With the recent additions in technology, LED grow lights for plants are overwhelming and exciting products that suit all your needs and specifications. A revolutionary product that is considered to enhance agriculture’s future LED Grow lights is quite energy-efficient.

Table of Contents:

What are LED Grow Lights?

Before we understand how they work and how powerful these LED grow lights for plants are, it is important to figure out exactly these LED grow lights. LEDs or Light Emitting Diodes are compact electric components made up of different types of semiconductor materials, both negative and positive. These positive and negative electrons are called holes.

LED Grow Lights are lighting devices that make use of LED chips keeping up with the current times and are well structured to produce light from growing plants. These grow lights are available in various shapes and sizes but what stands out is the quality of light illuminated from these pieces of technology. Manufacturers of this LED grow light have the full authority to choose the kind of lights they want to use in their lamps, and therefore, there are tons of factors to consider when choosing the right one for you. The best thing about these LED grow lights is the ability and functionality they possess to match the growing plants’ lighting needs.

Now that we know that these LED Grow Lights offer, we have to understand how plants react or respond to different light colors to know the effect these lights have on them. The LED grow lights full spectrum includes:

UV Light: The UV lights help magnify the effect that pigment accumulation can have on the leaves and intensely affects the whole leaf and plant morphology.
Blue Light: The Blue light is considered to be quite effective in plants and helps with stomach openings, stem elongation inhibition, thicker leaves, and better orientation to light as well as photoperiodic flowering.
Green, Yellow, and Orange Light: These colors work exactly opposite to the effects of blue lighting, and offer shade avoidance symptoms, improved photosynthesis that penetrates through the deeper cell layers.
Red: This is the main constituent for performing photosynthesis, stem elongation inhibition, and signal light.

Difference between LED Grow Lights and LED Lights

An LED light usually comes with its microchip inside, and the bulbs that come with this technology have a heat sink where the heat travels to when it gets warm. This is the reason why LED Lights are quite cool to touch. In terms of energy efficiency, these LED Lights help in saving up almost 90 percent of the energy. In addition to this, the LED lighting works directionally, meaning that these light points in a certain direction for illumination.

Moreover, these LED lights are quite light on the pocket. They are affordable yet energy-efficient alternatives to standard lighting, and they are much more durable compared to the traditional tube lights, CFL’s or halogen bulbs available in the market.

LED Grow Lights: These Grow lights do not have to be LED lights necessarily; you can also choose to use high-intensity discharge lights or incandescent lights to grow your plants. The right amount of light, when directed towards the plants, assist in the process of photosynthesis. Today, plant owners use these grow lights when the plant generally needs some added source of light, where the sun does not provide the adequate amount needed. Those plants that are grown indoors due to some reason or the other need artificial lighting for better growth.

Grow lights are mostly artificial, and for them to work, you need a varied light spectrum that includes the features of adequate color temperature and luminous efficacy of the lights. Color temperature generally refers to the combination and feel of the different light colors. Additionally, the quality of light received through a particular light source should also be quite efficient. Therefore, calculating the luminous efficacy is imperative to understand better and grow the cycle of these plants.

Hence, the main differences between LED Lights and Grow lights are in terms of:

Illumination objectives: LED lights offer the primary objective of providing illumination, whereas LED grow lights are used to enhance plants’ growth.
Vast Variety of lights: There are many options for grow lights according to the affordability and specifications such as incandescent, LED, and HIDs.
Colors Available: The standard LED’s come with a certain color spectrum, although they are not as extensive as grow lights.

Which Grow Light should one choose for their plants?

Different sources of light help grow and enhance your plants:

HID’S: These include high-pressure sodium lights as well as metal ones. These are considered favorite amongst most of the users but compared to the LED ones, and these are much less efficient in comparison. They are also not durable and work for much lesser time than the LED ones.
FLUORESCENTS: Fluorescents are considered quite appropriate to grow light options and are much more affordable than LED’s and also don’t exhibit as much heat. This option is much better compared to the HID ones.
INCANDESCENTS: Another variety is the incandescent bulbs that have been around for a long time. These are one of the cheapest options available and project the most amount of heat and illuminates in all directions. They are not energy efficient at all and should be the last possible choice for grow lights.

Unique Advantages of LED Grow Lights

In earlier times, LED technology was not understood by all and ended up sounding quite impractical. With the transformation and up-gradation in technology, LED grow lights have become quite a fad and have helped facilitate the development of a fast-growing plant growing industry. These lights are extremely cost-saving and energy-efficient and are quite eco-friendly as well.

There are tons of advantages associated with LED grow lights today, which are elaborated as follows:

Affordable electricity consumption: LED grows lights use less than half the energy compared to standard lights and offer much more efficiency for future generations to come.
Highly Durable: These LED grow lights last for much longer than the other lights and can last for almost eight years, which is commendable.
Compact and convenient: These LED grow lamps should be kept in proximity to the plants, and the growing space need not be too wide.
Energy Saving: When you use these glow lights, you can focus energy on the color spectrum that is most beneficial for making plants grow and flourish.
Fire Safety: These lights don’t heat up as much compared to the others and are quite safe to use.
Dimming: LED grows lights have a great feature of dimming through the remote control or an app. These lights are easy to handle and maintain and are safe for everyone.
Better Crops: As per practical research and study, LED grow lights help produce much better crops and help grow plants much faster than the other sources of light.
Environmentally Friendly: Because these lights heat up lesser and the fact that any source of light such as the UV light can be inserted inside these lamps, there is a much lesser chance of any bacteria or health-related hazard and in turn, helps with minimizing the pollution in your surroundings.

How to use LED grow lights for growing plants

Certain steps need to be followed to aid the process of growing plants:

Step 1: The first step is to adjust the LED’s height to grow light to increase or decrease the length. When the plants are in their initial stage of growth, they have to be positioned at a certain distance at about 300mm above the plants. Once they move into the vegetative state, the light can be raised further above to penetrate through the entire plant to increase or decrease the inter-nodal lengths. When the plants come to their nascent stage, the light can be placed above the canopy, which is quite favorable for the plant’s growth.

Step 2: The next step is to adjust the amount of watering that is required. Some lights affect the plants and need regular watering, while for others, the same activity can be repeated fewer times. Overwatering can be quite a problem when it comes to plants that grow with the LED lights.

Step 3: You have to have enough knowledge about how much you should feed your plants. For example, hydroponic systems need fewer nutrients.

Step 4: The colder months also require a bit of supplementary heating to optimize the room temperature and facilitate a better plants’ growth environment.

Features of LED Grow Lights

Wavelength Output: As per science and research, red and blue wavelengths are quite imperative for the growth of plants as they help in photosynthesis.
Watts Knowledge: Watts is defined as the measure of energy input that the light requires. When it comes to the functionality of the LED grow lights, other components have to offer high-quality performances, such as the LED chip, the chip density, the kind of optics used, the heat sink, and the driver. When you increase the watts, the efficiency of the LED reduces and vice-versa.
Intensity of the Light: It is important to understand the relationship between the physical law of the light intensity and the distance from its source. If the LED grows light is placed close to the plants, the intensity will be lesser, and if it is put away, then the intensity will be higher.
LED chip quality: Chip quality is essential for emitting wavelengths necessary for the growth of plants and where the light intensity is different.
LED Lens: The kind of quality of these lights depends on the lens it includes. All outputs and results are completely connected to the quality of the lens.

Why should you use LED grow lights?

There are tons of reasons why LED grow lights are ideal for your plant’s growth and improvement.

Enhanced Durability: The LED grow lights offer a longer lifespan and last for at least 50,000 hours. They are also quite an energy-efficient and emit the optimum level of light required to improve the plants’ condition.
Flexibility: LED grows lights can be used easily in any way and any position, whether they are placed close to the plants or away from them.
Better Brightness: LED grows lights provide an optimum proportion of heat and light necessary for the proper growth of plants.
Enhanced Growth: When plants are provided with the optimum level of light, they grow much faster and better. As per studies, the results of LED grow lights when used on plants are outstanding.
Targeted Light: Plants that grow indoors or outdoors through the greenhouse technique need constant monitoring and supervision. Without the right environment, they will never be able to get to where they have to and will be able to produce results that will make them outshine.

The most powerful LED grow lights on the market.

Now that we have a clear understanding of how these LED grow lights work let’s look at some of the best ones available in the market today and for the future to come.

BESTVA DC SERIES 3000W LED GROW LIGHT:

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This light comes with the latest technology of dual-chip and is known for the kind of efficiency and brightness. It comes with a powerful cooling system to ensure adequate heat dissipation and comes with VEG and BLOOM switches for growing and flowering simultaneously.

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KING PLUS 3000W LED GROW LIGHT:

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This brand is one of the top brands that provide LED grow lights. These lights are most energy-efficient and help increase your overall yield by assisting in the plants’ overall growth process. The grow light works indoors only and is not waterproof. Moreover, it comes with a powerful cooling system and upgraded aluminum radiators for efficient working.

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HIGROW 2000W LED GROW LIGHT:

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The Higrow LED Grow Light only uses 400 watts of energy from the wall, and the spectrum is perfect for the process of flowering. It offers some of the best yields in optimum temperatures and can easily be controlled by a timer.

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ROLEADRO 1000W LED GROW LIGHT:

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This one is an infrared grow light that works best for indoor plants. The company provides grow lights, aquarium lights, and underwater lights and has been here for more than a decade. It consists of the full lines of LED lights consisting of the red-blue spectrum and a 2-year chip replacement policy.

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KINGPLUS 1200W LED GROW LIGHT:

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This LED grow light comes with the most energy-efficient features and uses 1200W of electricity to provide brighter and better light while being an affordable option at the same time. It comes with 3 years warranty and a 90-day money-back guarantee as well.

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YEHSENCE TRIPLE CHIPS:

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This LED grow light is a unique one and comes with triple chip LEDs that are much more efficient than single and double chip ones. It comes with a daisy-chained cord that is universal with the US power cord, which comes along with the package.

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These are some of the best grow lights available today amongst the hundred other options. This goes to say that this technology has come up, and people are utilizing it to enhance the growth of their plants and gardens.

Types of LED Grow Lights

There are three different types of LED grow lights available today:

Spread Style: In this grow light, smaller LEDs are spread out over a large area, such as Quantum Boards and Spider Style LED grow lights. Quantum Board LEDs are spread out over a large area on the board and offer low wattage diodes, and spider style LEDs are similar to quantum boards but are smaller in size and have arms spread from the panel. These are generally a little highly-priced.
Traditional Panel: This is the standard panel used by most of the consumers. Most of the grow lights available today come in this style and contain a mix of big and small LEDs for utmost efficiency.
COB style: These grow lights come with huge LED bulbs and make use of tons of electricity. These are becoming popular with time and penetrate deeply into the canopy.

FAQs

Can any LED light be used as a grow light?

When your plant needs lighting, then an LED light is there to provide it, and for the long-term growth and prosperity of your plant, it is recommended to choose to grow lights.

Which color spectrum is best for the plants – red, blue, or white?

For the plants’ efficient growth, you need a combination of blue and red lights, but one shouldn’t use the white lights alone because it doesn’t make your plants grow due to its lack of photochemical efficiency.

When do you know that your plant has received sufficient light?

With excessive illumination, some plants start turning brown. When the leaves start to curl up, it means that the plant has started to damage.

Final Thoughts

Plant lovers know how important their plants are to them and why their growth process should be perfect and flourishing. While natural ways to grow plants are here for centuries, the LED grow lights have brought about a revolution in technology by assisting in the growth of these plants. LED grow lights are extremely beneficial and robust methods to enhance or improve the plants’ life cycle. With the variety of products and brands available, finding one that suits your bill is quite easy. Therefore, LED grow lights are now a must-have to beautify your gardens.

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