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Things to consider before buying grow shop lamp
There are a couple of things you absolutely need to consider before choosing the best LED grow light:
1) Spacing: You absolutely need to ensure that you have an idea of the amount of space you want to cover with your LED lights. Each light has a maximum range of space that it can cover, and it’ll be important to understand the measurements of your grow space down to the centimeter. If you currently do not know what that is, you should find out now. After that is done, make sure you read reviews and feedback from others on the actual space that the LED light can cover (sometimes, products are not as advertised… shocking, I know).
2) Brand/Budget/Price: This will be important as the higher-quality lights typically yield the best results. If you are a beginner, you will likely want to start with a lower priced option to get your feet feet wet. If you are more experienced, it never hurts to go with the quality, higher-priced option. In addition, brand and quality of the light is very important. A good brand that has raving customer reviews, is almost always, a sure bet.
3) Spectrum: A full spectrum LED grow light will go a long way in terms of helping your plant growth. You’ll need red & blue spectrums, but also infrared and ultraviolet, depending on the stage. It’s important to have a powerful light, with different wave lengths to ensure maximum growth. The full spectrum yields are a bit newer to the industry, but they are certainly making headway to any good growers catalog. They run cool and don’t need any additional fans, they cost less overtime given the electrical savings, and the durability is second to none. It is highly recommended to purchase a full spectrum LED grow light. Most LED lights have a range of colors being emitted (full light spectrum) – the best lights offer the full range, including UV light.
4) Electrical Usage: Your LED lights will need to have durability and great electrical efficiency as well. A good LED light should be operating for at least 10-12 hours a day. When researching a good LED light, you’ll need to thoroughly understand what the total output is (1000w, 400w, 300w etc). The higher you go, the more powerful and more likely leads to less electrical usage (and more cost effective for you).
5) Light Control: Depending on the stage, you’ll want to ensure that your plants receive the proper amount of lighting (down to the exact hour). See a breakdown of the phases below for growing LED lights:
- Seedling Phase: 16 hours on, 8 hours off
- Vegetative Phase: 18 hours on, 6 hours off
- Flowering Phase: 12 hours on, 12 hours off
It’s extremely important that light cycles are followed to a tee as it can severely alter the growth and potency of your plants.
What else could you possibly need?
Grow Tent: It’s definitely easier to grow when you have an enclosed environment that protects from outside forces and sunlight. You can also control the temperature a lot easier in a confined space. You may think that every grow tent is the exact same… wrong. There are different brands out there that have a higher quality tent with more openings (to provide easier access) as well as poles that are more durable. All of this matters, my recommendation for grow tent is this Apollo Horticulture Tent. This is the cream of the crop when it comes to tents. When we used this tent, we didn’t see any light come through. It’s easily accessible with access in the back and the front.
