Growers always want an edge to save money without affecting the quality and yield of their plants. When you're starting out with few plants, it makes no sense to invest in expensive industrial-grade grow lights for plants.

Mostly, when you quote a lower price people equate it to lower quality, but not in this case. Growing plants demands certain features and abilities from your grow lights.

First, because the grow lights will be on for many hours per day, they should be energy efficient - emitting the right wattage without consuming too much electricity. This way, you reduce the cost of production and can scale your growing business. Best LED grow lights for plants save more power than the HPS lights, thus a better choice.

Why Choose LED Plant Lights?

There are many different kinds of grow light fixtures including High-Intensity Discharge or HID grow lights, Metal Halide, ceramic metal halide (CMH), High-Pressure Sodium (HPS), and good old everyday fluorescent lights. All of these types of lights to grow plants have their supporters and applications. However, as the best all-around indoor plant grow lights, my preference is for LED (Light Emitting Diodes) plant lights.

There are a number of reasons I prefer growing with LED lights:
LEDs are energy-efficient grow lights and last for up to 50,000 hours. If you're using them on a 12-hour timer this is equal to 11 years. Some people argue LEDs are expensive and, to be fair, they have a higher upfront cost than their HPS counterparts.

Over time, however, they are cheap grow lights to run long-term thanks to their reduced power consumption.

They can be plugged into a regular socket and usually don't require a separate ballast so they are easier to use in small spaces.

LED plant grow lights produce less heat than HPS grow lights and can be placed closer to your plants without risking damage. Producing less heat also means you expend less energy maintaining the correct temperature in your grow room.

LEDs can be customized to emit specific wavelengths of light (for example you can have red LED grow lights but studies show adding green and blue LED grow lights will help plants perform better. With LEDs you can adjust the colour balance to suit the specific plant type.)

LED full spectrum grow lights are the best grow lights for plants. (I'll discuss why LEDs are the best lights for growing plants in full detail in their own section below.)

LEDs don't contain harmful mercury so they don't need to be disposed of in a particular way. This, in addition to their energy efficiency, makes LED grow lights the best choice for the environment.

ECO Farm ECOZ 250W Samsung 301H Chips LED Grow Light

Features:
The ECO Farm LED grow light is built with the best parts, Top Bing Samsung LM301H & Osam Chip and brand driver for higher efficacy and longer lifespan; Compared with old plant lights, the average PPFD is increased by 30%, and the yield and quality are increased by 50%. 8 LED growth lights, each rod is covered with high-grade glue, waterproof and easy to clean, not easy to be filled with dust. This plant growth light also uses a special dimmer, which can precisely adjust the brightness. At the same time, it also has an ideal full-spectrum and amazing heat dissipation, close to natural sunlight. The spectrum applies to the entire stage of indoor planting.

Model number: ECOZ 250
Input voltage: 100–265vac 
Efficacy: 2.75 umol/J
Coverage Area: 2*2ft
Power Factor: 0.95–0.99
Lifespan L90: >50,000 hrs
Total Number of LED's: 480PCS
IP Rating: IP65
Body Color: Silver
Beam Angle: 120°
Operating environment: -10°C to 40°C

FloraGear FLORA X4s 240w Full-Spectrum LED Grow Light

Features:
Made for the serious grower, and featuring OSRAM LEDS, the FLORA X4s is the ideal system for veg and flowering/bloom spaces up to 3'x3'. Designed and made for rugged reliability, its 240w of full-spectrum LED light provides steady input required for plants to reach full genetic potential during both vegetative and bloom stages. Can be part of up to 100-light system using an RJ14 hardwired network. Perfect as a standalone light for small tents or as an 'entourage' lamp within a larger HPS or CMH grow. Engineered to operate in damp spaces: clear lens shield protects from moisture.

OSRAM LEDs
Inventronics 0–10v Dimmable LED Driver
Efficiency: 2.1 μmol/J
PPF: 525μmol/s
Input Voltage: AC 100–277v
3-Year Warranty
ETL-Certified

What colour LED grow lights are best?

Depending on the type of plant, different coloured lights do differently. There is a lot of misinformation online about the best lights to use and some LED lights have unusual colour combinations or varying strengths.

The science behind using LED lights to boost your shrubs says that organic life responds best to red and blue LEDs. The three best colours are red, blue or UV LED lights and although there is a lot more information about spectrums, wavelengths and the science behind these lights, those are the three you should concentrate on for your greenhouse.

All plants with green leaves (so the majority) absorb UV, blue and red lights. The other colours in the spectrum, such as yellow and green, are not taken in as well by foliage which means as a LED grow light, they are not effective.

Some gardeners find themselves investing in expensive lights without checking the spectrum first and then don't see the results that are expected. This is down to the wrong colour light being used.

LED Grow Light Strips distance

Grow lights are used when there is unavailability or lack of direct sunlight and a mistake can result either in plant withering or burning of the foliage if put so close to the plants. Proper use may enhance the yield and health of the plant and for that purpose, you need to follow the owner's manual for the proper placement of LED Grow Lights Strips for your indoor plants.

1. Grow Lights distance from plants

Grow lights of different power capacities will behave differently and their distances will also vary from the canopy of the plant. For example, 250 W led grow lights can be kept at a distance of 1 to 2 feet from the canopy of the plant while using for 2 to 4 plants only whereas 450W grow light may serve around 8 plants in the distance of 15 inches to 30 inches. The distance keeps increasing with an increase in Watts and may go up to 3 feet in 900 W grow lights.

2. Grow Lights during the vegetative stage

The vegetative stage is the most crucial stage of plant development in that it makes its entire biomass during this period while it determines the amount of flowering a plant will exhibit during the next stage. The vegetative growth period can be handled with 16 hours of continuous light per day or in some cases it can further be prolonged for 24 hours to obtain smooth growth. The plants exposed to 16–18 hours of light per day will be ready in 6–8 weeks to move into the flowering stage.

3. Grow Lights during Flowering stage

The exposure of the plants to indoor grow lights will determine the flowering initiation and the period it will keep continuous flowering. Generally, the exposure to the lights is reduced to 12 hours per day, red light is increased along with the far-red light of the visible spectrum that will determine flowering.

The flowering under these conditions remains to continue for 8 to 10 weeks that determine bud's formation along with stem elongation whereas flowering is reduced when bud's formation is at its peak. Plants need more Phosphorus and Potash for healthy flower formation than Nitrogen at this stage.

Conclusion

So if you're thinking about getting some LED grow lights to boost your plants, then we hope to have given you some valuable information. We recommend using the ECO Farm grow light. Not only does this light have red and blue LEDs which are crucial for good growth, but this model also fits right into a standard light bulb fitting. It is cheap, comes with a 12-month warranty and will run for 50,000 hours before it needs replacing. It can also operate for up to 24 hours per day so it will suit any type of vegetation.

Remember to check the colour of your LED lights, make sure they are the right strength and are positioned as close to the plants as they need to be and monitor them regularly as the crops grow. Switch your lights off overnight to give the plants rest and you will soon see your foliage flourishing.