Best LED Grow Lights [Buying Guide: Updated Comparison List]
The primary benefit of LED grow lights over the more established light sources is significantly reduced heat and reduced power consumption. Because they produce less heat than the more commonly used HIDs, then they are more energy efficient and require significantly less expense to ventilate and cool. Especially after the advent of full spectrum led grow lights, commercial growers and home hobbyists have begun to recognize these benefits and are now equipping greenhouses and indoor spaces with the best LED grow lights to cultivate their crops.
How many lights do plants need？
Plants have evolved to grow well under light cycles that the Earth provides them outdoors. Long bright summer days and shorter less bright Fall and Spring Days. This is why it is best to replicate these light cycles when growing indoors. The following light cycles are recommended (by growth phase):
- Seedling/Clone Phase: 16+ hours on, 8- hours off
- Vegetative Phase: 18 hours on, 6 hours off
- Flowering Phase: 12 hours on, 12 hours off
A change in the light cycle will actually help trigger the plant to move on to the next growth phase, specifically from Vegetative to Flowering. It’s also important to keep in mind that some plants react poorly to interruptions in their light cycles. Turning a light on in the middle of a dark phase, perhaps to check on your crops, can be detrimental to overall yield and should be avoided.
Does more light equal more yield?
When you get into how it all works, light is some amazing stuff. It doesn’t really act like anything else in the world, so it can be difficult to visualize how it works without having something else to use as a comparison or reference. For example, we may imagine light pouring like a liquid or like smoke, until it fills a space up – that’s close, but not quite right. We could describe it as being like radiation, emanating out and being absorbed by anything in its path…a little closer, even, but still not exactly the same thing.
Light has unique properties – in order to determine whether it is as simple as (more light = more growth) or whether dumping all those photons is wasteful or even harmful, we need to better understand how it works in the first place.
What you should pay attention to when purchasing a light:
- Power output– How many watts is the light and does it fit your needs?
- Spectrum – Does it include the complete PAR spectrum, especially blue and red?
- Quality LED chips – We suggest chips of at least 3W each, these are good for blue and red lights.
- Cooling – Are there onboard fan(s)? Or do you need to purchase any separately?
Best LED Grow Lights recommend for you:
Grower's Choice TSL PFS Series Horticultural LED grow light is perfect for plant seedling, flowering, growth and bearing fruit. Its ultra-lite and lightweight design makes it a great replacement for bulky T5 fluorescent lamps.
This light is an ultra-low profile (1.5") thin light. It includes an extraordinary power for the growth of the plants and is assembled with high-quality LEDs. The total output energy comes with a system efficiency of 2.5 μMol/J. You can save up to 60 percent more energy by using this LED ROI- E680 grow light. The lamp requires up to 60% less HVAC, cutting down your energy costs compared to HID.
The range of this full energy spectrum LED grow light is between 450 nm and 660 nm, which is helpful to restore all pigments and photoreceptors. The temperature is controlled between 3000 - 3300K. It is best suitable for Indoor environments. It offers you a safe atmosphere, and the reproduction process increases at the CRI level of 85.
HIGH INTENSITY. HIGH EFFICIENCY. HIGHER YIELDS.
The NextLight Mega LED Grow Light contains American made, full spectrum bright white LEDs. The spectrum is designed to closer match the sun than even your traditional HPS. Each unit can maintain a 100,000 hour life rating at 77° F ambient conditions. Using the best LEDs money can buy, NextLight can ensure longer life and better performance. NextLight’s unique makeup also means that it emits a full 75% less heat than a 1000 watt HPS.
TESTED AND PROVEN TO BE SAFE
Product safety is a cornerstone of NextLight. That is why they are proud to be one of the few grow lights with the Underwriters Laboratories Inc. approval for damp and dry conditions.
NEXTLIGHT VS. HPS
The NextLight 650W unit was designed to efficiently replace a double-ended 1000w HPS. By switching to NextLight you will have no bulb replacements, half the energy use and 75% less heat, while receiving a fuller spectrum.
NEXTLIGHT VS. OTHER LEDS
In the beginning, LED grow lights went from a 2 band spectrum to 4 band. As time went on, they began to add more bands to try to improve spectrum. What makes NextLight different is the use of full spectrum bright white diodes. No need for LED grow room glasses. The NextLight 650w unit produces a bright white light which makes seeing your canopy much easier. No more looking through the purple haze.
The RAGING KUSH, by Scynce LED, was designed specifically for flowering in vertical farming. Utilizing Scynce’s patented optics for incredible canopy penetration, the Raging Kush was engineered to meet the needs of large horticulture operations. Whether your need is for intensity & scheduling control, high humidity and frequently cleaned environments or maximizing limited space, the Raging Kush is a scalable solution to meet your growing needs.
As there are so many LED grow lights floating on the market, you might find it a bit overwhelming to get your hands on the right light system that meets all your expectations. Hope my recommendation will help you.
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