Helping your houseplants survive winter can feel like an exercise in futility. The days are short, sunshine is sparse and before long, you may notice your plants looking a little pale, leggy and leafless. But don't give up on having a green thumb just yet! Grow lights, which mimic the full spectrum of light available outdoors, are the answer.

Most grow lights available now are LED grow lights, which are super-efficient, generate less heat, and last far longer than old-school incandescent or fluorescent lights. Some lights have timers, which is handy if you don't want to remember to turn them on and off every day. That's important because plants do need darkness as part of their normal growing cycle. Many lights are stand-alone, while others must be mounted on the ceiling or a shelving unit. Also, be aware that grow lights are super-bright, so you won't be able to use them in a bedroom (unless you're an eye mask devotee and are totally unbothered by brightness akin to an alien spaceship landing as you try to fall asleep).

Why And When Should You Use Grow Lights?

Grow lights are a simple and effective way to provide sufficient light and sustain plants when they can't get enough sunlight. And since most of us live in homes with roofs, our plants will naturally receive less light than if they were growing in an outdoor garden. And some of us live in areas with naturally less light - whether that's caused by overcast conditions or nearby buildings blocking the sun. 

But how do you know if you actually need an additional grow light? It's always a good idea to start by researching your plants' light requirements. For instance, if you're growing lettuce indoors that needs full sun throughout the day - but your home only gets a few hours of direct light - you should probably get a small grow light to assist. 

Another way to tell is by watching how your plants grow. Have you noticed your seedlings are growing tall and leggy? They're extending their stems and leaves in search of more sun.

Vegetable seedlings that do not receive enough light become lanky, low, and frail (also known as "leggy"). Too little light can affect your plants' development, making them weaker or even causing them to die.

Using grow lights is one of the easiest ways to avoid leggy seedlings and grow the healthiest, thriving plants.

TotalGrow Mezzo 85W LED Grow Light Bar

Features:
The TotalGrow grow light generates an ideal light spectrum for diverse supplemental and sole source applications with a versatile output pattern, exceptional efficiency, and profound total value in a pleasant work environment. This plug-and-play solution is simple to implement, low on upfront and ongoing costs, and makes it possible to sustainably grow high-quality plants year-round over a very long life with minimum height requirements. 85W mid-power light bars at 2.5 µmol/J for the precise light your plants need.

Rapid LED Core85 LED Bar

Features:
The Core85 LED bar grow light is an excellent choice for vertical farming, rooting, seedlings, clones, and situations that require lower light levels or are limited by low ceilings. The Core85 is ideal for full-cycle/veg/rooting with system-level efficiencies between 2.3–2.5 umol/J and a choice of either 3200K or 4000K color temperature. The Core85 has a built-in non-dimmable driver. It's recommended that you adjust the mounting height to achieve the proper light intensity for your plants. The Core85 features 264 full-spectrum white LEDs with eight (8) supplemental deep red LEDs, making it flexible for the different parts of the growth cycle. This high-performance LED grow light is excellent for a variety of grow operations.

Another Reason To Invest In A Grow Light?

If you want to start seedlings, such as annuals and perennials, or edibles to plant in your garden this spring. While a sunny south-facing window might work in a pinch, most vegetables and flowers seedlings require 14 to 18 hours of light per day to thrive. When they don't get enough light, they eventually become weak and spindly. A grow light can give your babies a strong start in life so they'll survive transplanting into your garden later.

Choosing the best grow light for your space

There are several important factors to consider when you're choosing the grow light that's best for you and your plants. Of course, there's always a price, but that's only part of the story. You want to make sure you're getting the best function for that price. You also, however, want to avoid breaking the bank for fancy features you might not actually need or use.
Before investing in a grow light, consider:
The size of your space: If you're trying to grow many plants at once that cover a large area, it stands to reason that you'll need more light! Of course, buying more grow lights will cost more money. We'd suggest looking at the features of each light to find the "footprint" of the energy it gives off. This will help you determine whether it'd be better to purchase multiple cheaper lights or one larger but more expensive light, ultimately saving you money in the end.

What stages of plant growth you're trying to light: If you can determine specifically which periods of growth and life cycle your plants will most require lighting for, you can also better figure out the kind of light you'll need. For example, if your plants will only need lighting for the very early growth stages, then you might not need to purchase a combination or adjustable full spectrum light with a higher price tag.
Conversely, if you're trying to make sure your plants will be properly lit for their entire life cycles, then you might actually save money by purchasing the combination light that will provide the right wavelength at every growth stage since you won't have to purchase multiple different lights or bulbs to get more than one function and effect that you'll have to change out at the right time.

What kinds of plants you're growing: For the most part, the majority of plants experience the same (or similar) growth stages throughout their life cycle. This means that they largely required the same kinds and levels of light and wavelength from seed to bloom across the board, even though they are different plants. That's not to say, however, that certain species of the plant don't have varied, specific, or unique requirements throughout their life cycles. Make sure you research the needs of the plants you're trying to grow very well before you purchase a grow light, just in case.

Conclusion

Whether you're a pro-gardener or testing out your green thumb for the first time, using grow lights is a simple and effective way to get your plants the light they need. If your home's natural light situation isn't cutting it, get one of these light options today.