can you use a lcd panel as a grow light in stock

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Iv been doing research for an lcd grow light and have found a lot of information thanks to everyone here. Correct me if im wrong but it seems that there are not many lcd panels out there that can do both the veg stage and the flowering stage all in one. the 357 magnum states it can but are there others out there? if you get a panel like the blackstar 240w what do you do for veg stage, supplement with another panel? or does it not matter so much.

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When deciding on the type of lighting for plants, first you need to ask yourself why are you growing the plants. If you are growing the plants because you enjoy seeing them then you would want to use lighting technologies designed for humans. If you do not care what the plants look like, then there are very efficient plant lights that are tuned to the light spectrum most appreciated by plants. That spectrum has the side effect that the plants can appear black, brown, or purple. Maybe you like purple plants.

LED lighting is an emerging technology. Every year there is some new product for humans that is also useful for growing and displaying plants. As such the ICPS cannot specifically recommend particular products but we can help to make the technology more approachable. The better you understand the technology, the less dizzying the choices.

Chlorophyll is the primary chemical in chloroplasts that coverts light energy into chemical energy in plant cells. Chlorophyll primarily uses deep red and deep blue light. Humans do not see these colors well. Other light sensitive chemicals in chloroplasts can help chlorophyll utilize other colors of light at lower efficiency.

Generally carnivorous plants need more light than what humans generally use indoors. Plants that need full sun need very intense light and are best grown outdoors as much as possible. But there are many species of carnivorous plants that do well with a reasonable amount of lighting. This is especially great if you use the spill-over light for lighting a room.

White or near-white lighting is preferred for plants on display in human living areas. There are some off-the-shelf options for white plant lighting but you may need to be a little creative if you are setting up a display area for your plants in a living area.

If you have a large collection of plants not in a living area, there are a number of types of plant-specific lighting available. The cost and carbon footprint for electricity for the grow area can be reduced 50% to 70% by using LED lighting tuned for plants instead of white LEDs tuned for humans. You should mix in a few white lights to help you see the plants better.

Note: On this page, 450nm wavelength light is referred to as "deep blue" and 660nm wavelength light as "deep red". Chlorophyll in plants primarily uses light around these wavelengths. Human eyes have very low sensitivity to light at these wavelengths so high levels of 450nm and 660nm wavelength light appear dim or deep to humans.

The dominant type of lighting manufactured today is the white LED. These LEDs work like fluorescent lights. Fluorescent lights use high voltage and mercury vapor to produce UV light which is converted to visible light by phosphors deposited on the inside of a glass tube. For white LEDs, instead of producing UV light with high voltage, they efficiently produce intense deep blue light via semiconductor light emitting diodes at low voltage. The deep blue light is passed through a coating of phosphors to convert most of the blue light to longer wavelength colors.

The LED chips are mounted in packages. The package on the left contains a deep blue LED chip mounted in the center while the chip on the right has a deep red LED chip. The deep red LED chip has a phosphor coating over the chip to convert the inherent deep blue light to deep red. These chips are covered with a clear resin. They are part of a blue/red panel light intended for plant lighting. The 225 LED panels with blue and red LEDs produce intense to very intense lighting for plants depending on the wattage and distance from the plants.

For white and purple LEDs, manufacturers can adjust the phosphors to produce any color spectrum desired for lighting. White lighting products will contain LED chips in packages with a yellow-orange phosphor coating to convert the blue light to white light. Purple plant lighting LEDs would use a different mix of phosphors that would look red when the power is off.

This strip light is sold for use as accent and under-cabinet lighting but is useful for plant lighting under conditions where other available products will not work. These lighting strips can be very expensive to use for plant lighting. It takes about 200 of these chips per square foot (30 cm2) to provide a moderate amount of light for plants.

LED spotlights also work well for plant lighting. A power supply and LED module on the left are from a white LED spotlight. The AC to DC power supply is necessary for efficient LED lights. The LED module on the right is from a purple LED plant light bulb. It is higher wattage and uses 20 LEDs. The phosphor coating has a red color from phosphors that produce the deep red light plants appreciate.

The LED light modules were removed from failed LED bulbs. The bulbs failed because of improper assembly in a factory causing the modules inside the bulbs to overheat. Notice the scorching on the right module circuit board. Individual LEDs do get hot and will fail if they get too hot.

Care must be taken to make sure LED bulbs and fixtures get enough air circulation to keep them from getting too hot. The useful lifetime of individual LED chips is determined by how hot they get. The hotter they get, the quicker they dim over time. If they get too hot, they will fail. Under ideal conditions, LEDs will normally lose 30% of their brightness after they have been in use 16 hours a day for 4 to 8 years depending on the exact fixtures used and how hot they get.

If you use spotlights over 10 watts, they should not be in any sort of enclosure like a desk lamp. Most purple LED plant spot lights are 18 to 35 watts. If you use strip lights, they must be adhesive-backed and stuck to aluminum heat sinks. If you use panel lights, there must be air circulation around them. This is especially important with 30 watt and higher panel lights. 35 watt panel lights can be 18°C (30°F) higher than ambient temperature. A small fan may be necessary if the light fixtures are in enclosed spaces. A fan is not necessary if air can naturally circulate around the light fixture.

The weak link in many LED fixtures is the power supply. The parts can degrade over time from the heat produced by the power supply itself and the LEDs. This is another reason not to enclose LED bulbs and fixtures.

Poorly designed power supplies can produce radio and TV interference. Ferrite core RFI/EMI suppressor cable clips may help with minor interference. Unfortunately, fluorescent tube to LED conversion kits may produce more interference than can be blocked by ferrite cores. There are much better choices than converting fluorescent fixtures to use tubes with LEDs mounted inside.

When shopping for LED fixtures and bulbs, you need to be careful about hyped or misleading claims. It is common to state the watt-equivalents of a fixture or bulb. Equivalent to what? Did they actually do experiments to determine the claims? The light spectrums are very different for other light technologies so there can be no easy conversion number. Instead, carefully look for the actual wattage of the device. This is what matters. It may be in the fine print. And for your particular situation, higher wattage may not be better because higher wattage means more heat produced. Also ignore many other claims such as light dispersion angle and area illuminated. Properly specified, light dispersion angle should include percent attenuation of light at that angle. Quite often they use the 50% attenuation level. Likewise, area illuminated should have distance from the light source and attenuation at the edges of the area. These issues will be discussed below.

Most LED plant lights available are designed for growing Cannabis in a basement or closet. The lights are hung from a ceiling on cables that can be adjusted as the plants grow. Mounting these lights can be problematic under shelves or over desks and tables. ALWAYS, when setting up lighting for plants, remember safety is the number one concern. Make sure the light fixtures are mounted securely. Make sure air is able to circulate around the bulb or fixture to help cool it. Make sure cords and wires are secured. Make sure plugs are plugged in all the way. Use timers instead of constantly plugging and unplugging power cords.

When it comes to plants, humans, and light, there is a conflict of interest between plants and humans over light. Human eyes are tuned to colors reflected by plant leaves. The plants reflect those colors of light because they have little use for it. If human eyes had exactly the same light sensitivity spectrum as the absorbance spectrum of plants, the plants would look black to us. That would not be very useful to humans. This means we have to make choices about how we grow plants under lights. It uses less energy to grow plants under the light spectrum that is most efficient for them. But we cannot see those colors of light very well. You think the plants are in the dark, but they are not in terms of light energy.

The peak light absorption of chlorophyll in plants is at the blue and red tails of the human light sensitivity spectrum. The precise spectrum the plants use is not known because it is difficult to measure light usage in live plants. Most graphs of light absorbance of chlorophyll and other light sensitive chemicals are after the chemical is extracted from leaves. Some experimentation may be necessary to find the right light spectrum for your plants.

Plant lights consisting of just deep blue and deep red LEDs that match the color of the chlorophyll peak absorbance points work well for most plants. The ratio of blue to red light appears not to be a major consideration for some plants while the ratio can be a life or death issue for other plants. One reason for this variation in light color sensitivity is, in the mid and high latitudes, sunlight is bluer during summer than it is in winter because of the way light interacts with the atmosphere. Temperate plants can use this seasonal variation in sunlight properties to determine when to grow and when to bloom and go dormant or expect to die. Equatorial plants would not see this variation but may use sunlight properties to determine if they are in full sun or in shade.

To confuse the issue even more, before the advent of LED lighting, fluorescent lighting was the best source for plant lighting. Under most conditions, fluorescent grow lights were not much better than white fluorescent tubes. The color spectrum of light from the white fluorescent tubes did not match chlorophyll spectrum very well but the plants grew spectacularly if they could handle the heat.

Plants can also use changes in day length to determine life stages. When growing plants that require seasonal light cues under artificial light, a timer that is capable of changing the on and off times daily according to the date and latitude is critical. This helps prevent the plants from getting stuck in a particular season. This is especially bad if the season they get stuck in is the dormant season.

In their native habitats, many carnivorous plants live with full exposure to the sun. This is about 100,000 lux of light at noon. To grow these plants indoors requires a lot of light, not 100,000 lux, but still a lot. Even plants that normally live in somewhat shaded conditions still require more light than a lighting designer would suggest for indoor lighting for humans. Bright shade is about 15,000 lux; typical office lighting is 1000 lux.

We are using lux here to indicate the amount of light the plants need. A lux meter will measure the light intensity with the same sensitivity spectrum as the human eye. Unfortunately there is no definitive way to accurately measure the amount of light from a fixture that is useful for plants. Most of the time we have to resort to trial and error.

Lighting levels need to be determined by trial and error because everyone has a unique situation. It helps to have a Lux meter when using white lighting. There are meters that are marketed for use in determining plant-relevant lighting levels. They will give you a number that could be of little value.

To get 25,000 lux requires 2000 lumens or 30 watts of white LED lighting per square foot (30 cm2) of growing area. The plants need the lights on for 12 to 16 hours per day. The lamps should be high enough above the top of the plants to illuminate the whole growing space but not too high wasting light. This height will depend on the lighting fixture or bulb. Reflective material on three sides will help immensely by decreasing edge effects.

For blue/red plant lighting, 15 watts per square foot (30 cm2) of growing area works well. How high the light fixtures are above the plants depends on the fixtures and reflective surfaces at the sides of the growing area. Experimentation will be necessary.

Expect LEDs to dim over time. After 35,000 hours of use it is not unusual for them to be only 70% as bright as they were initially. They can lose luminosity quicker if they overheat.

This lower light level can be achieved by using 40% lower wattage, illuminating a larger area with the same fixtures, using fewer or different fixtures, or not using side reflectors.

The plants preferring less light may be placed on the edges of the grow area where the plants needing high intensity are in the center of the grow area immediately under the lights.

This is still more than human office lighting levels. Use indirect light or spillover from adjacent plant lighting or from low wattage LED fixtures. Better yet, use a window that does not get direct sunlight.

LEDs manufactured for in-home human lighting typically come in various color temperatures and color rendering indexes (CRI). LEDs with color temperatures of 5000K mimic full sun light color and may appear a high energy blue in homes. LEDs with color temperatures of 3000K mimic shade and appear a calming yellow in homes. 80 CRI LEDs are less expensive than 90 CRI LEDs and are slightly brighter per unit of power. However the colors of objects under 80 CRI will not match what you would see under sunlight or incandescent lighting. 90 CRI LEDs use more phosphors to tune the light for better color rendition. For plants sensitive to blue/red ratio, 5000K and 80 CRI LEDs have a relatively higher amount of deep blue light and less deep red than 3000K and 90 CRI LEDs. For some plants, the choice of color temperature and color rendering index will make a difference.

The best feature of LED lighting is it is inherently directional. You can choose bulbs appropriate for your needs without having to resort to fixtures with fancy reflectors and mirrors. LED spot lights do work best for plants that hold out their leaves more-or-less horizontally. You could use an LED spot light above a Nepenthes plant, a large pot of Drosera or Dionaea, or as lighting for a hexagon terrarium. However, the lack of light dispersion can also be a disadvantage. The beam of light is so narrow it would not work well with pitcher plants such as Heliamphora even if the plants were surrounded by mirrors.

Light panels are another choice for plant lighting. The light panels have arrays of LED chips mounted on a circuit board. The panels will give more even light than a spotlight but it is not as even as one may expect at first glance. There are significant edge effects. If you put a 30 cm square light panel 38 cm over two side-by-side 1020 (26 x 52 cm) plant trays, the plants on the edges will get 45% less light than the plants in the center. If your plants want high intensity light, it may be best to use two lower watt panels per tray or one panel per 30 cm2 (1 sq ft). Make sure you check the wattage of the panels to get the amount of light the plants appreciate.

An interesting concept is panel lights that use mostly white LEDs with some deep red and deep blue LEDs. The light from these panels appears "normal" to human eyes. However, the plants may or may not like the light from the available panels. The white/red lights are problematic for many plants. Some growers swear by the white/blue panels. The panel above has blue, red, orange, and white LEDs. It has enough white to see the plants well. How well these panels work for some plants hinges on the ratio of colors the plants use in nature.

With the dramatic rise in home farming of Cannabis, many new plant light bulbs and fixtures have become widely available and inexpensive. These bulbs and fixtures can be great for situations where plants are being propagated or otherwise not part of a display. It is a general principle in horticulture that if you want a nice display of plants, unless you constantly want to buy new plants, you need an additional grow area with at least twice the space for plants to be rotated into the display. This can mean a lot of electricity for plants you will not be seeing all the time.

The lights tuned for plants produce light that plants require and do not "waste" energy on light that plants do not need. The more you pay for electricity, or the more you care for your carbon footprint, the more you need to consider plant-specific lighting for your non-display plants. Generally, you can figure the electricity usage will decrease at least 50% compared to white LEDs. The electricity usage could be even 70% lower if it was possible to measure the amount of plant-active light and use the minimum necessary. However, there is a tendency to think maybe the plants would appreciate more light and, of course, you decide why not.

The most basic of panel plant lights have a combination of just deep blue and deep red LEDs, usually at a ratio of about one blue to two red. They produce light that appears dim and purple to humans. For purple plant spotlights it is difficult to determine the blue/red ratio unless they are constructed with separate color LEDs and you can see them without breaking the bulb. The kind in the image of a burned out module above seems redder than a typical blue/red panel.

Most full-sun plants love this purple light. However, humans cannot judge how bright the light is. Without some white light human eyes react as if it is dark when in fact the light can be extremely bright. It is best when viewing or working with the plants under purple plant lighting that there also be white lights on to help your eyes adjust.

As with these Cephalotus plants, it is difficult to determine how well the plants are doing or if they need feeding while under pure deep blue/deep red light. To judge how they are doing requires seeing how green the new leaves are. The lighter green the leaves are, the more they need to be fed. This is another reason to have white lights as part of a growing arrangement. And ideal plant light or fixture will have some white light LEDs or you can use some standard white LED bulbs that can be turned on as needed.

Basement grow room with a mix of deep blue/deep red LED panels and deep blue/white panels. This part of it is mostly Sarracenia. Photo by Carson Trexler.

For some plants, the typical Cannabis "grow" ratio of one deep blue to two deep red LED chips is too blue while the Cannabis "bloom" ratio of one deep red to three white LED chips is too red. This is especially a problem with many Drosera species. It may be difficult to find a panel plant light with the best ratio of deep blue, deep red, and white LED chips in a regular pattern that works well for most Drosera. Temperate species such as Drosera intermedia, Drosera hybrida, and others will go dormant prematurely and remain dormant for nine months if the color is not to their liking. Winter growing tuberous and pygmy Drosera can have problems with premature dormancy. Using a combination of purple plant spotlights, pure deep red spotlights, and white spotlights does work under conditions where spotlights are feasible but is not optimal. Many growers use panels with white and deep blue LEDs. It is unclear at this point why Drosera are so finicky and how to deal with that.

Quick changes in lighting type may induce plants to do things they may not do under the same lighting once they are used to it. When doing "experiments" with light fixtures, unless the plants really get upset with the lights, it can take a year to determine whether a setup works or not. If all else fails, use white light.

We all know plants need light to grow and be healthy. Indoor plants often suffer from too little sun and can benefit from artificial light. Most lighting options today feature LEDs due to their long life and low energy use. Should you use LED lights to grow plants? The traditional grow lights were fluorescent or incandescent. Let’s see what the difference between LED lights and grow lights stacks up to and which is better. Keep reading for LED grow light info that will help you make an informed decision before you purchase plant lights.

Additionally, there is no gas, mercury, lead, breakable filament, and the bulbs are tougher and harder to break. As opposed to many other grow lights, LEDs are also cooler and can be situated closer to plants without a chance of burning leaves.

I live in an apartment in central Ontario with a balcony, Zone 6 (I believe, our system can be funny). I"m willing to grow outdoors during spring and summer, but I currently have a Fukien tea which can"t tolerate our winters.

I can"t afford a large, nice storage area right now and recently happened upon a very large, nice display cabinet. I don"t own china or anything else intended to be presented, though, besides my bonsai.

It looks much like the attached photo. It has a small display light at the top that no longer works, but because of it, has a cutout at the top to wire a cable through.

I was thinking of mounting either an LED strip/long light or ideally an HLG 65 or 100 (which should just barely fit). Quite frankly I think it might look good under the right circumstances, but the cabinet is solid wood so I"d worry about high humidity and consistently higher than normal temperatures from the light. I also can"t be entirely certain with my experience of whether or not this will be all that beneficial to the plants. Will that light be sufficient, or too much?

The current situation the world is faced with has affected countless businesses around the globe. We at Valoya wish to update you on how we are managing during these uncertain times.

Due to efficient stock management processes, Valoya is capable of delivering most of its products without any interruptions. Some component sourcing has been challenging adding small delays to delivery of certain product models of which you will be informed when making an inquiry.

Our staff has begun working remotely since March 16th and will do so until further notice. For us working remotely is nothing new and we are at full capacity and available to you as much as ever.

All travel has been temporarily suspended as health and safety of our staff is our number 1 priority and we do not wish to put anyone in harm’s way. Nevertheless, we are happy to communicate with you by digital means.

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.

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’.

Spectrum X is one of the most advanced multi-bar LED grow light for indoor plants.It delivers powerful 2200 μmol/s PPF output in the 880 watt class and high-efficacy 2.8 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.

The integrated LED 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 spectrum Y lights with one Spectrum X and control them simultaneously. In other words, these 50 fixtures act as workstations and Spectrum X 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 Spectrum X, the Spectrum Y lightscan complete the same work.Need an easy installation? No worries! Spectrum X along with its 50 followers are featured with balancing dampers. These are simple mechanisms that allow you to adjust fixtures to any angle you want. Say goodbye to the labor charges of installation. Now you can hang Spectrum X on your own or take a little help from a friend.Our lights are designed by the growers, for the growers and the growers come first. Great thanks to several indoor growers for providing us access to their grow rooms for testing our state of the art Spectrum X, an innovation for the hydroponic growers across the world .

We accept Credit Card, PayPal and bank transfers. For lights less than 10 pcs, we accept credit card, PayPal and for bulk orders over 10 lights, we accept bank transfers. Contact us if you are a commercial grower.

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

It really depends on which species that you are planning to plant. Each of your plant’s phases of growth would have different spectrum and light intensity needs. Generally speaking, we recommend an 18w fluorescent lamp hang around 6" for the seedling stage, our light at 30" for veg, and at 12" for the flowering stage. You can adjust the height of the light or by using the dimmer so that you can tune the photon intensity to fit in various growth stages.

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).

Affiliate Disclosure: This Old House‘s Reviews Team is committed to delivering honest, objective, and independent reviews on home products and services. To support this business model, This Old House may be compensated if you purchase through links on our website.

Whether you don’t have a yard or it doesn’t receive much sunlight, you can use one or more grow lights to grow plants indoors. The light from a grow light replaces or supplements sunlight to help your plants stay healthy. To help you select a light, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best grow lights on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.

This grow bulb offers full spectrum lighting that appears white and screws into a lamp or fixture like a regular light bulb. It produces a red and blue light spectrum that’s ideal for growing cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, and other greens from seed to vegetable.

Customers appreciated how bright this bulb was given its low energy consumption. They also said that it effectively grew a variety of plants. However, frustrated customers said that it died quickly and made an irritating buzzing noise when it was on.

For gardeners who need multiple grow lights that can cover a large area, this eight-pack is for you. You can link these tubes together using the included cords, and even link multiple packs for large gardens. There are three different ways to mount them to your ceiling or another surface using the included tape, clips, screws, and ties.

When they were installed together, these lights provided bright light for customers’ gardens. Users also liked that they could grow practically any plant with them. Negative reviews said that the light skewed pink rather than the advertised white. Other users claimed that the wiring shocked them.

For novices, this all-inclusive gardening container has a built-in grow light and water chamber. The six holes in the pot hold the included pods that each contain a different budding herb and some plant food. As the plants grow, you can raise the light and adjust its settings.

Customers who left positive reviews for this indoor garden said that it was both decorative and functional, as it had a sleek, stylish design and grew healthy plants quickly. However, customers who left negative reviews struggled with the digital display. They also didn’t like that the built-in light limited how tall the plants could grow.

Meant for fruits and flowers, this grow light uses a mix of red and white lighting to help plants flourish. You can position the light exactly where you need it, as the bulbs are spread across four bendable heads that sit on an height-adjustable tripod stand.

Customers thought that this light was easy to use, especially with the built-in control panel on the power cord. They also liked that it was lightweight in case they needed to adjust its placement. Meanwhile, some customers didn’t like this light, stating that it wasn’t bright enough.

This light sits on or clips to your table using its two-in-one base that acts as feet or a clamp. It has 80 LED bulbs across four long and skinny heads that rotate 360 degrees. With blue, red, and blue and red modes, this light supports your plants through every growth stage.

Customers who were satisfied with this grow light liked its multiple settings and simple setup. Unsatisfied customers warned about its lack of durability, saying that its clamp broke and its light randomly shut off.

Choose a light that’s large enough to cover all of the plants in your indoor garden. For one plant, you can get a small light that can move from room to room with your plant. On the other hand, you need a large overhead light if you have rows of plants. You can also purchase several lights if one isn’t enough.

Different plant species and growth stages require different colors and temperatures of light. Warm light helps with fruit and flower production. Cool light, meanwhile, helps seeds grow stems and leaves and greens expand their foliage.

If you have both flowering and leafy plants or don’t know which type of light your plants need, you can find full-spectrum grow lights. These provide a balance of warm and cool lighting to resemble natural sunlight.

Most grow lights on the market today use LED bulbs. LED lights are long-lasting and energy-efficient. They also come in different colors and temperatures to suit your lighting needs. These bulbs have almost entirely replaced fluorescent and HID ones.

Fluorescent bulbs are useful for growing plants that require a modest amount of light. However, because their output is fairly weak, you have to put them a few inches from your plants. Though HID bulbs are powerful, even more so than LED ones, they are expensive and energy-inefficient and require special fixtures.

It depends on the type of bulb, plant, and light, but a general rule of thumb is two feet away. If you’re using fluorescent bulbs, you can put them a little closer.

Grow lights are not as effective as direct sunlight. Plants get the same amount of energy from six hours of sunlight as they do from 13 hours under grow lights. However, for those who don’t have a yard or enough sunlight, grow lights can be a viable alternative. To replicate sunlight as closely as possible, look for a full-spectrum grow light.

Grow lights should stay on for eight to 16 hours a day to mimic natural sunlight. The exact number of hours depends on a variety of factors, including what plant you’re growing, how much natural sunlight your plant is getting through a window, and what type of bulb your light is using.

This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.

We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.