ECO Farm UI2 690W Samsung 301B Chips LED Grow Light VS Phantom Photobio•MX 680W 100–277V S4 Spectrum

Get on the fast-track to better growth with LED grow lights. Finely-tuned light recipes improve the quality, consistency and yield of vegetables and fruits — even during winter months. Whether you are growing vegetables indoors or growing fruits indoors, LED grow lights complement natural light, supplying the spectrum and intensity that your crops need without adding extra heat. Plus, LED lighting is an efficient way to increase lighting capacity and lower electricity usage.

What is the best colour light for plant growth?

Chlorophyll absorption, photosynthesis, and growth are aided by violet-blue light in the 400–520 nm range. Flowering and budding are stimulated by red light in the 610–720 wavelength. Photosynthesis is essential for plant growth, and grow lights should supply the right spectrum of light. Check out the offered colour spectrum before purchasing a light. For your growing environment, broad-spectrum lights are the best option. LED lights can help in this situation. The majority of LED growth lights provide both forms of colour spectrum lighting, allowing you to reap the full benefits.

You probably already know that plants require light if you know anything about them. It is used for photosynthesis, which is the conversion of light into carbohydrates. Plants turn light to food in layman’s words. They will perish if they do not receive food. But here’s the thing: here’s the thing: here’ Plants in the house, as the name implies, live in the house. Outside, where there is less light. You already know all of this. I’m just double-checking that we’re on the same page. Sure, many plants can survive in low light, but only a handful can survive in complete darkness. There aren’t any, unfortunately.

What do they mean when they talk about full-spectrum light?

“PAR” stands for photo-synthetically active radiation. This measurement of light is often referred to as full-spectrum light. Full-spectrum lights are the wavelengths of light between 440 nm and 700 nm which includes ultraviolet and infrared. These plants use this whole spectrum to photosynthesize light into simple sugars.

When purchasing a LED grow light system, you will find that the higher end systems will all be full spectrum. Be cautious when investigating cheaper grow lights as manufactures sometimes claim to be full-spectrum but don’t provide IF and IR LED Chips in their units.

Is full spectrum light absolutely a requirement? You can get away without ultraviolet and infrared but this could leave your plants open to unwanted issues such as molds and mildews. Ultraviolet light is nature’s sterilizer, it’s even used to kill viruses. When growing in a small area such as a grow tent it really is important to have ultraviolet to mitigate the risks of enclosed growing.

Full spectrum LED lights generally have two operational modes; vegetation and flowering. In Vegetation mode the grow light will use 40% less energy and use less red light. This is because vegetation doesn’t require as much energy as flowering a plant. As well flowering plants require more red light to grow fat healthy buds. When you’re ready to start flowering your plants just flip the operational mode over to flowering and you are done. No need to change light bulbs.

While LED lights emit light faster and take up less space, it requires precise power management. Find out if this is the type of lighting that’s best for you and how it compares to other grow lights.

One thing is for sure a full spectrum LED grow light will produce a larger yield than a LED grow light that isn’t full spectrum. I’ve grown with both options and the full spectrum option really takes LED grow lights to the next level.

ECO Farm UI2 690W Samsung 301B Chips LED Grow Light

Features:

This ECO Farm LED grow light adoptes high efficiency with 2.8 umol/j while only consuming only 690watts. Adequate and sun-like light can prevent the growth of plants from spindly and moulding. The best lighting solution for indoor hydroponics and soil cultivation. More uniform coverage. Perfect for 5x5 with max of 6x6 space. If in a grow tent, over 90% of reflected light can be absorbed by plants. New designed aluminum material quickly disperses heat without a noisy fan. The light intensity can be changed by dimmer knob according to the different growth stages of plants. Saving up to 50% energy and 30% cooler than than other grow lamp. With 180°folding design, the angle and range of light can be adjusted appropriately and storage space saving. One will meet all your needs.

Phantom Photobio•MX 680W 100–277V S4 Spectrum

Features:

PHOTOBIO grow light abandons the bar style concept in favor of a more efficient contiguous circuit board to deliver unparalleled PPFD uniformity to the canopy. The iLOC Integrated Light Output Control onboard dimming knob allows the grower to adjust the photon output intensity to accommodate the various stages of plant growth for optimal photosynthesis activation. With the knob adjusted to 100% using 240V, the MX uses 664W and puts out 1700 μmol/s photon flux (PPF). With the knob adjusted to 40%, the MX uses 270W and puts out 40% of the high-efficiency photon flux. The high efficiency S4 spectrum does not change when using the dimmer knob and still provides ideal red to blue ratio for vigorous growth and maximized flower development. 

Why UV and IR good for plant cultivation?

Full-spectrum led grow light contains not only visible light, they also have infrared (IR) light and ultraviolet (UV) light.

UV rays are not pleasing to humans as they make our skins tanned or even cause cancer. But UV rays are good for plants. They help plants to form shapes, growing beautiful colors, and improve resistance to the external environment. For those who can only grow plants in shady interior spaces, UV grow lights are needed. Besides, short UV radiation will also help prevent plants from growing stems without flowering, and even kill germs that are harmful to plants’ growth.

IR rays mostly produce heat. Plants and crops need heat to grow vibrant. And you will need an IR light as a fill light in hydroponics — growing plants without soil.

How to choose the right LED grow lights

There are many factors to consider when deciding on the right LED lights for you.

Your grow space
Your lighting needs will vary quite a lot depending on your unique physical space. Because of the way light is distributed by a particular fixture, it might make more sense to have a few small fixtures as compared to one large one. This is where the PAR chart comes in handy.

For example, if you’re lighting a 4-by-8-foot space, perhaps you’d get better overall coverage with two lights that have a single point of light emission versus one light that has multiple, spread-out diodes. You can compare the PAR charts of different lights — while also weighing optimal light coverage against your budget — to make the best choice.

The product specs
Do your homework. Comparing one product’s advertised wattage and price to another product’s wattage and price is like comparing apples to oranges. Look at metrics like PPF, the PAR chart, and photon efficacy to truly compare products.

Your budget
LED grow lamps can be quite expensive, though there is a wide range of products out there at various price points. That said, you generally get what you pay for with LEDs, so if a product is touting superior specs at a low price, be suspicious. Considering that LED fixtures should provide years of useful life, it might be worth the investment to spend a little extra. But if budget and initial investment are driving considerations for you, more traditional lighting options like compact fluorescent lights (CFL) or high-intensity discharge lights (HID) might be the better way to go.

Conclusion

Research is making strides in understanding how LEDs affect plant growth. This better understanding, one hopes, will lead to better technology that will one day help tackle our food problems.

For those of us living in apartments that don’t receive an abundance of sunlight, there are affordable and small growth chambers that should work just as well as the sun. Just make sure that the light isn’t switched on all the time, since too much light is bad for a plant!

Even with these grow lights’ options, sunlight remains the best light source for plants. So if you can, take your plants out for a day of sunbathing!

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