We are back into the world of home gardening! Starting your plant-growing adventure at home comes with its fair share of important choices, and picking the right grow light is definitely at the top of the list. Whether you’re looking after tender seedlings, keeping your herb garden green all year round, or growing some pretty indoor flowers, finding the right grow light is crucial for their success.
In this blog, we’re going to get into the nitty-gritty of how to choose a grow light that’s just right for your plants. Let’s dive into how to keep your indoor garden thriving, shining the right light on it, one step at a time.
The busy gardener science of light
Not all lights are built the same and those little plants that we like to observe all day have very specific needs, so let’s get a bit technical to understand how to choose the best grow light for your plants.
1. Light spectrum
The light spectrum refers to the range of wavelengths emitted by a light source. In the context of grow lights, it’s particularly important because different wavelengths (colors) of light have distinct effects on plant growth. Blue light (around 400-500 nm) is essential for vegetative growth, while red light (around 600-700 nm) supports flowering and fruiting.
Look for: Full-spectrum.
2. Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Values
PAR refers to the range of light (400-700 nm) that plants can use for photosynthesis. Higher PAR values mean more usable light for your plants. It is measured in umol/sec and sometimes it’s provided as PPFD (umol/m s).
Look for: High PAR values. Leafy greens need at least 200 PAR, fruiting vegetables around 400 and fruiting trees more than 600.
3. Luminous Efficiency (Lumens/Watt)
This indicates how much light is produced per unit of electricity. More lumens per watt means more light output for less energy, which is more efficient and cost-effective. LED lights usually have a higher luminous efficiency.
Look for: High lumens per watts, above 100 is good. Or just look for lumens, anything above 3000 is acceptable, then look at the watts and do the math the lower the watts then the more efficient.
Errors have been made
Looking at my previous years grow lights, I can tell you they fell short:
- Light spectrum: Yes, full spectrum
- Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR): Not the best, PAR is 260 so it’s good for leafy greens and perhaps seedlings but not for tomatoes and peppers
- Luminous efficiency: 2200 lumens and 30 watts, that’s 73.33 lumen/watts, so not enough lights and not very efficient.
So that could explain why I have not been able to grow peppers for 3 years in a row and why my tomatoes are not as strong as they could be. This grow light may have been ok but certainly I need to do some shopping.
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