Some Secrets Behind The Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights: The Truth You Need To Know
What You Ought to Know About Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights?
Full spectrum growing lights are an indispensable tool for indoor growers. These LED lamps produce light in multiple customizable color preferences to match growers’ unique needs in terms of lighting. LED lights with full-spectrum capabilities generate sufficient light wavelengths to facilitate undisrupted photosynthesis and improve crop yields.
Although full spectrum LED grow lights for indoor plants cannot replace the natural light, they produce optimal light outputs ranging from 380 nm to 800 nm. This lighting output is enough to sustain a uniform distribution of photons and plant growth in all stages.
What Is a LED Full Spectrum Grow Light?
LED full spectrum grow lighting is a contemporary, energy-efficient fixture with all colors needed to produce full sun plants indoors or under greenhouse settings. They can act as accompanying or sole light sources, generating full-spectrum light evenly distributed to solve insufficient sunlight problems. As a seasoned or beginner indoor plant and cannabis grower, the best full spectrum LED grow lights for indoor plants take the place of sunlight, catalyzing processes that affect plant vigor and health.
Full spectrum LED plant light has an energy spectrum similar to natural sunlight with full support for ultraviolet and infrared. The massive lighting capacities of these fixtures nurture a plant’s nutrient content, quality, and aesthetics, improving sustainability and growth.
According to some studies, plants respond to light differently depending on the cultivation practices, lighting environment, genotype, and season. Plants need sunlight for photosynthesis, but these sun rays can also be a stress factor when they are too low or high. Full spectrum LED grow lights supply light per industry specifications while meeting the crop’s unique lighting requirements based on the environment and cultivation practices.
These grow lights have full spectrum wavelength comprising six bands, the complete set required in all plant growth stages. So, do plants need full spectrum light? Yes, they do. Vegetables, herbs, and other plants need full spectrum light from seedlings to harvest to increase yields.
Choosing the Best Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights for Indoor Plants
Not every LED grow light advertised as full spectrum meets that specification. A full spectrum grow lamp has to output across-the-board, continuous, and voluminous light throughout the specified PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) range to be effective. Consider the following factors to find the ideal LED grow light fixture matching your unique full spectrum lighting requirements.
The Strength of the Light
The first vital aspect to consider is your specific light growth intensity requirements. A light fixture’s strength depends on different factors, including its photosynthetic photon flux. The PPF rating measures light protons produced by the fixture every passing second. The best PPF rating for adequate plant growth ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers.
A light fixture’s PAR determines the light wavelength flowing within a noticeable range. The PAR rating ranges between 400 to 700 nanometers, and the best rating depends on the distance from plants to the light source and the plants you’re growing. For example, the best PAR rating for marijuana should fall between 300 and 400 micromoles per square meter per second.
Consider the photosynthetic photon flux of the full spectrum LED plant light you wish to acquire to fit your crops’ needs. This lighting fixture rating system determines the light intensity within the PAR region of the plant growth area per second.
Adjustability and Flexibility
Consider its adjustable features when picking the best full spectrum LED grow lights for indoor plants, as they all require different light colors in every stage of growth. What you need to know about grow lights is that the best full spectrum grow lighting fixtures offer all colors suitable for plant growth, including white, red, and blue lights.
Many plants at different growth stages need different full spectrum lighting brightness levels to develop appropriately. The ideal, most adjustable LED growers have knobs for fine-tuning the brightness of the full spectrum grow lamp to leverage light intensity. The last most important feature to consider is the proximity adjustability of the lighting. Advanced LED lights have an adjustable chain or rope that you can shorten or lengthen to bring the lamp closer to the plants.
The Price of Full Spectrum LED Plant Light
Full spectrum LED plant light fixtures cost more than HID setups and standards HPS. However, the cost-effectiveness of LEDs outdoes other plant-growing lighting configurations. LEDs have a longer lifespan of about 50,000 hours compared to HPS bulbs.
A professionally installed full spectrum LED fixture can serve you for up to 15 years with minimal maintenance, a feature you won’t get when you install alternative plant lighting fixtures.
The Plant Lighting Wattage
You must also consider the wattage of the LED lamp you want, as that directly affects the intensity of light generated. Do not emphasize the wattage of the LED full spectrum grow light to the disadvantage of your growing plants. Some plants require a lower light intensity to grow than others, and exposing them to extreme light intensity could trigger stress, affecting proper development.
Match the LED lighting lamp wattage to the light needs of the plants you’re growing. Experts recommend matching full-sun plants like tomatoes and onions to a lighting fixture with a rating of 32 watts of light per square foot.
Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights for Seedlings
These LED grow lights ignite plants’ growth process with vigor during their seedling phase, enabling them to transition flawlessly to maturity. Seedlings lacking adequate light supply exhibit strange characteristics, such as tall and thin stems growing in the direction of the light source, looking almost as if they are struggling to get some light to grow. The perfect LED full spectrum grow light allows seedlings to develop strong and straight down from their hanging point.
Do Seedlings Need Full Spectrum LED Grow Lights?
Absolutely yes! Seedlings need artificial lighting from full spectrum LEDs for healthy and optimal growth. However, lighting isn’t mandatory when growing plants in spaces full of natural sunlight. Full spectrum LED grow lights benefit your seedlings in varied ways. For example, they can:
- Support and increase survival rates
- Make the seedlings grow healthier and stronger
- Better survival rates that lead to reduced waste
- Lower legginess issues
- The ability to grow your seeds anywhere you deem right
What Is the Best Type of LED Grow Light for Seedlings?
There is a lot of crucial grow light knowledge to help you select the best LED lighting set for starting seeds. First, choose a full spectrum grow lamp emitting blue spectrum, as it’s the essential light color seedlings need to develop. Full spectrum lighting solutions can support starting seeds; however, they will only absorb the blue part from it.
As a result, ensure the full spectrum lighting fixture you choose has adjustments, allowing you to get the right intensity of the blue spectrum to optimize the growth of seedlings. Getting a full spectrum lighting fixture emitting in the 4,000 to 6,000 Kelvin range is advisable as it generates higher blue spectrum intensity.
The strength of the LED light fixtures directly affects the growth rates of your seedlings. You don’t have to start vegetative and seeds growth with lamps with weak blue lights. Seedlings don’t require extreme light intensity, but starting your seeds with inadequate lighting will affect their development, as the plants will begin growing in the direction with denser light intensity.
As per research, plants need a supply of higher-intensity blue and blue-green light during their seedling phase. Expert growers recommend 200 to 300 PPFD of light for starting cannabis seeds.
How Much Light Intensity Do Seedlings Need?
Seedlings require approximately 14 to 16 hours of consistent light distribution every 24 hours. Leaving the lights on for 24 hours can trigger stress, affecting how well the plant will grow. Less than 14 hours of sunlight daily will cause the seedlings to grow sideways and taller than average. Depending on your availability and preferences, you can decide when to turn on the lights.
How Far to Keep Seedlings From the LED Grow Lights?
After purchasing full spectrum LED grow lights for seedlings, it’s a good idea to set them up properly for optimal lighting. Place the lights directly above the seedlings about 2 to 3 inches high. As the seedlings grow taller, keep adjusting the position of the lighting fixtures. Ensure the leaves of your plants don’t touch the bulbs, as that could burn them. When the plants reach maturity, adjust the lighting to hang from 18 to 24 inches from the canopy.
What Is the Ideal Grow Light Spectrum for Cannabis?
Weed needs a high quantity and quality of light to thrive, especially red and blue light. Cannabis (known as a short-day and long-night plant) yields more THC when exposed to more ultraviolet-B light. When grown indoors, weed plants need the right grow light spectrum and color band.
Although many grow lights exist, LEDs have a higher power-to-performance ratio and energy efficiency, allowing cannabis crops to develop at their best while at the same time keeping your power bill low.
These bulbs generate user-defined spectra that can support weed to flourish excellently in all growth stages. Most top-of-the-line LEDs have internal timers engineered with the weed’s life cycle in mind. Usually, weed thrives best in areas with a lighting quality above the standard PAR range. Therefore, you will have to buy full spectrum LEDs because they’re rated to produce more potent UV and high-density red wavelengths.
Purchase LED lights with stronger far-red for early cannabis growth. If your cannabis plant’s leaves have started shrinking and the stems are extending towards the windows or doors, get lights with stronger blue light.
Should You Use Different Light Spectrums for Different Plants?
Different plants need different PAR-spectrum and wavelengths to develop nicely. The source of the light and the plant type determine the light spectrum suitable for its growth and flowering. Understand that short-day and long-day plants have unique requirements for the quality and quantity of light spectrum.
In an ordinary situation, all plants will require a quantity supply of far-red lights to flower and produce healthier leaves. They will also need stronger blue light within the right spectrum to achieve improved photosynthesis and yield more. However, these light spectrum ranges are pretty different for cannabis than other plants, so research your garden in detail to know the specific wavelength it needs to thrive.
Conclusion
This article aims to provide insight into what to know about LED grow lights to help you make informed buying decisions. An in-depth knowledge of LED grow lights enables you to understand the science and technology behind these bulbs and how they react with your plants to optimize growth and yields. The high-quality and affordable LED grow lighting fixtures offered here at Bata give growers ample control and freedom over their use. They allow growers to regulate the light spectrum for optimal lighting intensity for all their indoor gardening operations.
