If you’re looking for the best led grow light for your grow setup, then this article is just what you need. In this complete buyer’s guide we’ll be discussing different types of led lights and how they can help with your garden. We’ll also cover some important things to consider when purchasing a new led light system – like lumens, wattage, color spectrum – so no stone goes unturned.

Lumens

• Lumens are a unit of measurement for the total amount of light being emitted from an led grow light. High lumen light penetrates the plant canopy better and bounces more photons off the grow tent walls to get to the lower reaches.

Wattage

• Wattage is the measure of electricity that will be drawn by an led light system to function at full power; in most cases, it’s measured over time and not as instantaneous usage. You want highly effective light fittings that give you the highest lumen output for watts in.

Light Spectrum

• Different plant growth phases require different light spectrums. For example, blue light is ideal for the vegetative phase because it encourages plant growth and chlorophyll production. Red/far-red spectrum promotes flowering and increases your plants’ output during harvest time. Not all lights allow you to control the spectrum, but our S-series led grow lights, come with 3 channel dimmers that allow you to control the UV/IR Cool White and Warm White outputs which means you’ll only need one light through the entire grow.

Heat Output

• Lights that are not so efficient, like HPS lights take in a lot of watts and put out a lower ratio of lumens as the rest of the energy is lost as heat. If you have a cool grow space, then a high heat lamp like an HPS fitting is ok. If you want to prevent heat stress, then LED grow lights are the way to go.

Light Use

• The type of light you choose depends on what you’ll use it for. If you’re heavy into cloning, a low power 100W LED Grow light will do. If you want more flowers, use a bloom enhancer or a light that’s heavier on the red spectrum.

Available Space

• Larger grow spaces require gruntier lights to give the plants complete coverage. For larger grows, look into commercial grade LED grow lights like the Black Dog LED‘s or Vyper lights. The PM200 is a nice middle ground between the residential and commercial grow lights. It’ll fill up a 3×3 tent with a scientifically tweaked grow spectrum. However if you have a small space, anything under 500W will do.

Grow Space Moisture Content

• If you’re growing in a high moisture area because you’re keeping VPD in mind, then LED grow lights are safer than HPS alternatives as there are fewer exposed elements and fewer points of failure. HPS lights can short in high moisture environments.