can you use a lcd panel as a grow light for sale

First the positives... the timer is my favorite! You can set how long you want it to be on, rather than just have 3 options like with other similarly priced lights. I"m a succulent person, and its suggested to have your lights on for 16 hours. The majority of my lights max out at 12, so this is a major plus for me. The arms are easy to manipulate and there are many levels of brightness you can choose from.

The not so positive thing is that this light will tip over backwards if you don"t have it clipped to something. The place I chose to put this light doesn"t have anything to clip it onto, so I have it clipped to a book to keep it from falling over. The pictures show the light with the arms all stretched out without being clipped to anything, so I was hopeful I could use it like that.

The number of light plants need varies depending on the type of plant. A low-light house plant can survive when you place them by the window. However, some indoor plants demand a brighter and more consistent amount of light for them to grow healthy and properly. These lcd grow lights are great for people who are nurturing vegetable seedlings in preparation for their spring garden. They are also good to coax a blooming houseplant to produce healthy flowers. These grow lights for plants will be one’s good companions as long as they choose the right light for the right plant. Choose from a wide range of varied wholesale lcd grow lights that would better fit your buyers" needs. Whether it is for low light plants, blooming plants, emerging seedlings, and even herbs.

There are a lot of lcd grow lights to choose from. There are led grow lights, indoor plants low light, full spectrum led grow lights, grow lights for succulents, and UV light for plants that will provide the right amount of light that plants need. These grow lights for plants are equipped with LED plant lights which makes them a more efficient grow light fixture in the long run. Aside from the longevity offered by LED lights, they use half the electricity of fluorescents and give off less heat. They are also safe as they do not shatter like normal lights, making them safe even around children.

These wide collections of lcd grow lights vary in the number of lumens they produce, making it a good fit to aid the growth of different plant varieties. Choose from a list of grow lights for indoor plants from plant light bulbs to 1000w led grow light to grow light stand and full spectrum grow lights and help provide tools for plant lovers to nurture their plants and seedlings.

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The MINI SUN-2, a compact high efficacy full cycle LED grow light ideal for use on racks or in small growing tents. Top Brand WHITE LEDs & OSCRM RED LEDs allow it to efficiently produce the best V1 full-spectrum for higher yields.

It delivers uniform lighting over a maximum bloom coverage area of 2.5" x 2.5" and vegetative coverage space of 3’ x 3’ . MINI SUN-2 320W provides home growers with a superior PPFD value of up to 3200µmol/m2/s, the amount of PPF is up to 896 µmol/s and power efficacyis 2.8 µmol/J. It only requires 320 Watts power. Incredible Low Energy.

Mini Sun-2 240W has the same size as 320W version.  The amount of PPF is 672 µmol/s. It can cover 2×2 for commercial or growing with CO2 and 2.5×2.5 for growing without CO2. Same power efficacy of 2.8 µmol/J. It provides grower with PPFD of 2300 µmol/m2/s at height 6"".

While MINI SUN-2 150W provides growers design for personal grower who grows wihtout CO2 in a 2" x 2" tent, The range of PPFD value is from 625-1017µmol/m2/s and the average PPFD is about 831.5µmol/m2/s, at height 14.7""/373.4mm. The amount of PPF is up to 420 µmol/s and light power efficacy is 2.8 µmol/J. Estimate output is about 0.36lbs - 0.5 lbs.

The built-in timer knob as well asLCD Display help to automate the tiny, simple, regular but essential time controlment every day. It is controller free and you can feel free to concentrate on other complacted growing factors.

The on board dimming control and remote dimming access with LED light controller by standard RJ cable connection allows you to easily adjust light output to plenty of fixtures with same level for stable yields.

Thanks to the integrated design of driver and optimized light layouot in MINI SUN-2, the laborious mouting process is removed, which making it a genuine plug-and-play product. Hang it on the rack or grow tent and start growing.Its excellent heat dissipation design means no extra fans are required and no noise created.

Like other Medic Grow LED Grow Light fixtures, MINI SUN-2 is one of the most durable, energy efficient LED grow lights on the market with 5-year warranty.If you"re looking for a Compact, High Effficacy Full Cycle LED grow light to use on rack or in a tent growing, MINI SUN-2  is one of the most suitable products.

The price online is the best price we can offer. You are welcomed to join our referral program for a 5% discount if your friend/family buys from Medic Grow.

For Spectrum Y, everything is exactly the same except that spectrum Y doesn"t have LCD display. The fixture can not be used separately, it has to go with Spectrum X.  Click here to view Spectrum X light.

Your claim “That’s because they don’t want to make any colors that won’t pass through the screen.” doesn’t gel with contemporary issues of various commercial realities which would be obvious to those in the electronics design and optical engineering industries, think conjunction of economies of scale with capital cost to finesse a fab process for the semiconductor material and Then to produce it reliably in bulk With the exclusions controlled in production timing SPC to suit your idea, from whence dost that idea arise ;-)

ie why go to the trouble to, I quote “..don’t want to make..” when the cost of excluding specific spectra not by any means a trivial matter at the silicon doping level When very cost effective LEDs efficient for their light output already for the colours you want with any ‘extra’ spectra not relevant and at negligible energy cost too…

Please indicate/link to the most credible source of your claim hopefully with some pointers to comparative economics going down that path especially when bulk LEDs from many sources have been very cheap for a long time versus the comparatively advanced and ever improving diffuser/filter plastics cost also declining ie think on the chemical engineering path of most economical plastics selecting out spectra you might not want which don’t necessarily impact the final product anyway etc IOW. Something substantive please not arbitrary tech speak sales claims to impress the unwary which seem to sprout from marketing which miss conjunction of silicon fab vs filter/diffusers comparative costings ?

* ESF8800 delivers powerful 2464 μmol/s PPF output in the 880W class and high-efficacy 2.8-3.0 μmol/J that helps you effectively optimize plant growth, enhances the quality, and cuts operational costs. The body of the light is crafted from the strongest grade Aluminum alloy and engineered for maximum durability.

* ESF8800 integrated LCD display shows the selected spectrum, actual wattage, PPF value, and more! There are two turning knobs placed on top of the screen. Twisting left will set the lighting schedule to 6/12/14/ 16/18hrs per day, turning right will adjust the brightness at your desired level from 100% -30%.

* Available with 2 easy detachable UV/IR LEDs panels, you can expect to have 4 tunable spectrum options: V1, V1+UV&IR, F1, and F1+UV&IR. V1 spectrum offers a balanced blue and red wavelength essential for the vegetative stage. F1 offers an appropriate amount of deep red which, stimulates extra photosynthesis for the blooming. When your plants approach the flowering stage, adding a few UV or IR LEDs would be very effective at promoting robust stem growth, proper node spacing, and more flowers.

* The commercial growers can sync 50 pieces of ESF8800B lights with one ESF8800 and control them simultaneously. In other words, these 50 fixtures act as workstations and ESF8800 as a master. The growers only need to control the master to make the stations work together. No matter which spectrum, lighting level, or any light cycle you set on ESF8800, the ESF8800B lights can complete the same work.

* ESF8800 along with its 50 followers is featured with balancing dampers. These are simple mechanisms that allow you to adjust fixtures to any angle you want.

* ESF8800 delivers powerful 2464 μmol/s PPF output in the 880W class and high-efficacy 2.8-3.0 μmol/J that helps you effectively optimize plant growth, enhances the quality, and cuts operational costs. The body of the light is crafted from the strongest grade Aluminum alloy and engineered for maximum durability.

* ESF8800 integrated LCD display shows the selected spectrum, actual wattage, PPF value, and more! There are two turning knobs placed on top of the screen. Twisting left will set the lighting schedule to 6/12/14/ 16/18hrs per day, turning right will adjust the brightness at your desired level from 100% -30%.

* Available with 2 easy detachable UV/IR LEDs panels, you can expect to have 4 tunable spectrum options: V1, V1+UV&IR, F1, and F1+UV&IR. V1 spectrum offers a balanced blue and red wavelength essential for the vegetative stage. F1 offers an appropriate amount of deep red which, stimulates extra photosynthesis for the blooming. When your plants approach the flowering stage, adding a few UV or IR LEDs would be very effective at promoting robust stem growth, proper node spacing, and more flowers.

* The commercial growers can sync 50 pieces of ESF8800B lights with one ESF8800 and control them simultaneously. In other words, these 50 fixtures act as workstations and ESF8800 as a master. The growers only need to control the master to make the stations work together. No matter which spectrum, lighting level, or any light cycle you set on ESF8800, the ESF8800B lights can complete the same work.

* ESF8800 along with its 50 followers is featured with balancing dampers. These are simple mechanisms that allow you to adjust fixtures to any angle you want.

Using high efficiency LED bulbs, you will lower cost every month on your electricity bill. See more of your paycheck this season with these power-saving bulbs.

LED Grow Lights are becoming very popular and they are a good choice if you are buying a new grow light system or upgrading your old florescent fixture. This post about LED grow light myths will save you time and money.

As with any new technology there are many myths about LED grow lights. Some are started because of a lack of knowledge by the general public, but many are started by manufacturers who are trying to sell their product. Some of them prefer to keep us in the dark so they can make outrageous claims, but the better companies don’t do this. We need to do our part and become educated consumers so that we can properly evaluate both the message being broadcast and the product itself.

With incandescent and florescent lights, watts were a good measure of the brightness of a light. A 100 watt bulb was always brighter than a 60 watt bulb. Not so with LED. Lower wattage can produce more light.

The watts rating on a LED grow light tells you how much electricity it will use, and therefore the ongoing cost to run the light, but it tells you very little about how bright the light is, or how suitable the light is for growing plants.

How many watts do you need per square foot of growing area? Consumers want to know, and manufacturers are quite willing to give you a rule such as, seedlings need 15 watts per sq foot. You can find similar rules for other types of plants, but none of them mean very much.

As explained above, watts do not equate to the amount of light. But even more important, watts tell you nothing about the quality of light (i.e. the wavelengths of light). What you really want to know is the PPFD (photosynthetic photon flux density) for a given spot under the grow light.

You will have trouble finding a PPFD value for most lights. LED shop lights will not provide this value because they are not being sold specifically for plant growth. Many LED grow lights will not give you this value because they want to sell you on watts and give you that value instead – don’t buy from these companies.

The other reason you will have trouble finding a PPFD value is that many people equate PPFD to PAR. They provide PPFD values but call them PAR values. They just don’t understand what PAR means – it is a measure of light quality, not intensity.

If the product does not advertise a PPFD value, but does show you a PAR value – you can usually assume they are the same thing. The units should be μmol/m2/s.

The term PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation), when properly used, describes the light spectra that plants use, between 400 and 700 nm. Since plants use more blue and red light these colors get weighted higher than yellow and green.

A common misconception of LED lights is that they are 100% efficient at turning electricity into light. Granted they are more efficient than older technology like incandescent and florescent lights, but they are not 100% efficient.

In theory LED lights could convert all of the electricity into light, but that only works in story books. In real life, an LED converts 20% or more of the electricity into heat.

A light fixture containing 100 individual LED bulbs creates a lot of heat. The lights are designed so that most of this heat comes out the back of the fixture, directing it away from the plant. Larger units also contain fans that blow the heat away. This is important since heat shortens the life of LED bulbs.

LED bulbs – the single units that give off the light, are available in various watt ratings. 1, 3, 5, 10 watt bulbs are common. This leads to another myth. It is common to see the claim that a 3 watt unit does not produce as much light as a 5 watt unit – so the 5 must be better. It is not that simple.

Most bulbs are not run at 100% efficiency. Higher wattage bulbs tend to be run at lower efficiency levels since they produce too much heat at higher efficiency. So a 5 watt bulb may be giving the same amount of light as a 3 watt bulb.

Higher watt bulbs are newer technology and generally cost more. They may also have a shorter life. Given the current technology, your best bang for the buck is a 3 watt bulb. It is a good compromise between efficiency, reliability and cost.

A newer technology called COB LED (chip-on-board LED), is more efficient, has a longer life, but is more expensive. At the moment, I think the technology is too new and still has issues. One potential benefit of this technology is that it allows the manufacture to make longer light tracks, similar to a traditional 4 ft florescent fixture. In that configuration it would cover a larger area for home use.  Manufacturers have not taken advantage of this feature, maybe because of higher shipping costs for a larger unit, but there are some DIY systems worth looking into, such as the one pictured here, created by Ichabod Crane on International Canagraphic Magazine.

Plants have evolved under the sun, so we assume sunlight is what plants want. It is not. Much of the yellow and green light in sunlight is not used by plants.

Traditionally we have always grown plants under white light, and outside they grow under sunlight which is a yellow-white. It is natural to think white light is better for growing plants – its not.

The best light is one that produces the wavelengths of light that plants need in the relative amounts plants want. They use more blue and red, and less yellow and green. It does not have to look white.

As light moves away from the source, the light spreads out, and the intensity at any given point is reduced. This follows theinverse square rule, whereby if the distance doubles, the intensity is reduced to 1/4. If you move a plant from 1 ft under the light to 2 ft, it will receive 1/4 as much light.

This rule works for point sources of light, but most LED fixtures contain many LED bulbs, so they are not a point source of light. Therefore the rule does not apply to LED lights.

The other complication is that in the real world the rule only works well right below the light source. As you move out to the sides, the rule is also not valid.

Since it is important to know how much light you get at any point under the fixture, the manufacturer should provide you with that information, as seen in the diagram below

What is the growing area under an LED light? This is an important question since it determines how many plants you can grow and it varies from lamp to lamp.

Manufacturers try to help you by providing a “coverage area value” and say something like, the coverage area is 8 sq feet. That sounds great, but this number means absolutely nothing. If you raise a light up higher it will cover more area, so unless they also provide the height of the light and the light intensity values across that whole area, the coverage area number is of no value.

Lets have a close look at this. The diagram below shows the coverage area for a Viparspectra Par 700 light. You are viewing the growing area from above the light and the numbers are the PPFD values at certain points under the light, with the light hanging at 2 feet above the growing surface.

The specifications for this light suggest a coverage area of “Core Coverage at 24″ Height is 4x3ft“. The reason why this area is longer than wide is because the shape of the light is a rectangle. It makes no sense that the above diagram shows circles and squares for a rectangular light, but lets assume the numbers are correct.

Directly under the light you have a PPFD value of 780, which is lots of light to grow and flower any plant. Assume you want to cover a 3 x 3 ft area, the light at the edges of this growing area have a PPFD of between 30 and 200. That is enough for growing seedlings, but not much more.

Lets look at this from a different perspective. Lets say that after doing a lot of diligent research you decide that you want to provide a minimum PPFD of 300. That reduces the growing area under this light to a 2 x2 ft area, and even then the corners will only be getting about 200 PPFD. So for your requirements (ie 300 PPFD), your coverage area is 2 x 2 ft, not the advertised 4 x 3 ft.

Without seeing this light distribution diagram and knowing the height used to measure the values, the coverage area in the specifications is of little help. At least Viparspectra provides this information; many manufacturers don’t. If they don’t, don’t buy from them.

This one is not really a myth, but it does confuse things. PAR 20 and PAR 30 are lamp size designations and PAR in this case stands for parabolic aluminized reflector. It describes the shape and size of the bulb and has nothing to do with the quality of the light. PAR 20 and PAR 30 are common sizes for bulbs used in the home.

A bit of factual information can easily lead to incorrect conclusions. Plants look green because they reflect green light and absorb red an blue. That makes sense and it follows that if they reflect green light, they don’t use it.

The absorption spectra for extracted chlorophyll shows peaks in the blue and red zones, but no absorption of green light. Again we conclude plants don’t use green light in photosynthesis.

We are wrong. Some green light (around 500 nm) is absorbed by plants, and when we look at photosynthesis in a whole leaf instead of extracted chlorophyll, it is clear that green light does contribute to photosynthesis.

We now know that plants grow best with a wide spectrum that contains all wavelengths including near IR and maybe even near UV. A good LED grow light will provide a wide spectrum which includes some green light.

LED lights tend to produce less heat than older technology, and their light intensity is relatively low. This has lead to the conclusion that you can put plants as close to the lights as you want and you won’t burn them.

The reality is that modern LED grow lights can produce a very high level of light and it can cause photo-bleaching and burn leaves. This depends very much on the plant, but a PPFD of 800 is enough to damage some plants.

This was a myth even with florescent technology but it persists with LED. People using cool white (more blue light) bulbs used to add a few incandescent bulbs (very red light) when it was time for plants to flower. It was believed that red light was needed to initiate the flowering process.

Some of the early LED lights were red and blue and it naturally followed that the blue ones would be best for veg and the red for flowers. There are even lights that allow you to switch between a veg mode ( more blue bulbs on) and a flower mode (more red bulbs on).

The reality is that plants grow and flower best with both blue and red light all of the time. For production you might want to fine tune this at different stages in a growth cycle, but for home use we can ignore it.

Lumens is a measure of light intensity so it logical to think that a grow light with more lumens is better. The problem is that lumens measure intensity based on the human eye, and we see green and yellow light much better than red and blue.

Consider this extreme case where the light is only yellow. People see a lot of light and therefore it gets a high lumen rating. But plants don’t use yellow light very well, so for a plant this light has a very low intensity.

Some of the early LED shop lights did not produce much light and were not suitable for growing plants, except for some very low light level requirements. That has all changed. The newer LED shop lights provide lots of light for seedlings and low level plants like lettuce and African violets.

You can buy complete systems including the reflectors or you can buy 4 ft long LED tubes that replace traditional florescent bulbs, allowing you to continue using the existing fixtures. Even better is that the price of these has come way down.

Florescent tubes and the new LED shop lights measure the color of light using a Kelvin (K) scale. A blue-white has a higher Kelvin value than a red-white. Since Kelvin is a unit of measure for temperature these lights are also called cool and warm.

Light in spring is more blue, and fall light is more red. Some people believe that it is a good idea to mimic this natural shift by using bluer light (6500 Kelvin) in spring and a redder light (3500 Kelvin) in fall.

In northern and southern hemispheres there is a real shift in color because sun light has to travel through more atmosphere in winter, but the change from spring to fall is only 300-500K. That is not significant enough to warrant changing lights with the seasons.

In the world of LED grow lights, Kelvin means very little. It is much better to compare actual spectra, but they can be hard to come by. Some manufacturer do show them on their website.

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This ultra-high output grow light utilizes LEDs to produce full-spectrum white light ideal for growing flowering plants. The FL-1 is passively cooled by its ladder design. It comes with a built-in dimming control knob and has remote dimming capability. UL Listed with 5-Year warranty.

This ultra-high output grow light utilizes a Fahold Driver, Samsung and OSRAM LEDs to produce full-spectrum white light ideal for growing flowering plants. The FL-1 is passively cooled by its ladder design. It comes with a built-in dimming control knob and has remote dimming capability. UL Listed with 5-Year warranty.

The VL-1 is a compact high-output LED grow light ideal for use on racks or in tents. LEDs allow this fixture to efficiently produce full-spectrum white light. The built-in dimming control knob and remote dimming access allows you to easily adjust light output. UL Listed with a 5-Year Warranty.

Using this master controller, you can take complete control of your grow room. Capable of controlling up to 100 LED grow lights per zone. Features dual zone control - two zones (A/B) for independent control. Built-in temperature and humidity sensor inputs for climate control. Compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

This 0-10V dimming controller can connect up to 200 to 400 LED grow lights. Utilizes industry standard RJ14 style cables for connections. Capable of adjusting light outputs from 0-100% with variable dimming available. Combined with a VOLT® Astronomic Digital Timer, growers can precisely control ON/OFF schedules.

Six meter (6m) RJ14 style cable for connecting VOLT® Grow LED grow lights to a 0-10V controller. Allows for connecting and controlling multiple LED grow lights from a single controller.

Two meter (2m) RJ14 style cable for connecting VOLT® Grow LED grow lights to a 0-10V controller. Allows for connecting and controlling multiple LED grow lights from a single controller.

This plugin timer allows you to control the on-off cycles of any grow lights plugged into it. It’s digital display allows you to easily set up lighting schedules.

Horticulture LED lights became the top choice for growers due to their efficiency, power, low heat, and longevity. NOKATECH offers a wide range of LED lights for home and industrial growers.

SMART 880 LED grow light stands out for its’ quality, performance, and features that other fixtures don’t have. The fixture itself is made from high-quality materials and has a maximum input power of 880W (with UV/IR bars connected, which work as an add-on and are sold separately.)

It is a high-performance, full-spectrum LED fixture suitable for any scale full-cycle horticulture cultivation. It has an integrated LCDthat allows you to monitor 4 kinds of Spectrums with UV/IR bars, PPF values, Wattage, Current, Timer (for sunset/sunrise), and dimming setting. It works as a master unit (controller) through which you can control SMART 880 SL up to 100 units connected to a daisy chain using RJ cables.

SMART 880 model with LCD screen works as a master unit/controller when connected to a daisy chain using RJ cables with SMART 880 SL fixtures. This way possible to connect up to 50 SMART 880 SL fixtures (slaves) and take complete control of sunrise/sunset, dimming, 4 kinds of spectrums, and UV/IR bars through the master unit.

In combination with UV/IR bars, the SMART 880 has 4 full-spectrum outputs for your plants: V1, F1, VS & FS. These full-spectrum outputs are specially designed for any scale horticulture cultivation, from your crops’ vegetative growth and blooming stage.

Ultraviolet light is very beneficial for plant growth. In plants, UV grow light (the pair of UV/IR bars), responses are very similar to blue light. It does drive photosynthesis. In safe doses, UV grow light may potentially reduce diseases.

By causing some healthy plant stress, UV/IR bars may encourage plants to produce their own natural “sunscreen” (protective compounds); for example, plants develop more trichomes, terpenes, and some color changes.

NOTE: UV/IR bars work as add-ons and are sold separately for SMART 880 and SMART 880 SL models. They add an extra 200 μmol/s are very straightforward to connect – ‘plug & play’.

Our top pick is the GE BR30 Grow LED Light, which fits into any standard-sized lamp and helps a wide variety of plants and flowers grow year-round. If you only have a few plants, we recommend the Aceple Desk Plant Grow Light. This portable option is easy to set up and very affordably priced.

When deciding which size grow light you need, think about how many plants you need to cover and where you intend to put them. If you plan to move your light from place to place, opt for something lighter and portable. If you know it’s going to stay put, that might not be as much of a factor. Wherever you plan to put it, make sure there’s room for it to operate safely and not up against furniture, drapes, or other items.

There are various types of grow lights to consider, from panels to products that hang overhead or screw into standard light fixtures. The type of plants you have, the amount of existing natural light, and where your plants are located help you narrow down your choices. Typically, hanging lights are larger, while desktop lights are smaller and easy to move around. If you want a complete system, consider a full garden kit that includes the planter with a built-in light.

“Hanging your lights too low can burn your plants, but hanging them too high can leave them stretching for light, and weak,” says Kansas City-based Melissa Lallo Johnson, host of Art of Gardening, a vlog and podcast that features influential gardeners from around the world. The standard placement recommendation for incandescent grow lights is at least 24 inches from plants. Since fluorescent and LED lights have lower heat outputs, they can be placed 12 to 18 inches away from plants.

Different plants require different intensities of light, however. If you grow seedlings, Johnson recommends positioning them within 2 to 3 inches of a fluorescent light source, or as close to the light as possible without touching it. Hanging or positioning lights directly over plants is the best arrangement, because that mimics sunlight and ensures that the entire plant receives adequate light.

Wattage is a useful tool to determine the correct fixture for your plants. Generally, you need 32 watts per square foot, so most indoor plants (especially herbs) do just fine with a lower-watt light. The more important metric is PPFD, or photosynthetic photon flux density, which measures the specific light emission a lamp gives off. Not all products list this, however.

LED lights are one of the most popular, as well as the most efficient options. They also offer ideal light spectrum ranges. LEDs emit less heat than incandescent bulbs and can last up to 30 times longer. “LED lights are my preferred go-to for lights, because they’re energy-efficient and generate little to no heat,” Johnson says.

Incandescent bulbs are the least-expensive option, but they’re also the least energy efficient. They also have fairly high heat outputs, which is not the most ideal growing condition.

The beauty of indoor grow lights is they allow herbs, seeds, houseplants, and flowers to flourish year-round. However, they need the right amount of sunlight and darkness to thrive. Johnson says that for germination and seedlings, you can run lights 16 to 18 hours per day until they are a few inches tall. "As they mature," she adds, "you can slowly reduce to get them on a similar light pattern for spring before you transplant them.”

After some experimenting, you should be able to peg the optimal duration for your specific plant variety. A grow light with a built-in timer makes it easier to control proper light levels, especially if you’re away from home. Johnson suggests that you try to get the light schedule as close as possible to the current sun pattern, so your plants are less shocked when transplanted outdoors.”

Though it depends on the wattage and light wavelengths, you should position grow lights at least 2 feet away from your indoor plants to avoid overheating. LEDs and fluorescent lights typically have lower heat outputs, so they can be placed a little closer.

To effectively mimic the sun"s natural light, a grow light should be on 8-16 hours a day, depending on where you live, what time of year it is, and the type of plant. Generally, if your plants receive some natural light, they don"t need as much artificial light. A plant that doesn"t get any natural light may need the full 16 hours.

LEDs are most often recommended for grow lights, though some fluorescent and incandescent bulbs can work. The most important thing is that regardless of type, the bulbs should offer full-spectrum illumination and produce waves of red and blue light, which is often necessary for plants to thrive indoors.

This article was updated by Sage McHugh, a lifestyle writer for The Spruce who specializes in the home and garden sector. To select the best grow lights for this roundup, she considered dozens of products, carefully evaluating their size, wattage, bulb type, and overall performance, including our testing insights. She also interviewed Kansas City-based Melissa Lallo Johnson, host of Art of Gardening, a vlog and podcast that features influential gardeners from around the world. She also consulted with Jamie Chan and Blas Herrera, who blog about things horticultural on Fog City Gardener.

Just googling "grow lights" does not instill confidence in plant parents who want to care for their plants and give them the light they need without their home looking like a terrarium for a lizard. Unfortunately, most grow lights that are available just give off those vibes. Thankfully, though, there are a few hacks to make your grow lights look better.

If you’re not familiar with grow lights you might not understand why you may need them. “People use grow lights to keep their favorite plants alive all year round," explains Zachary Kostantewicz of Soltech Solutions. "No matter where someone is, grow lights allow you to grow a variety of plants in your space. For most people, it’s a combination of wanting a certain plant in their space as a decor piece and needing more light to support the growth of that plant.”

You might have a plant that needs a lot of light but you want to place it away from the window. Having grow lights allows you to do that because of the way that they work. “Grow lights work by producing the vital blue and red wavelengths that plants need to sustain and grow. They enable people to do it anywhere there is a light fixture instead of taking their plants outdoors,” explains Kostantewicz.

You can buy lots of grow light panels but they usually look really tacky and cheap. The best way to utilize these without feeling like you’re living in a greenhouse is by attaching them to the underside of shelves. You can create the ultimate #plantshelfie by using two to three shelves, a few plants, and some grow lights. Place your plants that are comfortable with low light on the top shelf. Plants that need something a little extra can go on the lower shelves so you can attach grow light panels on the bottom of the shelf above it.

Some of the best solutions to ugly grow lights is by opting for one bulbinstead of a bar or panel. Less is often more when it comes to grow lights and you can find high quality versions that are only one bulb. This will help avoid having to attach bars to your table ledge. Instead, you can mount them from the ceiling or place them on a shelf.

This next tip goes hand in hand with the single bulbs. Sometimes these grow lights will come with really long extension cords that you may want to hide. Given that you often have to hang the grow lights from up high, hiding that cord isn’t always an option. So instead wrap the cord with macrame. It’s really easy to do a box stitch around the entire thing. Plus, macrame is having a moment and it’ll create a nice boho design aesthetic.

If you have a lamp that you love but you don’t really use it that often, swap the bulb out for a grow light. The best lamps to do this are the ones without shades—like a desk lamp. You should be able to find a bulb that fits into your lamp, just make sure to check the wattage so you aren"t stretching your lamp past its limits. Your grow light will blend in seamlessly with the rest of your decor.

Did you know you can find grow light frames? They can be mounted on the wall and can house your favorite plants like artwork. You can buy these, but you could also get crafty and make one yourself. You’ll need some grow light bars, something you can put your plants in (a self-watering pot would be the best so you don’t overwater your plants), and then a frame. Attach the grow light to the top of the frame and then attach the frame to your pot. It’s a unique way to display your plants.

The best thing to do is keep things simple, like the Scandinavians tend to do. Finding grow lights that are compact and sleek is your best bet when it comes to making grow lights look good. It will be easy to make grow lights look nice if they can easily tie into your decor. It’s going to be hard to tone down any clunky, metal grow light with purple lights. Opt for slim grow bars, or light fixtures that can blend in with your home design.