By The plants use sunlight by converting solar energy into chemicals through photosynthesis. Just like humans and animals, plants become what they consume. As such, plants must have light to survive and this is why proper LED lighting is important when you are growing crops indoor.
Intensity
When there is inadequate light, plants grow tall and have elongated stems. This is because such plants strive to get energy instead of producing more leaves for harnessing the energy. Using the right LED grow lights to provide the light that plants need ensures that they grow properly while remaining healthy. Since LED lights are designed specifically for growing plants indoors, they produce little heat. Therefore, they can even be situated close to plants and provide adequate light without causing scorching effects.
Time
Basically, no plants require lights 24 hours. However, plants require different amounts of lights at different times. For instance, the amount of light that is required by growing plants is different from the amount of light that germinating plants require. However, top LED grow lights are designed to specifically provide adequate amounts of light during all phases of plant growth. This implies that whether your plants are flowering or germinating, the LED lights will always provide it adequately for the indoor plants.
Make the Right Choice
There are different types of LED lights that can be used to grow plants indoor. They include lighting emitting diodes, fluorescent grow lights, metal halide, and high pressure sodium. Each of these lights has its advantages and disadvantages. It is important that you take time to know the advantages and disadvantages of each so that you can make the right choice.
Consider Wattage
LED grow lights have different wattages. In some cases, the advertised wattage is not the actual output wattage. For instance, a company may advertise that its LED lights have 3 watts, but the actual output wattage could be less than this. A light with 3 watts is usually between 500mA and 700mA. Therefore, take time to find out more about the wattage of the lights that you purchase. You can also compare the LED lighting power of different LED lights to choose the one with the best wattage output.
When you are ready to buy, to make sure that you buy the right one, reading reviews of the best LED grow lights is highly recommended by the experts in the field.
The sun is made of plasma and that’s what plants use to grow, so plasma grow lights must be the best indoor growing lights right? Possibly in the future, but at the moment there are pros and cons. Plasma grow lights are the newest advancement in lighting technology for your indoor growing. Light Emitting Plasma (LEPs) lamps offer a lot of the benefits that LED grow lights do, however, LEPs may have a brighter future (10 or 20 years from now that is). There is only a small amount of money going into Research and Development for plasma grow lights, but there is a glimpse of promise to it.
Plasma grow lights utilize electromagnetic induction (EI), and unlike conventional bulbs do not have an electrode or filament. It functions with LEP bulbs which energize quartz bulb and create something known as solid state light source. Plasma lamps can be used by themselves, but a lot of people supplement with other forms of lighting, usually LED grow lights.
Advantages
One of the advantages of plasma grow lights is, like LEDs, their longevity. They tend to last about 10% longer than LED grow lights, which is pretty impressive considering how long LEDs last. Since plasma lamps do not have electrodes or filaments, they can’t now deteriorate. This is the main cause of failure in conventional lights such as HID, HPS, and CFLs. Also since there is no chemical reaction going on inside the LEP, they can be started over and over again without the worry of a loss of performance or hot start problems.
Another advantage is the spectrum that plasma grow lights provide. As mentioned above, the sun is made of plasma and that is what plants evolved to grow and survive under. This is critical for plant growth and you won’t have to worry about switching lights when you go from vegetation phase to flowering. LEDs can leave you with that problem since they have a limited specific wavelength spectrum emitted.
Disadvantages
The biggest disadvantage at the moment for plasma grow lights is the cost. At the moment a 300w plasma light will cost you at least $1000. Imagine how much lighting you could get with HID, HPS, and LEDs for $1000. With the current amount of R&D going into plasma technology, this doesn’t seem like it is going to be dropping any time soon either.
With every emerging technology, it is hard to determine which plasma light manufacturer is trustworthy and credible in what they say their lamps will do. One may have to buy a few different LEPs at this point to figure out which manufacturer is the most reliable, which at their current cost is quite an investment.
So should you go out and buy a plasma grow light today? Probably not, unless you have a few thousand dollars to spend on an emerging and under-researched light source. They share many advantages with LED grow lights, but with LED grow lights doubling in brightness every 2 years, and reducing by half the cost, it would be wise to invest in LED grow lights, so I ask you to come here with me and buy the best LED grow lights.
