On days when you can barely remember the sun, it can be hard to imagine your plants—indoor or out—ever achieving full bloom. Your outdoor plants may manage just fine with the diffused level of light they receive, especially in the summer, but sometimes indoor plants need a little more help to properly photosynthesize.
Full spectrum vs. red & blue grow lights
Most grow lights for indoor plants are either full spectrum, which means the light they emit spans the entire electromagnetic spectrum (similar to the sun), or they provide particular tones that plants find the most useful for growing—specifically red and blue light. Red and blue light are best paired together, as they provide more even growth levels when combined.
If you’d prefer not to have the ambience from the purple-pink tones of a red/blue light, daylight coloured bulbs with a high correlated-colour temperature (CCT)[link] rating can also provide you with enough lighting to facilitate growth. However, if you are very serious about indoor growing, you will want to select a clearly-labelled full spectrum bulb, which provides the closest facsimile to the sun.
Types of grow light bulbs
Grow lights are available in all different types of light bulbs from incandescent to fluorescent to commerical led grow light strips. So how do you know which bulb is best suited to growing bulbs?
Incandescent light bulbs
Typically, incandescent and halogen lights are not recommended as grow lamps because, while they do often offer full spectrum lighting, they operate at a very high temperature that can easily damage foliage. They are also inefficient in terms of energy usage, and are being phased out by governments worldwide. In short, there are cheaper, more effective, and more efficient alternatives to incandescent grow lights.
Fluorescent light bulbs
Fluorescent lights are often used as led grow lights samsung because you can easily find tubes that have full spectrum lighting or which are specifically designed for growing plants. They also give off less heat and are more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, meaning they require fewer watts to put out the same amount of light.
LED light bulbs
Thanks to their energy efficiency, longevity, and the low level of heat they emit, LEDs have quickly become a popular light bulb option for growing plants. You can also fine-tune the colour wavelength put out by the bulb, so a single LED bulb can be made to produce both red and blue wavelengths for optimal growing, negating the need for multiple light bulbs.

While the initial cost of these lamps was fairly prohibitive, the price is continuing to drop as their popularity increases and manufacturers become more familiar with their production. Now, there are many different colours, types, and shapes of LEDs available, but for optimal growth results, look for LEDs that are specifically marketed as horticultural or weed grow lights.
Grow lights are a great way to supplement natural lighting and cultivate indoor plants year-round. While they aren’t exactly a match for a sunny day outside