can you use a lcd panel as a grow light brands

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 ?

Indoor growing of plants for personal consumption has steadily become more popular in recent years. The process allows for more control over the conditions that the plant grows in and allows us to create ideal conditions for growing your own plants of any sort. A technology that has seen much success in this new industry is LED grow lights. Although new, the LED grow light has already made its mark on the market due to its ability to produce great yields while not smothering the plant with heat and using a reasonable amount of electricity. There are, however, a few things to look out for when purchasing your first LED grow lights.

The first consideration when choosing your LED grow lights for indoor plants is the wattage of the light. This is determined by your available grow space. The general rule of thumb to follow is that every square foot of growing space needs 25 watts of power. From here you can calculate what you need for the space you have available, i.e. for 30 square feet, you’ll need a 750 watt panel and for 100 square foot, you’ll need a 2500 watt panel, or a few panels that make up 2500 watt.

A seed starts its life in the vegetative stage where the stems grow out to prepare for the flowering stage when flowers are formed. This stage normally lasts anything between 7 and 50 days. To maximize growth, the LED grow lights can be left on for 24 hour light cycles; however, standard light cycles dictate 18 hours on and 6 hours off. The growth in the vegetative stage can be boosted by using blue spectrum lights with a range of 440 – 470nm – this light mimics the long days of summer sun and encourages vegetative leaf growth.

When you’re ready to end the vegetative stage (if you want to end it before 50 days) the light cycle is switched to 12 hours on and 12 hours off. By adjusting the lighting to this schedule, the plant will automatically enter the flowering stage. When you change the lighting cycle, you can also switch the lights to red spectrum lights with a range of 640 – 660nm to get the most out of the flowering stage. The red light mimics the autumn sun and shorter days.

One of your considerations should definitely also be the angle of the lens. The smaller the angle, the smaller the coverage area, but the light density delivered to the plant will increase. Some LED lights come with customizable angles. If your LED grow lights are hung close to the plants, you should look for a light with a larger angle lens. The further your LED grow lights are from your plants, the smaller the angle of the lens.

LED grow lights have been successfully implemented in many growing operations, which include growing food such as tomatoes, lettuce, herbs and beans; house plants such as pothos and peace lily, flowers such as roses and violets; and in recent years, LED grow lights have also been used to grow medical marijuana with great success.

Using LED grow lights can definitely simplify the process of growing your own plants and food. If you keep the above-mentioned considerations in mind when choosing a LED grow light, you will find the perfect light in no time!

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.

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’.

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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.

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Sure, all plants need light, but the amount they need can vary quite a bit. A space with a sunny window may be all your low-light houseplants need to do just fine, but other indoor plants demand brighter, more consistent amounts of light to grow properly. For example, if you"re starting veggie seedlings for your spring garden, coaxing a blooming houseplant to produce flowers, or even raising fresh herbs on your kitchen countertop, the right grow light is your friend. Depending on what you"re growing, here"s what you need to know to choose the best lights for your home and your plants.

LED and fluorescent bulbs both produce full-spectrum light that plants need to grow. There are many plant light kits on the market that include LED or fluorescent bulbs, but an LED system ($46, The Home Depot) offers several advantages that make them the better choice. For starters, although LED bulbs cost more than fluorescents at purchase time, they use half the electricity fluorescents require and last five times longer than the average fluorescent bulb. They also give off less heat and mercury-free LED tubes don"t shatter like glass fluorescent tubes, leading to fewer safety hazards.

Newly emerged seedlings and young plants grow well with the aid of full-spectrum light, which has both blue and red wavelengths. Special LED and fluorescent "grow lights" will work, but so will less expensive fluorescent tube bulbs. Be sure the light source is within 6 inches of the plant foliage for the best results. For easy movement, suspend the fixture on chains or elevate your plants on a table or this DIY seed starting station. To keep your lights working efficiently, gently wipe down the light tubes to remove dust and grime before using them each year.

Red light waves are essential for spurring plants to flower and growing fruit indoors. Shop for LED bulbs and fixtures that are specifically designed for growing plants. They"re usually labeled "grow lights" because they"re created to produce a high number of red light waves.

Some electric brands produce plant-friendly LED bulbs called "high-output LEDs." High-output LEDs are generally twice as bright as standard LED grow lights. These ultra-bright lights are excellent for growing plants that are native to sunny, dry climates such as cactus, citrus, rosemary, and geranium. Plan to light flowering and fruiting plants for 16 to 18 hours a day. Place the light source 12 inches or so away from the foliage.

Once you"ve decided which kind of plant grow light you want, it"s time to decide how big a bulb you need for the space you have. First, determine how much space you need to illuminate. As a rule of thumb, aim for 20 to 40 watts per square foot. Divide the wattage of your bulb by 20 (such as 400 watts divided by 20 = 20), and then divide the wattage of your bulb by 40 (400 divided by 40 = 10).

The answer gives you the extremes of your light intensity range. With one 400-watt system, you can light between 10 and 20 square feet of interior landscape. Also, be sure to match the wattage of your bulbs with what your fixture is designed to handle. For example, that 400-watt bulb should not be used in a 250-watt system. Adjust your setup as you observe how well your plants grow. Increase or decrease the intensity of the light by shifting the placement of your plants or light fixture so the plants are closer or farther from the light source.

Sure, by now we are all aware that LED grow light does wonderful things for plant growth. Plants grow quicker and healthier than under other, traditional lighting methods such as HPS. If the LEDs are good, plants can grow even better than under natural sunlight. But why are they always purple/pink?

All light sources contain a spectrum of colors within it – some light sources contain some of the colors, some contain all. Sunlight contains all spectrum colors and because of that feeds plants with all information they need. Additionally, because of the presence of all spectrum colors, it appears color-free to human eyes.

When constructing an LED lamp, we can decide which color LED chips to place inside. This depends on what kind of response we want to achieve from plants. For instance, if we want plants to grow tall, we will increase the amount of far-red, yellow, orange and green chips inside the luminaire. If we want plants to be compact, we will put more blue or UV colored chips.

Why plants respond in those ways to those particular colors is a broad topic. It is something that we will cover in a separate post. Either way, these responses are encoded in plants’ DNA. So, when designing LED lamps, we can count on plants responding the way nature has designed them to.

We could say that the two most important light colors to place in an LED lamp are: red and blue. Red is the main component that plants need for photosynthesis and stem elongation inhibition. Additionally, it signals to the plants that there are no other plants above it and that it can thus have uninhibited development. Blue stimulates stomatal opening, stem elongation inhibition, leaf expansion, curvature towards light and photoperiodic flowering.

The combination of these two sets of effects will, in simple terms, get the plant from seed to the vegetative stage and eventually to flowering. This however will be much slower than under continuous spectra a.k.a spectra that contain more than  just red and blue.

Adding some other spectrum colors such as green, could enhance the leaf expansion rate and stem elongation, which in turn results in higher biomass (yield) accumulation. By adding UV wavelenghts one can affect the accumulation of compounds such as phenolics which could boost the flavor of the end product or its health benefits to humans.

However, from the business perspective, red and blue LED chips are the cheapest to procure. And this is why most LED grow light manufacturers opt for simple red-blue combinations. Red chips have been manufactured for a long time and used as LED indicators in TV remotes, computers and other gadgets. Blue LEDs came into the market in the early 1990’s and both of these, just as they are, are suitable for plant cultivation.

Yes, that means that when you illuminate your plants with an LED light, it is as if you are pointing your TV remote towards it. It is the same light. Both red and blue LED chips are off-the-shelf products, meaning quickly accessible in countless factories in China. And with the combination of red and blue LED chips we get: purple or pink light that has become the visual synonym of the LED grow light industry. So, there is the answer to our question, but…

There is a standard of how comfortable or pleasant light is to human eyes. We call it CRI – The Color Rendering Index. The authority that determines this quantitative measure is The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) and it deals with issues of light, illumination, color and color spaces.

In simple terms, what CRI determines is: how natural do colors of objects look under different kinds of lighting. Natural in this case means, as they would appear under light that appears color free (such as sunlight or some types of incadescent light) and thus possible for the human spectator to identify all shades of color of the given object.

For instance, street lighting, typically High Pressure Sodium (HPS) has a CRI value of 20-40. Incadescent lights that we typically use to illuminate our homes have a CRI of 100. Typically, we consider CRI values below 50 to be difficult to work under and unable to portray objects in their true colors. Values above 50 are the opposite. This is why everything in street lighting (if it’s HPS) looks yellowish while under incandescent bulbs, even though they too are yellow-ish and warm, objects are visible in their naturalstate.

LED lamps that are simply made up of red-blue LED chips, reappropriated from gadget indicators, have a CRI value of 0! What that means is that it is effectively impossible to identify any color of objects underneath it.

While not damaging to human eyes, it is extremely unpleasant to work under this kind of light (to read a detailed breakdown of how LED light affects human health, please click here). Additionally, it makes it impossible to identify details on plants such as discolorations due to diseases, various insects etc. Humans are not used to this kind of light as CRI=0 light is nowehere to be seen in nature.

Valoya is one of few LED manufacturers that make their own, custom LED chips. We optimize the LED chips for plant growth and not for other uses. Furthermore, Valoya does not build LED lamps with simple red-blue chip combinations. There are bits of green, UV, far-red etc, depending on the spectrum.

This makes Valoya’s light a closer imitation of sunlight and a better source of information to plants than red-blue LED lights. The CRI value of Valoya lights is between 60 and 95. This means it appears to human eyes either as a pleasant, soft pink, or even plain white! LED grow lights do not have to be purple.

By complementing the LED chips combination with bits of other spectrum colors, we not only feed more information to the plants but also make a richer spectrum. We make one that contains more colors and is thus a closer match to sunlight.

The primary goal is making light that is beneficial for plants and not pleasant for human eyes. At the same time having a pleasant looking light is a great add-on that users of LED grow lights apreciate. We call this kind of light spectrum full, wide or continuous. Marketers of LED companies however use these terms incorrectly and we can not always rely on their statements.

A good rule of thumb is to trust your own eyes as well. If the light looks strange to human eyes, is overly sharp and looks unnatural, it has a low CRI value. It also probably means it is a result of a simple red-blue LED chip combination. The light that looks natural and pleasant to human eyes has a high CRI value and is probably made up of a combination of many differently colored LED chips. Below you can see Valoya’s NS12 and AP673L patented spectra.

To achieve these types of LED light spectra, Valoya has invested significant efforts in research. This is reflected in more than 600 large scale trials over the past 12 years. To learn more about Valoya’s patented spectra, please click here.

In this article, I’ll show you 4 grow lights I have personally used with satisfactory results. I’ll share my thoughts on what makes them a good choice, which plants would benefit from them, but also why you might look for an alternative.

Disclaimer: this article contains affiliate links from Amazon. A portion of sales goes to support the work of House Plant Journal. I’m also pleased to present some brand partners who I’ve selected because I’ve been very happy with their products. The SANSI 70W Daylight LED Grow Light was generously provided by Sansi. The Aspect grow light is from Soltech Solutions.

If you’re confused about how to choose a grow light, it’s because the manufacturers are throwing lots of specifications at you AND trying to get you to understand what they mean AND trying to convince you of what’s important…the burden shouldn’t be completely on them!

Do yourself a favor and get a light meter (measuring lux or foot-candles), otherwise you won’t have any concrete way to even roughly* compare your natural light with the strength of a grow light. It would be like buying an oven and not being able to set a specific temperature – guessing won’t cut it!

*I say “roughly” because light from the sun is different from all artificial sources when you look at their spectral distribution – that’s for another blog post! For now, if you’re just growing plants for fun, being able to measure lux/fc will suffice – it’s WAY better than trying to judge with only your eyes!

In order to really see what’s inside the light, my friends at Soltech Solutions let me borrow their Spectromaster C-700, which is normally used by the film industry to get very precise color information about any light source. I’ve been having a blast analyzing the spectral distribution all kinds of light sources – I’ll do a separate blog post on it!

While I can already hear the horticulturalists saying “you should be using a PAR meter!” – you don’t get to see the spectral character of the light with a quantum meter. So for this article, I’ll just use the Spectromaster C-700 to measure foot-candles and spectral distribution.

Thoughts: if you don’t mind the pinkish glow, then a few of your very small, low-light plants would benefit from having them on this winter like small ferns, pothos, philodendrons, zz plant – I stress *small* because the coverage of these lights is very limited. Don’t expect to light anything in a 6″ pot or larger. And if your plant requires direct sun, skip this light – it’s much too weak!

I have 2 of these hanging above my couch to light the plants on my grid wall. Since these lights have a pleasant white color (I got the 5000K version), they are more suitable to also light up my living room. With two lights, I measure 700-800 fc quite close to the lights (about 6-12 inches below); farther away, I’m getting 200-300 fc at the lowest part of the shelf. I’m quite happy with the coverage all around the shelf.

Thoughts: the lights come with mouting brackets that you’ll need to screw into the surface where you want to mount the lights. The fixture itself is quite minimal so the effect is like a bar of pure light, which could be cool if you’re going for that look. If you put your plants no more than 3-4 feet away from these lights, you’ll get good results for “bright indirect light” type of plants. You might be able to support a few sun lovers right up close to the lights or if you put 4 lights together.

This array of LED lights by SANSI measured in at over 3000 foot-candles about 1 foot away. At this intensity, you could keep succulents and cacti quite happy if you ran the grow light on for about 12 hours. Further away, even though the intensity is much less (300-500 fc at 4 feet away), your coverage area is wider – you could use this as a supplemental light by turning it on say, at 4pm and off at 9pm (5 hours), which would be an excellent boost for most tropical foliage plants.

Thoughts: I’m a fan of mounting options – the SANSI 70W LED comes with hardware to mount the panel in several differt ways: suspended by an adjustable wire or mounted directly into an overhead surface. The look is rather utilitarian, which would be fine in a grow space in your basement but may not look as nice in the living room. Overall, this is a very powerful grow light at a good price.

The first thing to note is the elegant design! Both the black and white versions blend in nicely to most interior themes, which means you can keep a plant alive and well anywhere indoors. The other thing that struck me was the power of this light – it’s the most powerful consumer-focused grow light I have ever measured. At one foot away from the light, I measured over 8000 fc – but you definitely should NOT use it this close to a plant (there must be good air flow around the fixture so heat can dissipate – this applies to all grow lights). Using this light at 4 feet away, I measured 500-800 fc, which would make most “bright indirect light” plants very happy. If you had a small collection of cacti and succulents, putting the large Aspect 2-3 feet away would be a great light boost during the winter months.

Thoughts: because the Aspect turns on immediately when plugged in (i.e. there is no switch on the fixture), you should use it with a timer, which is included. Soltech Solutions also includes some mounting hardware that allows you to run the wire against the wall and over the ceiling above your plants. If you’re looking for a very powerful grow light that you can proudly display in your living room, the Aspect is an elegant solution.

In Part 2, I’ll use the latest version of Apogee’s full spectrum quantum sensor (a present to myself!) to make some super accurate measurements and we’ll discuss how this relates to DLI (Daily Light Integral).

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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.

Watering for example, is something that everyone is at least mindful of. Whereas lighting is one of those things that you generally don’t know that you don’t know.

In this guide, I’ll take you through the practical steps of choosing the right spot for your terrarium, and how to choose a grow light if you want an easy life.

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