Buying Guide: LED Grow Light for Your Indoor Plants（2023）

April 3, 2023

If you want to grow plants in your indoor grow room, but natural light is not enough in your area, you can use grow lights to meet the lighting requirement for your plants. There are so many regions in the world where winters are longer than other parts of the earth, which is not considered suitable for the majority of plants. Horticultural led grow-lights are the modern option to come over this problem.

If you are also looking to buy the full-spectrum good LED grow lights for growing plants, there are some factors to look out at when buying. Here we have prepared this ultimate guide to help you in this regard. Always consider the following things at this LED grow light guide when choosing LED grow lights for your indoor plants.

Grow Lights for Growing Indoor Plants

Why we need the LED grow lights? We mostly grow plants in our homes and set them in a corner or indoor room where lighting conditions are unsuitable for plants. Then you need fewer indoor grow lights if your plant is inside the house. However, big greenhouses need a lot of units to fulfill the needs of lighting. Always look out at the area where you want to install the grow lights. It will help you calculate the number of lights you need.
If you have a big greenhouse or your light covering area is bigger, you should buy several grow light units to provide enough light coverage to all the plants. Plants that are near and receive plenty of light will grow well. In comparison, those who are far away will grow unhealthy or take longer to develop. Also, using the recommended footprint from the manufacturer is the easiest and quickest way to know which light will be adequate for your grow space.

Choose the Plants You Want to Grow

You must decide the type of plant you are planning to grow before buying the grow lights for growing , like vegetables, cannabis, and medial plants. It will really help you choose the right one, as your primary purpose is not to light the entire place. After you have decided the type of plant, spend some time researching their preferred growing conditions and environment. There are so many different kinds of grow lights available with different specifications and features. Choose the best one that fits your plant's needs.

Look for PAR

Photosynthetically Active Radiation, also known as PAR, is a form of light that plants use to grow and photosynthesize as an alternative to sunlight. Grow lights are available with kinds of PAR values, depending on the conditions it is made for. When buying a grow light, not only consider the value of PAR but also make sure that PAR is distributed equally among the plants or area where you are installing it. If the light is not provided equally to all the plants, plants that receive less light will grow less than others that receive more light. That's why it's essential to know the area before choosing the grow light and then buy according to your needs.

Buy the Lights with Good Cooling System

To provide sufficient light to the plants, you should run your grow lights 15 hours a day at least. If your lights don't have a good cooling system, they will go overheat when using them for a longer period. That's why your grow lights should have a good cooling system, as overheat can harm your plants and light itself. Lights usually get heated from the back, so always look for a heat-proof material. You can also ask the seller or manufacturer about it.

Choose Good Quality Lights

Grow lights are used as a natural light alternative for plants. So if you want to use your grow light for a long period of time, you have to buy high-quality lights with high-quality LED chips. There are so many varieties available differing in quality. Always choose the good quality because you are going to use it on a full scale. Bad quality lights can stop working too soon, and you may lose your money. Poor-quality lights also produce more heat that can harm your plants. Also, it distributes light unevenly, and plants that are far away will not grow well.

Programmable Grow Lights

You may find it hard when choosing from hundreds of varieties offered by various brands. All variants and manufacturer has their own features and specification which some of them are good, and some are bad for you. To solve this, you can go for programmable grow lights as you can set their preference according to your needs, such as color changes, on-off time, and intensity of light. It will really help you in managing your plants in a modern and efficient way using AI technology. In addition, some variants allow you to change the spectrum so you can adjust it according to your plant type.

Connection of Grow Lights with Plant

There is a very strong bond between plant and spectrum of the grow light. Several studies suggested that spectrum are directly linked to the growing circle of the plant. If plants are receiving enough blue and red light, more chance that they will complete their growth circle. Adding some more colors colors such as green and deep-red will speed up the process, and your plant will grow better and faster. The light that includes all these colors is called "full-spectrum light." Full-spectrum grow light is very close to the natural sunlight, so that it will be the best option for almost all kinds of plants. There are dozens of brands in the market that claim their light is a full-spectrum light. A fixture’s spectrum may be tunable or fixed. Fixed spectrums do not change. Fixtures that offer a tunable spectrum can be tuned either through veg and bloom on/off switches, by dimming down the respective veg or bloom channels, or remotely through a controller.

Modern LED Grow Lights

When grow light is invented, it was very expensive, and people had not shown much interest in using it. With modern technology and machinery, it is now very cost effective to manufacture grow lights, eventually making it affordable for most people. Modern grow lights also use less electricity than traditional HPS lights. LED grow lights are modern and efficient want to grow a plant in areas where natural sunlight is not available or very low. Compared to the traditional HPS, modern LED grow light is very compact and durable due to the material used in the making. It also produces less heat, making it effective to use for a more extended period.

Final Thoughts

LED grow lights are a modern and efficient way to provide light to your growing plants. There so many variants of grow lights available in the market, making it harder for you to choose the right one for your plant. If you consider all the above factors when purchasing a grow light for your plants, it will save you time and money. Quality should be your first preference whenever you buy grow light. Let us know what you have learned from this article? THANKS!!!