When the sun isn't on your side, grow lights can come to the rescue. Whether you're looking to get a leg up on the vegetable growing season or just help your houseplants survive the winter, here's how to find the best grow light for your needs and space.

The Electromagnetic Spectrum of LED Grow Light

The sun emits all the frequencies found within the electromagnetic spectrum, including those of visible light - violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

A close up of two pots of microgreens growing indoors under a lamp, on a soft-focus background.

These are the frequencies plants need for normal development.
Blue - Blue is the first color absorbed by plants and is essential at the beginning, or vegetative, stage.

Purple - Purple also helps in the vegetative stage, although purple by itself does not provide effective energy for photosynthesis.

Green - Green is primarily reflected, but small amounts are retained and contribute to energy conversion.

Yellow - Yellow is the least effective for the purpose of photosynthesis.

Red - Red is needed in the mature, flowering stage for blooms to form and is most effective when combined with blue. Red alone should not be used in the early, vegetative stages.

White - White is the combination of all colors in the visible light spectrum and can be used effectively for all stages of a plant's development.

So, for seedlings and leafy green vegetables, higher spectrum bulbs in the blue range are required.

But if you want plants to flower and set fruit, you'll also need low spectrum red colors.

Or, you can make things easy. Use a full spectrum, white bulb to satisfy all stages of cultivation.

Cultivate Tech GrowtechX 320

Features:
Cultivate Tech grow light is a 320W, full-cycle LED grow light designed to target only the parts of the spectrum your plants need to thrive through both vegetative and flowering cycles. At 320 TRUE LED watts, the GrowtechX320 is the equivalent to approximately 600 HPS or metal halide watts, meaning, it runs on nearly half the wattage of traditional grow lights. Growtech X's Full Spectrum Spectral Diode Mix offers a perfectly balanced mix of 660nm red diodes and full spectrum 3000 + 6500K white diodes. This thoroughly tested light spectrum is designed for complete plant development (full cycle indoor light for seed germination, clones/cuttings/mothers, and for both vegetative and flowering cycles).

Rapid LED FM320 LED Grow Light

Features:
The FM320 is Rapid LED's easiest-to-use fixture perfect for those that want a reliable, affordable lighting option ready to go out of the box. With system-level efficiency between 2.5–2.7 umol/J and a choice of either 3200K or 4000K color temperature this fixture is great for either full-cycle/veg/rooting (4000K) or flowering (3200K). Uniform light distribution. You can link multiple units together to save on outlet space for both power and dimming. The grow light has a slim profile for space-constrained applications such as vertical farming. And its units can be connected in series for simple power and dimming wiring. It also has the ability to cover all growth phases. Dimmable via any 0–10V/1–10V dimming signal

The Brilliant Benefits of LED Grow Lights for Indoor Plant

Sometime in the past, people would grow their crops in their own gardens, where natural sunlight could help them grow into the beautiful, tasty fruits and veggies that we all so love.
Sadly, however, there are more apartment buildings on this planet than there are houses now. Not all of us have the benefit of farmlands, and we have to make do with what we have. And if this means sticking our crops into a corner of our apartment, then so be it. At this time one of the best LED grow lights is best for you.

LED grow lights are on top of the world. When it comes to farming indoors, LED lighting technology has been soaring in popularity.

Quick Harvest Cycle
Plants only know one thing: they need sunlight to grow. If they had the sun for the entire day, they would probably keep growing. Unfortunately for them, however, the sun sets at some point - which means that for a good couple of hours, they also stop growing.

LED grow lights can be used 24 hours a day. Then they will only know that they have the light necessary to grow, and they will keep growing in their lit grow room even when it's pitch dark outside.

Healthier Plants
When you use traditional lights on plants, the burning effect will bounce off the plant, causing it to dry up if the temperature is not up to its liking. Everything that emits harmful UV lights can cause damage to the plants, causing them to need a lot more energy and water to survive.

With LED grow lights, heat and harmful wavelengths of light are limited. As a result, water and energy are used to grow and develop healthier plants and not to merely survive.

Environmentally Friendly
Indoor plant cultivation is an energy-intensive industry. And as the door of the plants market continues to widen, greater demands are being placed on local utility companies and communities.

LED grow lights offer more targeted light solutions while consuming 50–70% less energy than standard practices.
Operations that increase energy efficiency lessen the burden on surrounding communities.

Without compromising on quality brightness, LEDs also reduce the emission and use of harmful substances:

Less Heat: LEDs run cooler than HPS bulbs, not only streamlining the ventilation process and costs but also lowering environmental impact.

Fewer Chemicals: LED grow lights allow a highly controlled environment for plants, greatly reducing the need for pesticides and chemical treatments on plants.

No Mercury: With durable construction and a guaranteed warranty, it should be a long time before growers consider replacing their LED fixtures. When the time comes, however, these lights are safe to throw away because they do not contain toxic mercury.

Finally, LED grow lights, on the other hand, do not contain these harmful substances, which means the air around you and your lights will not be compromised. You'll be saving yourself and saving the environment, all in one shot.

Saving Energy
LED grow lights are more efficient than traditional lighting systems, consuming 50% - 70% less energy to give the same level of light.

Most of our electricity bill is caused by heat emission and the "burn" needed to produce the light. However, considering that LED grow lights do not actually burn anything in order to produce the lights, it can greatly lower our electricity bill. You get the same amount of light and save money while you are at it as well.

Cool Operating Temperature
The LED grow lights do not give off a lot of heat. This is unlike HID lighting systems that produce temperatures approaching 400 or more degrees.

Because LED lights run significantly cooler than HPS equivalents, growers have greater control of the environment temperature, as well as the crop's exposure to heat.

Increased Lifespan
One of the reasons why LED lights are increasing more in popularity is that they have a longer lifespan than the average light bulb. Because they have lower operating temperatures, an LED grows light system can run for as long as 50,000 hours - which is way more than the traditional lighting system.

The longer lifespan of LEDs means you can grow crops for many years without needing to replace the lighting systems, which reduces costs.

Grow Lights for Plants: The Requirements

In the absence of natural sunlight, grow lights play a critical role in indoor gardening. Light is necessary to bring about photosynthesis, during which water, carbon dioxide, and light provide the energy source for plants to produce glucose and oxygen for their growth. As you search for a suitable grow light for plants, you should first consider the following:

Color
Different light sources provide different colors, each with varying energy outputs and wavelengths. Plants need more blue light during the vegetation phase and more red light during the flowering stage. Blue waves tend to be smaller and possess more energy whereas red light waves have a longer reach but with less energy output. Full-spectrum grow lights contain all colors of the sun and therefore appear white.

Light Intensity
The brightness of the light determines how much light energy can be absorbed by the plant. Intensity is measured in Lumen output. Low intensity grow lights often produce long, leggy plants because they reach to find an adequate amount of light. High-intensity lights are superior for growing plants because they produce more dense, compact, and higher-yielding plants.
While you can somewhat increase the intensity by moving the grow lights closer to the plants, it's best to choose a high-intensity grow light from the start. For great results, you want something that is capable of delivering high-intensity light with a broad spectrum of colors.

Grow Light Cycle for Pants
 When growing plants, the vegetative stage of plant growth requires a longer duration of light than does the flowering stage. Some grow lights have built-in timers for light cycles (automatically turning on/off lights at set times), while more basic grow lights (without this capability) will need a timer.

Conclusion
Thanks for reading our Best Grow Lights for plants article. We hope that you found a light for your next plant's growth.