LED Grow Lights: The Advantages
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The goal for any grow light gardener is to achieve optimal plant growth and development. This may mean growing tomatoes and herbs during mid winter when days are short, giving seedlings a boost, encouraging an orchid to flower in time for an orchid show or simply growing some herbs and salad greens for the kitchen.
Most amateur gardeners and hobbyists want to be able to achieve these goals without having to purchase and install expensive accessories or deal with high running costs. The good news is that recent advances in technology mean that the latest LED grow light models offer a highly cost effective and energy efficient solution. In fact LED technology is proving to be so effective that NASA scientists have been using the lights for their space farms. Here are some of the key advantages over other grow light technologies.
Useful for all stages of plant development – Unlike fluorescent lights for example, which are mostly useful for seedling start up and early stage development, LED grow lights can be used across the entire plant life-cycle from germination through to flowering or fruiting. LED grow lights work well with either soil based environments or as hydroponic lights.
Emit light at maximum chlorophyll absorption points – When purchasing a grow light the best measure to use for measuring the effectiveness of the light that is being emitted is not lumens but PAR watts. PAR stands for Photosynthetically Active Radiation and provides a measure of plant utilizable light output. Lumens measure the brightness of visible light. Great for lighting up a room but not efficient for plant growth. Studies have shown that plants do best in red and blue section of the electromagnetic spectrum of light (these are the colors of maximum chlorophyll absorption) and LED grow lights can be tailored to meet these precise wavelengths. In fact it is even possible to custom blend the red and blue wavelengths to meet the needs of different plant varieties and growing environments.
Longer life-span – A typical LED grow light will last for 50,000 to 100,000 hours. That is considerably more than a typical HID light such as metal halide, mercury vapor or high pressure sodium.
Low heat signature – This has three benefits. First LED grow lights can be placed very close to the growing plants without risk of dehydration and scorching; second expensive air conditioning systems or extractor ducts are not needed for most systems; and third less watering is required.
Plug and play – Most HID grow lights systems require a high voltage ballast as part of the installation. This transforms normal household current into a form that can be used by the light. Such systems are not needed for LED grow lights.
Eco-friendly – LED plant grow lights do not contain mercury or harmful substances found in other grow light systems. They are also around 60% more energy efficient than HID lights.
Topics: Led Grow Lights Review | Tags: grow light, grow lights, high pressure sodium, indoor grow lights, led grow lights system, Metal halide | No Comments »