Green Thumb Gardening
How to Choose the Right
LED Grow Light
for Your Indoor Garden
by Alena Dalton
LEDs have come a long way in
the past few years, but they can
still present some confusion when
growers go to buy them. Never
fear; Alena Dalton is here to
answer some of the FAQs about
this popular lighting technology…
When it comes to indoor gardening,
the emergence of LED lighting
technology got off to a bit of a rough
start. The technology was new—many
lights just didn’t emit enough light and
they emitted at frequencies that didn’t
facilitate optimal plant growth.
However, LED lighting has grown by leaps
and bounds in nearly every sector of the
lighting industry. LED lighting for indoor
gardening purposes has really come into its
own, allowing gardeners remarkable control,
pleasing intensity and relative coolness that
makes these lights extremely attractive to the
indoor gardener.
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Maximum Yield USA | September 2012
But, what makes a great LED light?
How do you select the right grow light
for your indoor gardening needs? What
do your plants need? What does your
garden need? Finally, with those traits in
mind, what qualities make the right LED
light stand out from the rest? Read on
for your answers.
lighting. However, still keep the light-toheat ratio in mind when selecting a light.
What does your garden need?
What do your plants need?
Electrical efficiency: In addition to light-toheat, one of the most frustrating aspects
of indoor gardening is the electrical bill.
This issue, again, is at the forefront of
many indoor gardeners’ decision to use
LED lighting.
Lots of light: We all know that plants need
light to provide optimal growth. The
potential advantage of a well-designed
and maintained indoor garden is the
ability to control the quality of light,
even when conditions outside are dark,
dank, rainy or snowy.
A controlled environment: The primary
advantage of indoor gardening is control.
The gardener is able to create optimal
conditions for growth, continuously.
Everything about the indoor garden
should reflect this consistency.
Not a lot of heat: One of the biggest
issues, historically, with indoor gardening
has been controlling the light-to-heat
ratio. Lights emit heat. Incandescent
lights especially emit enough heat that
temperature
control has
been an
issue when
it comes
to indoor
gardening.
Cool
temperature
is, of course,
one of the
primary
advantages
of LED
So what makes an optimal LED?
We’ve established that your plants need
a lot of light provided by a device
that doesn’t emit a lot of heat or use
a lot of electricity. In addition, you’ll
want the ability to create a controlled
environment in which your plants can
thrive. The perfect LED grow light,
then, will perform exceptionally when it
comes to light intensity, cool temperature
and ability to control.
Intensity: Light intensity has been the
issue when it comes to LED lighting
development. Therefore, you want to pay
close attention not only to the wattage
of the light, but also the efficiency and
intensity at which that light is emitted.
Diamond-style LED lights, for example,