Grow Lights and the Selection Process

Your indoor garden needs a variety of equipments to flourish well and one of these equipments includes hydroponic grow lights.

For those wondering what grow lights are and here is something that might be helpful:

“Generally an electric light is designed to stimulate plant growth by emitting an electromagnetic spectrum appropriate for photosynthesis.”

 Do grow lights really work?

One thing that you need to understand before understanding how grow lights work is understanding more about indoor gardening – gardening is done without soil and direct sunlight. Now talking about the purpose of grow lights and how they really work – continue reading the blog further for more details.

Grow lights have a special purpose to fulfil for indoor gardening and they usually have to do either of the two points mentioned below –

1.  Act as a light supplement
2.  Completely replace the direct sunlight

While it is not always that the grow lights have to act as light supplement, most of the lights are designed to optimize growth and to improve over sunlight by offering certain spectra during the overall growing process.

The three main categories of grow lights are

1.      Fluorescent Lighs

2.      High-pressure sodium (HPS) / High Intensity Discharge (HID)

3.      Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

There are some gardeners who also choose incandescent lights (the common light bulbs).

Let’s talk about the three main categories that we have as far as hydroponic grow lights are concerned.

Fluorescent Lights - Fluorescent lights are commonly used for growing vegetables and herbs indoors. There are two main types of fluorescent bulbs: Fluorescent tubes and Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL's).

Advantages –

•         Cool running and can be used really close to the leafy structures
•         Produces low heat and uses low electricity for small plants and clones
•         Perfect for fitting in shadow parts of the plant or can be used as side lighting
•         Perfect for greenhouse to accelerate growth and for extending lit hours
•         Great choice for clones, seedlings, and small vegetarian plants
•        T-5 tubes are really energetic and may be used for flowering

High Energy Discharge (HID)

The technology of using High Pressure Sodium lights started nearly around 75 years ago, and this is the category of lights that is growing in popularity and overtaking fluorescent use, especially by more experienced and commercial growers.

Considering their high demand and popularity these lights are sold in high numbers, but with these there are special points that need to consider. HPS will generally require a greater distance from plants. This is because they generate considerable amounts of heat and are more powerful bulbs.

Advantages

•         The least costly initially for HID fixtures only
•         Proven to be consistently excellent for large yields and quality product
•         Replacement lamps are widely available

There are also some disadvantages associated with these lights too and that is usually how they are the reason behind the increasing cost of electricity for the purpose of cooling. Additionally, when someone is using these lights there has to be an initial investment in compatible ballasts and reflector hoods.

Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

Among all of the options of lighting that are available for people one that is particularly considered the best is LED. When the first few lights were in the 1960s they had very limited spectrum and lasted nowhere as long as the advertised lifespan. Experimenting with them was a bit frustrating, due to this interest died prematurely.

LED lamps have doubled in efficiency and light output about once every 36 months over the years and that is one of the many reasons for them to be considered s great hydropoic grow lights. In recent years to 3 and 5 watt diodes have greatly increased intensity.

The advantages of LED lights are numerous and have been listed down for you –

•         Efficiency – LEDs are packed powerfully with sufficient energy – the can use upto 90% if the power than the incandescent light bulbs. The bulbs are also use cheaper energy; therefore, there is a dramatic decrease in the power costs, and thus, the money you have to dish out towards the utility bills is extremely low.

 

•         Longevity - Usually, LED bulbs last ten times as long as small fluorescent bulbs and 133 times longer than typical incandescent bulbs. A great LED can last for as many as years before it finals calls for a replacement.

 

•         Safety - LED lamps generate almost no warmth therefore they are cool to the touch and can be left on for hours without incident or consequence if touched. 

 

•         Environment Safe – What makes the LEDs better than other grow light options is the fact that they are environment safe - made from non-toxic materials unlike the neon lighting that makes use of mercury and may pose some threat to the environment.

 

•         Controllable Spectrum / Dimming Schedules - Spectral manipulation is from the ability to independently control each the panels spectrum. This is a feature unique to LED grow lights. Additionally, there is a feature of dimming schedules and that allows a customizable proportion of wavelengths to be introduced to the plants, thus helping to save the additional energy whenever full intensity is not required by plants.

 

•         Easy Installation – Usually the ‘all-in-one package’ of LED lights makes the installation process a whole lot easier for small as well as large grows.

 

Talking at minimum, the small to medium-sized grow usually requires an LED fixture and some ventilation. The process is also simple – simply plug in the light, hang it up and the ensure adequate airflow at extremely stable temperatures. Additionally, as a grower you will not have to set up a ballast, or hang the reflector and worry about your grow space overheating due to the hot temperature – as like in the case of HID bulb.

The “all-in-one-package” design of an LED grow light makes installation a whole lot easier for small or large grows.

At a minimum, small to medium-sized grows only require an LED fixture and ventilation/air circulation. Simply plug in the light, hang it up, and ensure adequate airflow and stable temperatures. Growers don’t have to set up a ballast, hang the reflector, and worry as much about the grow space overheating due to the hot temperatures exuded by an HID bulb.

Having discussed about all the best options that you can choose from for your indoor garden, the next big thing is where to buy the grow lights from and the very simple destination is Hyjo – the one stop destination for the classiest range of equipments that are required to make a great indoor garden.

Whether you’re looking for grow lights or kits and other equipment like odour control system, everything will be available under one roof. For other vital details, log on to https://hyjo.co.uk/grow-lights.html/.