Everything You Need to Know About Grow Lights 2021 Updated

Growing plants under lights indoors are something you might have heard about but haven’t attempted. Many people believe growing plants under lights is a costly and complicated business but the truth is anyone with even a little gardening know-how can set up lights for growing plants indoors.

LED grow lights “vary in color” depending on the intended use. But to avoid complexity, I’ll give you this general knowledge: Plants will grow normally if given both red and blue light and provides the most cost-efficient method of growing.

That means you don’t need to find any ultra-high-tech super expensive grow light just to get optimal yields from your plant. There are many grow light in the market, Indoor Grow Light can also be a good choice!

LED stands for light-emitting diodes. LED grow lights have rapidly come down in price and home growers everywhere are starting to make the switch to solely using them as their lighting option.

These lighting systems produce extremely low heat, come ready to plug-and-play, and can produce high yields with incredible energy efficiency.

Whereas HIDs require a reflector and ballast for operation, LED lights do not. They can last for decades, whereas HID bulbs will often need to be replaced every couple of years. But, one of the main reasons LED grow lights are regarded as the best is due to the spectrum they produce.

1. Light intensity:

The best cheap LED grow lights will provide a light intensity that’s enough to grow your plant from seedling to harvest. That means 20 to 40 moles of light per day.

In order to hit the 40 mole level for maximum yield, you want a grow light that emits between 600 uMols (for 18 hour veg) and 925 uMols (for 12 hour flowering) PPFD of light.

As long as you have sufficient light intensity, you don’t need to worry about wattage which is not an accurate indicator of performance when it comes to grow lights.

2. Good Spectrum:

The best cheap LED grow lights will have a balanced spectrum. Some of the worse performing lights have too much blue or too much red, which leaves you hanging for the Veg or Flowering stage of growth.

Spectrum isn’t a settled science yet, so some grow lights will vary slightly. But generally speaking your LED grow light should use a white spectrum or a balance of blue and red (purple looking). You can find that out by viewing the spectrum chart of each light.

3. Coverage Area:

The best cheap LED grow lights will cover the area you need covered for a good price. Take coverage area claims on lower priced lights with a grain of salt.

Most lights in the “best cheap” category won’t cover beyond 2x2 feet sufficiently.

Plants grown indoors require more hours of light than those grown outdoors. 14 to 18 hours of light per day is recommended for most edible species when grown under artificial lighting. Don’t be tempted to leave the lights on 24-7, however – at least six hours of darkness each day is essential to plant health.

As the plants grow, raise the light fixture accordingly to maintain the optimal distance, which varies depending on the type of bulb used and its wattage (the higher the wattage, the farther away the bulb can be). Here are the basic parameters:

• Fluorescent Grow Light: 3 to 12 inches


• LED Grow Light :12 to 24 inches


• HID Grow Light: 24 to 60 inches

There are many 240W quantum board LED, for photosynthesis to occur and chlorophyll to absorb the maximum amount of light for plant growth, plants use both blue and red light most efficiently. Other spectrums of light, like greens/yellows/oranges, are less useful for photosynthesis due to the amount of chlorophyll b, absorbed largely from blue light, and chlorophyll a, absorbed largely from red and blue light.

It’s worth noting photosynthesis is more complex than just chlorophyll absorption, but it’s important to recognize the fundamental principles.

For growth, blue light is essential to help plants produce healthy stems, increased density, and established roots – all which occur in the early vegetative growth stages. Growth then continues with increased red light absorption, resulting in longer stems, increased leaf and fruit/flowering etc. It’s here that red light plays the dominating role in plant maturity and, therefore, size.

And finally, yield – this comes down to a combination of light spectrums and is often very unique to growers, including growers of several varieties of the same crop (like Cannabis). There’s no one single light spectrum that produces more of a crop – optimal lighting is very much a holistic, ever-changing process. A quantum board led grow light can be a good choice!

The LED Grow Light must be used properly for optimum growth and yield. The most common mistakes with LEDs are not having enough light and not placing the light at the proper distance. If you do not provide enough light, your plants will not grow to their full potential. Similarly, incorrect light placement will also not allow plants to grow to their full potential. Placing a light too close will stunt growth, too far will cause stretching. Follow the recommended coverage areas listed on the Details Page of each light for optimal light penetration and coverage. Keep in mind that there are many variables to indoor growing with lighting being one of the most critical.

Features That Makes the Best Led Grow Light

• The area of coverage it can give


• If it can support all the growth stages of a plant


• The angle of the LED lens


• Nothing beats it if it has the three above mention features but still CHEAP!

Indoor growing offers many advantages. The biggest benefits are the most obvious: garden pests can’t get at your plants, and you have total control over the weather.

LEDs are already quite cheap and utilize less energy even though they provide enough intensity for the plants to grow naturally. If you are someone who watches out for their carbon footprint and looks for energy-efficient devices, cheap LED grow light is your best bet.

There are still many options and when choosing something for your grow tent, focus on the area of your indoor garden and the kind of plants you will be growing. A full spectrum LED grow light is obviously the best.