The Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants at home, When the sun comes up in the morning, your room might be bathed in light for your plants to soak it up. Whether you’re looking to get a leg up on the vegetable growing season or help your houseplants survive the winter, here’s how to find the best grow light for your needs and space. Unlike the bulbs in chandeliers or sconces, grow lights emit a spectrum of light that’s similar to the sun.
“Grow lights let indoor growers of any scale bring the right spectrum of light to their plants,” says Roger Buelow, the chief technology officer at AeroFarms.
This high-tech vertical farming company grows to produce indoors year-round. Grow herbs indoors with this compact LED grow light kit. Plus, the sleek stainless container will actually look good sitting on your counter or desk. “I have found that harvesting, rinsing, drying, and storing in the fridge with a paper towel for a couple of days makes the greens crisper,” advises a five-star review. There are tons of grow lights to choose from online. The Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants at home You can get standard fixtures with white fluorescent tubes or a combo of calm and natural daylight fluorescent tubes, LEDs, shelving kits, hang lights, and more. Here, we’ve laid out some of the best grow lights to consider to ensure your plants thrive.
Do my plants need a grow light?
Lighting is so integral to growing houseplants so you really want to make sure that they have the proper amount of light necessary to flourish. Light requirements can vary depending on the plant, of course, and some plants are totally cool with very little light. The Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants at home But if your plant requires more sunlight than your home’s north-facing windows can provide, then supplementing with some strategically placed plant grow lights can make a huge difference in whether or not your plants survive and actually thrive. This is even more true if you have outdoor plants that you bring indoors for the winter.
Choosing a Grow Light Type – Grow Bulbs vs. Lighting Fixtures
Should you swap out the bulbs in an existing light with special grow bulbs, or should you buy a brand-new fixture with built-in lighting? It all depends on what you’re looking for – convenience and cost or specialized quality.
Grow light bulbs are the cheaper option. For most people, it’s easier to use as well. Just take an old lamp or ceiling light that needs bulb replacement, and pop in a specially-designed grow bulb.
Grow light fixtures are more expensive, but they offer a more holistic solution. The Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants at home A single fixture can provide illumination for multiple plants, dispersing the lighting evenly throughout the space. Because these fixtures are specifically designed for grow light purposes, they tend to provide a fuller light spectrum range than cheaper light bulbs.
Which bulb type is best? Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants
Grow lights come in a variety of types that range in price and longevity.
LED Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants
They last up to five times longer than many other bulbs and are much cheap, that’s why not choose them. If you’re looking for a long-term, sustainable and non-toxic option. Choose a full spectrum LED bulb for your desk lamp or grow fixture. Red-blue light combinations are available for specific plant needs. LED or light-emitting diode bulbs are the most effective at producing light and the most efficient to operate all home grow lights.
Color temperature Best Led Grow Lights For Growing Indoor Plants
The unit Kelvin (K) measures the color temperature of individual bulbs–in other words, will the light emitted appear warm or cool? This becomes important when your grow lights also illuminate your living space. Opting for a slightly warmer color temperature will give your space a cozy glow.
Light intensity
How much light a bulb or fixture provides depends on its intensity. This is usually measured in lumens in the case of LEDs. The higher the number of lumens of your bulb, the more light that bulb will produce–and the brighter it will appear.
Compact Fluorescent Lights
Halides
How Much Light Do You Need?
Once you’ve decided the kind of plant grow light you want, it’s time to decide how big a bulb you need for the space you have. First, determine how much space you need to illuminate. As a rule of thumb, aim for 20 to 40 watts per square foot. Finally Divide the wattage of your bulb by 20 (such as 400 watts divided by 20 = 20), and divide the wattage of your bulb by 40 (400 divided by 40 = 10).