Which LED Grow Lights Are Right For My Indoor Plants?
LED refers to light-emitting diodes, and they are the latest type of light bulb to make an impact on all types of lighting today. With regard to using LED lamps and LED grow lights with plants, there are many reasons why they are beneficial. They are small and lightweight, yet produce an amazing amount of light that is specifically usable by plants for photosynthesis. They run cool, eliminating the need for expensive cooling equipment, and they run on much less electricity than traditional HID, HPS grow lights or MH lights. This is why many gardeners are selecting LED to grow lights, but knowing a bit about how the lights work will help you in selecting the correct LED bulbs for your indoor garden.
Plants need light from different parts of the light spectrum in terms of color temperature in order to grow well and thrive. Young seedlings need a light that will help them to grow into sturdy, mature plants, and that type of light is a blue spectrum. Once mature, plants can be induced to produce flowers and fruits by growing them under red and orange spectrum lights.
Knowing this, you can be quite selective in terms of the LED lamps that you choose. Many traditional bulbs offer only one part of the light spectrum, and if it is the wrong part of the spectrum for what your plants require, the plants will not thrive in an indoor setting. This can be alleviated with the use of LED bulbs.
There are red LED bulbs available. They produce a great deal of light, yet run on only one watt of electricity.
Green LED bulbs are useful in certain specific applications. Plants require a certain amount of darkness each day, in addition to light. Plants cannot make use of green light, but if you have work to do with your plants, by putting green LED lamps into ordinary light sockets, you can easily see to do what you need to without adding extra light that would disturb the plants period of needed darkness. Certain LED lamps are used in LED lighting units for a variety of purposes. Tiny one-watt LED bulbs can be selected according to the light spectrum they emit, and thus you can get a lighting unit that only offers light that plants can use.
The LED bulbs are also directional and can be positioned in order to shine straight down, thus giving your plants the benefit. This is not possible with traditional bulbs, which rely on reflectors to direct the light.
By knowing all of these ideas, indoor gardeners can select the best LED Grow lamps that will suit their plants and their gardening purposes well.