Many cannabis growers today are using more LED grow lights than they did in the past because they come with a few more advantages compared to the traditional HPS/MH grow lights. This is because you get more intense brightness and lighting from a LED grow light than you would from the MH and HPS grow lights. This goes for all wattage levels.

Other reasons people prefer LEDs over the others are the longer lifespan, the centralization of light which helps to generate less heat, denser and more intense light and their beautiful designs. Below is a review of one of the best LED grow lights in the market.

Can You Grow Marijuana With LED Lights?

Short answer, yes. But you need the right type!

In theory, you could use a standard household LED light for marijuana cultivation… but you might not get particularly good results. By standard household, we mean a standard full-spectrum white-coloured LED light. These will contain some amount of light from all the colour spectrums - but to maximize your yield, you need lights made to emit the right spectrum of colours at the right time to suit your plant's growth cycle.
For example, in the vegetative cycle, you need more blue light, and in the flowering cycle, you need more red light. This is why it's always best to use purpose-built LED lighting for your indoor growth.

There are different types of LED lights available to choose from.

LED Lights for Cannabis
There are three main types of LED lights for growing cannabis indoors - standard LED, COB LED, and spread-style LED. The one you choose will depend on your budget and individual grow space.

Standard LED
Probably the oldest type of LED light available and still very popular, these are also known as purple lights or purple LEDs. This is due to the purple hue they emit - although they're actually usually a mix of red and blue LEDs as opposed to any purple!

These lights contain tonnes of small to medium wattage LEDs in a compacted space. Standard LEDs are usually cheap and available to order online worldwide. This is both a pro and a con because the quality can also be compromised due to their price point.

This means they can be unreliable and break easily and give out less light than other types of LEDs. More expensive purple LEDs now often include UV LEDs or COB LEDs to remedy this.

COB LED
COB is an acronym - it stands for 'chip on board. It refers to the fact that a COB LED is made up of hundreds of LED lights on a single chip. Instead, many different coloured LEDs spread over the whole light fixture (like with standard LEDs).

COB LEDs are expensive, but they're very efficient as they produce a very intense light similar to natural sunlight. This intensity means COB LEDs generally produce good yields, as well as are more energy-efficient than non-LED lighting options.

Spread-Style LED
Spread-style LED fixtures are made up of a large number of tiny LEDs, spread across a large panel or board. Alternatively, they can come in rack-style or spider-style, though generally, these are used for commercial grows.

Spread-style LEDs are energy-efficient, so you get the most intense light available for the wattage. Like COD LEDs, they can be far more expensive than standard LEDs.

Other Types of Cannabis Grow Lights

Aside from LED, or light-emitting diode lights, there are a couple of other options for cannabis grow lights, which we mentioned in the introduction. The most common ones are high-intensity discharge lights (HID) and compact fluorescent lights (CFL).

HID lights used to be the most popular for indoor growth. They work exceptionally well, but they're very expensive and use a lot of energy. Prior to LED lights, CFL lights were the more affordable option for those who couldn't afford HID light fixtures.

HID lights have been on the decline in popularity since LED lights went mainstream for cultivators. This is because LED lights offer a lot of advantages over more traditional grow light technology.

ECO Farm FLD 200W Full Spectrum Dimmable LED Grow Lights Bar

Features:

Unique designed 4 extended LED bars to edges which can provide more even canopy coverage, especially to the outer edges cultivation areas. With 800pcs diodes, the ECO Farm LED grow lights draw 200 watts with 822.82umol/s, achieving an impressive PPE, coverage for 2'x3′ of high-yielding full-cycle growth. Full-spectrum (white 3000K leds, white 5000K leds, 660nm red leds and 740nm IR leds) is perfect for veg to bloom, to adapt to each phase of the plant cycle. The dimming knob is ideal for growers to adjust the light intensity according to different growing stages. Bar light design and aluminium material on the back contribute to better airflow and great heat dissipation. This LED grow light comes with a detachable driver and long power cord, thereby reducing ambient heat in your growing space for an extended lifespan. With the waterproof circuit board, worry-free of the moist environment. Easy installation.

ChilLED Tech Growcraft X3 mini - 200W

Features:
The ChilLED LED Grow Light is designed for serious growers with smaller grow spaces. These lights feature slim construction with a mere 6-inch headspace requirement while providing a coverage area of 2x2 of 3x3. Maximize your yields & profits with ChilLED LED Grow Lights. Switch from HPS to ChilLED and increase your yields & profits 30–70+% without adding any additional heat, energy costs or cooling requirements. Made from extruded lightweight aluminium with a rugged T-slot bar design, ChilLED Grow Lights contain evergreen light boards with a mix of Samsung diodes for maximum flowering or vegetative growth. These lights have very high light output and can be suspended from 6- to 24-inches above plants so they're ideal for beginning growers as well as seasoned ones.

Do I need a special light to grow plants indoors?

Some plants, such as microgreens, may flourish under basic desk lamps, according to Zartarian. But cannabis plants need brighter and more consistent light to carry them into maturity. At the same time, cannabis plants need a so-called "dark period" during the flowering stage, but ample light is key throughout most of the marijuana plant life cycle.

Cannabis plants need specialized lighting solutions to support photosynthesis, and horticultural lighting products are designed to optimize plant development.

So, not just any light will do the job. "Yes, cannabis plants need specialized lighting solutions to support photosynthesis, and horticultural lighting products are designed to optimize plant development, unlike your office desk lamp," according to Schimelpfenig.

Are house lights good for plants?

Even if you no longer use incandescent or halogen bulbs and have opted for LED lighting, it is unlikely that the lights in your home will be sufficient for your cannabis plants.

Schimelpfenig cited the simple reason that the lamps in your house are designed for human eyes, not marijuana plants.

"Since the needs of humans to see are different than the needs of plants to grow, lighting solutions in your house are not designed to provide the spectra plants need for photosynthesis, and many cultivars will not get the light they need to develop to their maximum potential," she elaborated.

Why do so many growers use LED grow lights?

LED grow lights are very popular among cannabis growers for the following reasons:

Low heat emission
Easy to use and modern-looking
Full-spectrum of light
Even coverage of light

LED lights are budget-friendly because you don't need to buy new bulbs every time you need a different light, as they have a full spectrum of colours from blue to red. Not to mention that the electricity bills are lower compared to the grow rooms that use other lights. First-time growers mostly turn to LED lights as they are very easy to use and no prior growing knowledge is needed.

Conclusion

200-watt LED grow light is for growers with small spaces growing very few crops. It is especially great for first-time growers as they start small before joining the big wigs. As little as the wattage is, the lights provide enough spectrum to give the crops full light coverage. Though LED grow lights are expensive, the above unit is an exception as it is affordable and comes with amazing features.