What's the best grow light in 2021?

Grow lights give you the power to garden almost anywhere and in every season. While grow lights are often popular when it’s time to start seeds for your spring garden, you can also use them year-round for herbs, indoor houseplants, and veggies. 

LED Grow Lights are different from the usual LED bulbs in your household. The everyday light only illuminates, while grow lights have a broad spectrum of red and blue that stimulate growth.

LED grow lights come in many shapes and sizes. But as the most needed units of LED grow lights, LED chips have most of the effect on the quality of the lighting, such as spectrum (colors) and photon flux (“brightness”) produced.

Since highest yielding led grow lights manufacturers can choose the LEDs they use in their lamps, it is crucial to understand which kind of LED grow light best fits the specific application.

One of the advantages of LED grow lights compared to traditional lighting solutions is the ability to match the lighting to the needs of plants.

Now that LEDs are widely used by growers from different parts of the world, different versions arrive in the market. But instead of convincing you to buy from a single brand, we’ll let you decide on the product to buy. So, here are some tips and questions to answer so you can choose the LED grow lights:

• Look for chips

To make sure that your plants will grow, it has to have the right chips. In this case, the LED grow light that you should choose is the one with at least 3 watts. Any LED with less than 3 watts will not give your plants enough light coverage that can help them grow. Thus, every chip in the LED should have 3 watts since a 3 watts chip provides the best lighting solution.

You can notice this in blues, reds, and white LEDs so beware of those that only offer 1 watt each. Using 3 chips with 1 watt just to meet this requirement will not work either.

• Check the total output

Just like any other lighting solutions, you should also check its product description for the total output. Check the total number of units that the lamp has since it can also affect its produced amount of light. Some LED grow lights are built with 300, 400, 600, and even 1,000W. Before you head to the counter, check if it has at least 300W first. The higher the wattage the better since you can compensate for the loss of wattage over time.

• Consider its spectrum

Plants may grow under different kinds of light. However, it requires a specific amount of wavelength and spectrum to help them in photosynthesis. The best LEDs for growing indoor plants can provide a full spectrum that is necessary from their growth.

In this case, it should be able to provide enough amount of blues and reds as well as ultraviolet, and infrared. Depending on your plants’ stage of growth, their needed spectrum may also change to help them during the photosynthesis process.

• Look for its cooling aspects

Generally, LEDs produce less heat so a cooling system is not really necessary on some units. But since you’d be keeping these lamps on for more than 10 hours a day, you better check its cooling aspects. There are units with internal fans to protect the lamp from burning fast as well as your plants. The heat that comes out behind the bulbs should be protected with a cooling system to avoid burning its chips.

• Growing space

If LEDs vary in color, it also varies in size. Thus, be sure to measure the space you want to grow your plants to determine the exact size to buy. You also need to measure the lighting area to make sure that every plant you have is well-lighted. For high-light plants, you should have at least 32W/sq. ft. LEDs while low-light plants should have at least 11-18W/sq. ft.

• Ease of use

One of the most important things to look for when choosing an LED grow light is its ease of use. The best-LED lights for growing indoor plants should not give you a hard time while operating it. It should be flexible so you can adjust its lights depending on the kind of plant you have. At the same time, its growth stage should determine your LED’s placement.

ECO Farm ECOR Samsung LM301H 480W Quantum Board

Pros:

Specially designed to replace 1,000W HID LEDs

Provides a full spectrum to ensure your plants’ growth

Includes dimmable power supply for convenience

Offers bigger coverage for grow tents

Cons:

Too expensive

The lamp gets too hot after using it for a couple of hours

The wiring underneath it is exposed and hazardous

BESTVA P2000 Quantum LED Grow Light

Pros:

Offers a full spectrum with the latest white light technology

Tested and proven to provide the highest yield on plants

Produces 40% more light to the canopy with less 10W

Cons:

Produces a little noise that comes from its fan

The COBs gets too hot than necessary which can burn you

That really depends on exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. There are excellent budget lights, as well as platinum quality lights that are worth the price tag.

It’s worth spending close to $1,000 per LED light if you’re going for a maximum efficiency system, especially if one light will serve the use that multiple budget lights will and you don’t need supplementation of any kind.

Less serious growers, or personal hobby growers, can do just as well with a light under $500.

LED grow lights are the most efficient, hands down.

You won’t believe how much you can save in electricity costs by switching to, or starting with, a LED grow light system.

Their longevity is astounding when compared to the lifespan of other grow lights, they make temperature control for your grow room easier than ever, and the better spectrum they offer will boost the yield of your plants. ECO Farm Quantum Board deserves for your try.