Love gardening but don’t have the outdoor space to harvest your own produce? Owning one of the best LED grow lights can solve this dilemma.

Why are grow lights great? Simple: If you live in a cold climate, indoor grow lights allow you to have an indoor garden that provides herbs and vegetables year-round, rather than produce that can only be grown for a few months of the year.

There are also several environmental advantages to growing your own produce. On the one hand, it reduces carbon emissions. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation-related greenhouse gases account for 29 percent of total U.S. emissions. However, growing your own produce reduces the need to ship produce long distances and reduces the number of trips you make to the grocery store.

Plus, harvesting your own produce can eliminate plastic packaging waste. Most produce comes in plastic or containers — or the grocery store will have plastic bags on hand for you to fill. But utilizing your own garden can eliminate this waste in your home.

To bring your indoor garden to life, use the best grow lights.

Which color LED grow light is best?

There are many factors to consider when choosing the right LED grow lights for your garden, and deciding which color spectrum to use is one of them.

Most growers believe that using full-spectrum light (also known as “white” light) is the best way to successfully grow plants because it provides all the visible wavelengths of light that plants need to grow. In fact, some plant growers even swear by using only full-spectrum LEDs in their gardens.

The big question then becomes: what color will a full spectrum LED light produce? The answer is all colors! But while this might seem like a good thing at first glance, it’s actually not that great when you think about it.

Why? Because different colors correspond to different wavelengths of light, and each wavelength has its own special properties that can help or hurt plant growth. For example, blue light stimulates flowering and leaf production, red light promotes vegetative growth, and yellow light causes plants to do more photosynthesis. So if you only use a limited number of colors in your LED grow light setup, you may be limiting the potential of your plants to a great extent!

To ensure you get the most out of your LED grow lights — both during and after your plants grow — it’s important to choose grow lights with full spectrum output. This means LEDs emit all colors of visible light

ECO Farm ECOD Samsung UV+ IR 1000W Dimmable LED Grow Light

Features:

The ECO Farm LED Grow Light is powered by Samsung Full Spectrum LEDs that drive a wide spectrum from 395nm to 730nm and produce 144597 Lumens. The full spectrum coverage gives better results. Available in 3000K and 6500K. Full-spectrum light with higher intensity in the 395–730nm spectrum has been shown to perform better than the targeted spectrum for general use. The ECO Farm Samsung LED grow light produces a 1000W PPF output of 2524.5μmol/s and a PAR efficacy of 2.8umol/J making this fixture incredibly efficient compared to other commercial fixtures. LEDs generate far less heat than HPS and other HID lamps making them perfect for horticulture. Lights can be installed much closer to the plants themselves getting them all the light they need and increase your harvest. Less heat also means a lot less power used for cooling your grow area. Stack that with power saving on the light itself for a huge drop in your power expenses.

Mars Hydro FC-E1000 Bridgelux 1000W LED Grow Light

Features:

The Mars Hydro FC-E1000 Bridgelux 1000W LED Grow Light has a full spectrum for full cycle plant growth. FC-E1000W is specially designed for high PPFD culture (such as high concentration CO2 growth). It is by far the most powerful grow light with a high PPF of 2,766 umol/s and an average PPFD of over 1,300 umol/m2/s. The FC-E1000W is slightly different from other FC-E LEDs because of its scalable flexibility, allowing for customization and configuration. Typically, 10 light bars are arranged on 2 support bars to provide an unusually high amount of power for an area of 4x4 feet.

MedicGrow Ez-8 1000W LED Grow Light

Features:

MedicGrow LED grow light produces full-spectrum light, which is very suitable for all stages of plant growth. It is designed for planting tents and groups used for commercial planting operations. This powerful light is one of MedicGrow’s most productive LED plant grow lights. MedicGrow designed and manufactured Ez-8 with long life in mind. Each lamp is made of heavy-duty aluminium, making it ideal for use under harsh commercial planting conditions, even serious home indoor planting spaces with a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours. Its detachable and replaceable light bar makes installation and transportation a breeze. The integrated knob dimmer allows growers to easily reduce the power output to meet your needs at the time-from seedlings to flowers, eZ-8 can meet Your needs. Of course, the spectrum has a huge impact on the efficiency of plant photosynthesis.

What should I consider when choosing the best and cheapest LED grow lights?

LED grow lights offer several advantages over other light sources, including high energy efficiency, long life, and high color rendering index (CRI). These grow lights are also much less expensive than the fluorescent and metal halide systems they replace.

There are many variables that affect the cost of grow lights. I would start by looking at the wattage of the bulbs, how many watts the lights need and how long they run for a full day (12 hours). Then I look at the color spectrum of the bulb, the efficiency of the bulb, and the cost of the bulb. Here’s what you’ll likely find, a single 100W HPS or HID will be cheaper than a full 400W LED array.

The most cost-effective LED grow lights are always those that produce higher PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) than the plants need. The amount of PAR required by a plant depends on the size of the plant and the temperature of the environment. The most common way to measure PAR is with an electronic PAR meter.

The best value for money is usually the brightest, cheapest LEDs you can find. The main problem with LEDs is that they are not always energy efficient.

The best LED grow light brands are the ones that are worth the money. They must be able to provide all of the following:

High quality and durable product.

Highest output of energy per watt.

Best warranty and customer support.

The most efficient product.

The best in customer service, installation and maintenance.

The most effective product.

Conclusion

With so many types of grow lights and systems to choose from, it can be overwhelming to figure out which one is best for your needs. This guide covers the most popular range of grow lights mentioned above, including their features and the benefits they provide. Thanks for reading!