Your grow lights are an essential part of maintaining your indoor garden. They're the light source that will mimic the sun in your grow tent or grow room in order to help your plants grow strong, healthy, and plentiful.

There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to finding the best grow light for your garden. While the amount of variety available is great, it can also make for a difficult choice.

Why Do Houseplants Need Light?

Photosynthesis in plants uses light to convert water, mineral and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose.

All plants require light during photosynthesis as a catalyst to convert water, minerals and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. The energy stored within the glucose molecules serves as energy that fuel plants' growth and reproduction.

Some plants need more or less light than others. For example, succulents need lots of bright light because they naturally grow in places with lots of suns.

On the other hand, something like a prayer plant or Monstera requires lower light and could actually get burned by harsh sun exposure.

Houseplants grown indoor with low light condition will need an extra boost from a grow light. Sometimes the light from the windows is not quite enough to keep your plants growing happily.

Can a Regular Light Bulb Help Plants Grow?

Maybe, depending on the type. Plants do best with light wavelengths in the blue and red spectrums. Regular incandescent light bulbs fall more heavily in the less-helpful yellow and green spectrums. They also give off a lot of heat, which will damage plants when placed close enough to receive enough meaningful light.

On the other hand, regular fluorescent and LED bulbs can be adequate in some situations, as their white light incorporates a combination of many wavelengths. However, they are not as effective as grow lights specifically designed to deliver more intensity, with a proper colour balance.

HLG 200 Diablo 200W Quantum Board LED grow light

Features:
This HLG grow light is a 200W quantum board LED grow light, powered with the custom QB648, a LED Module designed by Horticulture Lighting Group®. Each board has 648pc Full Spectrum LM301H LED's and 18 pc Deep Red 660nm LM351H leds that is ideal for Veg and Bloom. The QB648 Diablo has the highest quality and efficiency in the Quantum Board® line. This grow light is designed for low ceiling heights or vertical racksand it has a reliable passive-cooled design. Better canopy light penetration with diffused light. It produces mild heat, but ambient heat around this light is very low, so there is no need to worry about burns or damage to your plant; you can place the lamp directly above your plants.

VIVOSUN VS2000 Samsung LM301H Full Spectrum LED Grow Light

Features:
This VIVOSUN LED grow light uses the latest LED plant light technology including Samsung LM301H Diodes. Extremely high output but consumes only 200W of electricity, making it more efficient than traditional HID lamps and other plant lamps on the market. The VS2000 LED plant lamp has a dimming knob that makes it adaptable to different growing periods of your plant; It can adapt to the growth needs of plants in different periods; The first choice for beginners and professional growers alike. These VS 2000 full-spectrum LEDs deliver optimal light-spectrum coverage - more power for your blooms and maximum PAR output at various distances, with super-bright lights that your plants will love; This LED light increases yield while decreasing costs, especially if you compare it to HPS/CMH combos.

Are All LED Lights Good for Growing Plants?

All LED lights MIGHT work for growing plants, but LED lights specifically designed for plants work far better.

We've researched whether regular LED lights can be used as grow lights.

You can choose regular LEDs that you can use for other things, but you can also grow lights–which work much better for plants.
A grow light has the right amount of light–in the correct wavelengths (colours) to help plants grow optimally.

The two types of LEDs (regular vs. grow lights) have similar features, and you can probably find something that works for you and your plants.

But you may want to consider a few of their differences (e.g., regular LEDs vs. grow light LEDs, yes, they all have similar features, but consider the differences, like runtime).

Regular LEDs
Regular LEDs are easy to find, so might be a good option if you have low-light plants, or if you can't get to a gardening store with speciality lights.

They're flexible enough that you can use them to light your indoor plants as well as other areas of your home.

If you use a few LED lights, you can run them for about 19 hours per day. Then, you can get the optimum amount of light for your plants.

But you may need a lot of light for high-light plants.
Vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, or strawberries typically need more light than greens like lettuce.

Grow Light LEDs
If you have access to a gardening store, you may be able to buy grow lights. These are LEDs and work similarly to regular lights.

However, their purpose is to help plants grow. Grow lights do this by emitting specific colours (wavelengths) of light–mostly blue & red light.

Depending on the light you get, it may need more or less runtime each day compared to a regular LED.

But you may not need to buy as many lights for the same number of plants. So consider a few grow lights if you're interested in one.

Are Full Spectrum LED Lights Good for Plants?

Full-spectrum LED lights–specifically grow lights–can be good for some plants that need high light to grow.

But regular LED lights that are full-spectrum will typically only work for low-light or medium-light plants, and those lights will only provide a limited amount of supplemental light.

If you have plants that need more light, don't put the plant too close to any light, since the leaves may burn.

The exception to this is with some types of LED lights since LED lights emit very little heat.

What Are the Challenges of LED Grow Lights?

Now let's discuss some of the challenges you might encounter when growing with LEDs.

Overwhelming LED Light Options: The fact that LEDs offer a range of different uses and light wavelengths can definitely be a benefit. That said, it can also make it really difficult to choose the right one.

There are so many types of LEDs out there: traditional, COB, spread, multi-band, single-band, supplemental, and primary lights… the list goes on! Figuring out which LED grow light is right for you and your grow room will take a decent amount of research and effort.

High Light Intensity: LEDs are much brighter and more intense than HPS lights when it comes to lumen output. While this can be a benefit, it also puts your plants at risk of bleaching. As such, you'll have to hang these lights higher than HPS grow lights in order to avoid this issue.

Raising your LEDs to avoid bleaching your plants can be tricky - if you hang them too high, your plants won't benefit from their light intensity, sacrificing growth. 

Conclusion

Plants need plenty of bright light; they become frail and wilted when light is not sufficient. During the winter season when there's minimal sunlight, and sometimes even in the sunniest days, plants don't always get the amount of light that they need. For the cultivation of many plants, including houseplants like orchids and even some fruit and vegetables, grow lights will serve as an excellent alternative light source to make sure that the plants in your garden will grow healthy even on the gloomiest days.