One of the most important aspects of life for plants is light. It’s no secret that plants need light to carry out the process of photosynthesis. If you grow plants outside, making sure they get sufficient lighting is usually not too difficult. If you have houseplants, ensuring the plants get adequate lighting can be a much harder task. Luckily, there are many different types of artificial lights that you can get to give your plants the light they need. One of the most popular types of plant grow lights are LED grow lights.

No matter what your growing situation is, whether you are wanting to give your houseplants some light, growing plants for medicinal uses, or caring for a bonsai or two, LED grow lights can help your plant grow healthy and strong and benefit you in the process! To make sure you’re getting the most out of your chosen plant grow light, there are two things to look out for, whether the grow light is ‘full-spectrum’ and its PPFD rating.

LED Grow Lights, Full-Spectrum and PPFD

Many grow lights claim to offer the “full spectrum” of light needed by plants, this is great, but what does this mean exactly? In simple terms, the sun emits radiation in various forms. Some of this solar radiation is visible light we can see whereas some is invisible to our eyes. The radiation we cannot see, we can still feel, mainly in the form of heat. Plants use light from the sun to carry out photosynthesis and produce energy for growth. The form, or wavelength of light, is very important for plants.

While all plants use the light from the sun to perform photosynthesis, different plants - and even different life cycles of the same plant - utilize light at different wavelengths. The range of light that plants use throughout their lives is know as photosynthetically active radiation or PAR. Essentially, PAR is the necessary light range for plants to carry out the processes of growth, flowering, and reproduction efficiently. Artificial lights that offer the correct PAR lighting are called “full spectrum” grow lights. 

Due to the need for plants to be exposed to varying light wavelengths, LED grow lights that offer full spectrum light are ideal for plants of all life stages.

PPFD stands for ‘Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density’, a name that is sure to make you sound like a certified plant enthusiast! PPFD happens to be a very important measure to be aware of. Specifically, PPFD is a measure of how much light a grow light produces in the PAR range and how much of that light actually reaches the plant leaf tissues. The PPFD value is important because it tells how much light can actually be used by your plants for photosynthesis.

Benefits of LED Grow Lights for Plants

LED grow lights have many different benefits that make them ideal choices for growing your plants. To understand why these lights benefit both your plants and yourself, we’ll examine the benefits a bit more closely. This list is by no means an exhaustive list, it simply covers the most prominent benefits of LED grow lights.

LED Grow Lights Use Less Energy

LED lights use less electricity than traditional bulbs used in other grow lights. The reduced energy use from LED lights means that you pay less money to run them. Choosing to start with or retrofit your growing operation with LED grow lights can save you a lot of money over time. Additionally, the reduced energy need means LED grow lights are more environmentally friendly than traditional grow lights. 

LED Grow Lights Are Safer than Traditional Grow Lights

LED grow lights generate less heat compared to traditional grow lights during use. The benefits of this are two-fold. Non-LED grow lights have been known to get extremely hot during use. The heat generated from these lights poses hazards to both your plants, and your home. Lights that get too hot run the risk of causing a fire. Additionally, the heat generated from any grow light, LED or traditional, will speed up the evaporation of water. This means your plants will dry out faster from the added heat of non-LED grow lights.

LED Grow Lights Ease of Use and Lifespan

Most LED grow lights on the market today have various features that improve ease of use. Many lights include timers that allow you to set when the lights come on and how long they stay on. Some even let you change the hue of light from brighter white lighting to more muted warm light. LED plant lights also come in various platforms to allow for customization to your specific growing setup. Depending on your growing needs and space, you can opt for hanging lights, strip lights, gooseneck lights, stake lights, and many others.

LED grow lights have very long operating lifespans and are less prone to burning out than traditional lights. This long lifespan combined with the lower energy cost make LED grow lights a very cost effective addition to your home growing setup.

Drawbacks of LED Grow Lights

No product is perfect and LED grow lights are no exception. It’s worth noting that some of the drawbacks we’ll be covering are not unique to LED grow lights and are drawbacks simply of using growing lights in general. With that said, even these universal grow light drawbacks don’t impact all grow lights equally and LED lights usually still outperform the more traditional grow lights!

LED Grow Light Quality

Unsurprisingly in today’s market, there are a range of quality considerations with LED grow lights. You can get lights that are relatively cheap; however, the quality of any grow light is the most important aspect of the product. Subpar lights may claim that they produce a certain PAR value without any means of proving that claim.

Another unfortunate occurrence in the LED grow light market is the falsification of stated components. Some lights on the market may claim to utilize Samsung diodes and Meanwell drivers but they are actually knockoff versions. Choosing a reputable brand and reading reviews is a good strategy to ensure you’re getting a quality LED grow light.

LED Grow Light Initial Cost

LED grow lights are not the cheapest options you can choose for giving your plants the PAR it needs to grow healthy. Luckily, the higher cost of LED lights is made up for when you consider the benefits of choosing LED over conventional grow lights. 

For clarification, there are various LED grow lights that are quite affordable on the market. When referring to the higher cost of these lights, we are specifically talking about high quality premium grow lights. If you are on a budget, there are some good options that will do well for your plant and keep your bank account in the green.

More on specific lights in a minute!

LED Grow Light Heat Generation

Lights of any variety generate heat, that is a well established fact, plant grow lights - LED or traditional - are no exception. The bright side is that LED grow lights, generally, produce less overall heat than more traditional grow lights. The drawback is that, despite this, they can still get fairly hot; especially is used for a long time at maximum brightness.

There are two main issues with the generation of heat from grow lights of any kind. First, depending on the location of the light and the heat generated, there can be a fire risk to your home. Luckily, there are many things you can do to safeguard against this issue.

Test the lights at maximum brightness for several hours to get an idea of how hot they get. It is always good practice to test out any lights before leaving them on when nobody is in the area. Do not leave objects touching the lights, especially when they are in use. This is just good advice, there are next to no objects that should or need to be in contact with LED grow lights, plants included!

Second, the heat generated from grow lights, LED or traditional, will speed up water evaporation from soil. This is a vitally essential aspect of using grow lights to remember. Water loss from evaporation due to the heat of grow lights can kill plants surprisingly quickly. This effect is exacerbated depending on how much soil is in your plant’s pot. Bonsai are particularly sensitive to water evaporation as their pots, generally, have very little relative soil volume.

LED Grow Lights, Styles and Brands

In this section we are reviewing specific LED grow lights that we have experience with and recommend to anyone looking to add grow lights to your botanical setup!

Hanging LED Grow Lights

These lights usually come as square or rectangular sheets and they have holes in the frame where you can attach a hanging hook. Hanging LED grow lights work best for shelf or tent growing setups. Alternatively, hanging LED grow lights can be hung from the ceiling. Due to the size of hanging lights, they are best reserved for larger growing setups where multiple plants need light at once. 

Strip Light LED Grow Lights

LED grow lights come in strips that can be attached to various surfaces such as the bottom of a shelf or a grow table. Strip lights are convenient for getting light to multiple plants and for their scalability. Most strip lights available can be linked together (daisy-chained) to increase the light coverage area. If you grow your plants on a multi-tiered shelf like these, LED strip lights can be daisy-chained together together to cover multiple levels of the shelf.

It’s important to read the manufacturer’s guidelines concerning how many lights can safely be linked together (daisy-chained). Ignoring this can cause the on/off toggle switches to overheat and burn out which is costly and is a safety risk.

Other LED Grow Lights

If your grow setup doesn’t lend itself to panel or strip light LED grow lights, there are other options you can opt for. These include Gooseneck LED grow lights that you can clamp onto the edge of a table, ring lights that can be used on singular plants, and light stands that can you can use to give light to several plants at once. Whatever your plant growing setup is, there is an LED grow light out there that you can use to give your indoor plants the light they need to grow to their fullest.

LED Grow Lights, Wrap-Up

With so many options available today when it comes to LED grow lights, choosing the best one comes down to a few simple questions. Does the light provide full-spectrum light, are the LED chips from a quality brand (Samsung, Cree, etc.), and is the driver from a quality brand (Meanwell, Spider Farmer, etc.)? Beyond that, it’s a matter of choosing the option that fits your specific growing setup.

Luckily, regardless of whether you have a small handful of plants or several dozen on shelves. There are LED grow lights that will work for you and your plants!