or garage, but it’s worth considering if they’re in the living area. Like fluorescent bulbs, LEDs can come in tubes to light a tray of seedlings, or in bulbs to light specific plants.

Conclusion

Greenhouses can be equipped with a variety of automated grow lighting systems to support a wide range of plant species and stages of development. Alternatives to the greenhouse lighting described above — from supplemental grow lighting to photoperiod-controlled grow lighting — will make the job easy and effective.