October 16, 2021
Grow lights are a category of indoor lighting for plants that allow you to grow the most succulents, herbs and houseplants during any time of year. This artificial light source is a compact way to stimulate plant growth, at all growth stages, by emitting blue light (which helps the plant grow) and red light (which helps with seed germination and blossom development). These lights range from professional grow lights for large commercial operations to small lamps for hobbyists and indoor herb gardens.
Every child knows that plants grow and thrive when they are watered, soiled and receive light. However, serious growers and gardeners know how to tailor the soil, lighting conditions and watering system to their plants’ needs. For instance, sunlight naturally contains a broad range of light wavelengths, many of which are lacking in your typical LED or incandescent bulbs. Likewise, plants respond to the natural rhythms of sunset and sunrise, and the best indoor grow lights include timers to mimic this natural cycle. While outdoor plants naturally receive all the spectrum lighting they need, indoor plants tend to lack proper lighting. This is where a grow light comes in handy.
To understand full-spectrum LED grow light, you first need to know how light works. Light exists on a wave spectrum. Depending on the length of those waves, we get different colours. That’s how rainbows are formed when rain and the sun split the light into its full visible light spectrum.
However, there are other parts of the spectrum we can’t see, infrared and ultraviolet light. Some LED lights exist on a small piece of this spectrum. These LED’s are known as narrow spectrum LED’s and can only display blue or red lights.
Grow lights LED for plants should come as close to the sun’s light as possible. The narrow-spectrum LEDs don’t even come close to that. Instead, use a full spectrum LED, which displays white light and reaches all ends of the light spectrum. They are the best grow lights for plants.
Growers are adopting these lights because they’re easier on the eyes in an enclosed operation. Also, they display a broader range of lights shades on your crop throughout the entire growing process.
Research shows these different ranges of light can be more beneficial than we initially thought. Green, for example, has recently been found to play an important role in photosynthesis. The energy in the far red region has been linked to the growth of stems and leaves. It’s better to give your plants this full range because they might miss out on something they would have received from the sun.
Fluence SPYDRx 340W LED Grow Light
Features:
SPYDRx 340W LED 455 avg PPFD, high efficiency, low profile, for 730 umol/s, 2.15 umol/J at 340W as a vegetative stage, top-lighting solution for commercial or as a full-cycle top-lighting solution for residential applications without CO2 supplementation. Full Spectrum PhysioSpec Indoor for optimal photosynthetic targeting. Fluence SPYDRx a 340W LED indoor grow light with an average —, not max — PPFD above 455 is perfect as a vegetative stage. Anodized, extruded aluminium alloy chassis with integrated heatsink for longevity and passive, natural convection thermal management (no fans or moving components). Recommended mounting height 6 inches from the top of the canopy for best canopy penetration, optimal light uniformity, and flux density above a 4ftx4ft canopy.
Futur Vert Floramax FM8 FSG 320W LED Grow Light
Features:
This LED grow light has a unique designed 4 passive-cooled led bars and Driver provide more even and board canopy coverage and ensure less light decay and better PAR values than ordinary LED chips. With high efficient Upgraded LED diodes, boast the market-leading efficiency per wattage with 30% higher Average PPFD while only consumes 320 watts, it can cover 3x4ft growing area in Veg stage and 4x5ft for flower. Excellent full spectrum. The light looks fairly natural, so it’s good for accurately monitoring plant health and no need to worry about hurting eyes. Comes with all necessary accessories, this LED grow light can be installed in three different ways- sling installation, power side hanging installation and ceiling installation. Suitable for grow houses, grow tents or stand racks.
The lighting of LED grow light needs to be equivalent to the lighting emitted by the Sun. These light sources not only allow plants to grow through photosynthesis but also activate fruiting or flowering thanks to the time of light, Photosynthesis. Without light, plants will quickly weaken (yellow leaves) and die. This process converts atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates (sugars). Chlorophyll is a pigment that absorbs the red and blue components of light and gives leaves their green colour.
Light is essential to the success of your hydroponic system or soil.
2. The Intensity
How Should We Measure LED Grow Light? Light intensity or intensity can be measured by the total wattage of LED grow lights. The higher the power, the brighter the light. Another measure is lighting the plants with lamps. Another measure is the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) of plant growth lamps, which measures the efficiency of plant growth lamps by plant photosynthesis.
The PAR value was measured as the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) µmol / m2 / s in micromoles per square meter per second. PPFD measures the amount of PAR light (photons) reaching the surface of the plant per second. The effective PAR must be above 500 μmol / m2 / s to be effective for plant photosynthesis.
3. The Range
Your choice of LED garden lights will depend on the surface you want to illuminate. The light coverage of LEDs is determined by their lens angle which varies from 20° to 160°. The larger this angle, the larger the coverage area of the lamp. On the other hand, the photon flux and hence the illumination intensity will decrease accordingly, as it is distributed over a larger area.
Wide lens lights can be very useful for seedlings or young shoots, as they can be placed closer to them and at the same time provide a little extra heat to them.
It is usually advisable to illuminate an area larger than that covered by vegetation to avoid losses to the sides, but this then leads to unnecessary heat consumption and production. So, if possible, calculate the exact size of your area and choose the lights that best suit your needs.
4. The ratio of different wavelengths/colours of light
The concept of the light spectrum is very important in the selection of LED garden lights. This is the set of wavelengths are emitted by a light source, be it the sun or artificial light. The part of the light spectrum that our eyes can see ranges from 400 nm to 700 nm. Below 400 nm, we mean ultraviolet, and beyond 700 nm, it is infrared.
During the development stage of our flora maximum use of light “blue”, a wavelength from 400 nm spectrum to 500 nm.
By providing enough green light to plants during this time, you may find that they have more leaves, stronger roots, and shorter internodes than unexposed specimens. This is because the plant does not need to stretch these stems to get as much light as possible.
During the blooming stage, they mainly use red light. The wavelengths of the spectrum are from 620 nm to 780 nm.
To make these different colours, there are usually 4 types of LED grow lights on the market:
LED grow lights (mostly blue)
Flowered LEDs (mostly red)
Mixed LEDs (with predefined blue and red distribution)
Customizable LEDs (allows you to choose colours)
In fact, the majority of commercial horticultural LED panels or lights contain a mixture of colours with a ratio of about 80% red and 20% blue. This is the best compromise because it will fit all situations while avoiding unduly high costs.
It is possible to choose lamps that diffuse the entire light spectrum, thus ensuring that plants always have the wavelengths they need at the right time. Partner of this choice will be higher consumption.
One of the factors that you need to consider when choosing a grow light to use should be the wattage of the unit. Your grow light wattage will determine the size of your coverage area and how the light will affect the various cannabis grow stages.
A 300w LED grow light is highly efficient and does not consume a lot of power. It provides a sizeable coverage that you can increase by using more than one grow light in your grow tent. When growing cannabis, you need to get a lamp that will provide you with a full spectrum light.
It reduces the need for using more than one light in your grow room, saving you unnecessary costs. The light as well needs to be on the right spectrum for each growth stage if you want to get the best yields.
October 20, 2023