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How To Choose The Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors?

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Lighting for Plants Growing Indoors

Sometimes it can be quite hard to provide for sufficient light to your houseplants because of many reasons, including seasonal changes or simply just a lack of space. Here, a good indoor lighting can come in handy to help retain a healthy plant and its aesthetic looks.

With the perfect set of lighting you can grow many types of plants indoors such as simple houseplants and orchids or even some fruit and vegetable plants! These indoor lights that help in plant growth are commonly known as ‘Grow Lights’.

They are also ideal for seed-starting or germination and ensure stocky, healthy and green seedlings. Lets us review 5 best light for growing plants indoors.

Choosing the Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

When using Grow lights for your plants, it is critical to keep some things in mind such as the intensity of the light, color of the light, duration of provision of the light source and what kind of light like incandescent, LED, Fluorescent and others.

Choosing the Best Grow Light for Your Home

This would essentially depend on the brightness of the bulb used in the Grow Light as well as the distance between the plant and the source of light.

Since plants vary in their requirements of intensity, this will have to be considered before matching your plants with your Grow Lights.

A general thumb rule is most flowering and fruit/veggie plants require high intensity lights whereas foliage plants can be positioned about 36 inches away from the Grow Light.

Right Color of Light

Sunlight encompasses the entire spectrum of white light and thus has all the colors of the rainbow from violet to red. Thus, impliedly indoor plants grow best when placed under lights with bulbs of the whole spectrum.

This provides a natural balance of warm as well as cool light imitating the natural spectrum.

Right Duration of Light

Plants respire in the dark and thus it is pertinent that plants get their time of darkness as well. Thus a good Grow Light should typically include a built in timer as well.

Plants that fit in the Short-day category of plants would require about 12 hours of contact with light. Those that are classified as long-day plants would require nearly 14 to 18 hours of light per day and those that are day-neutral only need about 8 to 12 hours of light throughout the year!

What Type of Light Should You Be Using

Incandescent lights: They can be used for plants that require low amounts of light. Most of their energy is heat and thus must be kept at an appreciable distance from the plant or you’ll end up cooking your plant.

Fluorescent lights: These long, tube-like bulbs are ideal for those plants that require low to medium amounts of light. The ideal type of fluorescent bulbs to grow most plants indoors would be those of around 6000 to 8000 Kelvin, which would typically appear more bluish in color.

Using T8 or T5 bulbs kept at a distance of 2 to 4 inches away from the plant would aid in the growth of seedlings and even starter plants. For grown plants a distance of 1 to 2 feet should suffice.

Compact Fluorescent Lights: They are great for growing indoor plants and are not as expensive as incandescent lights. Here, however, wattage is subject to variation and you will have to ask around to find out what works best for your plant.

Usually this kind of light source is best for some types of orchids and carnivorous plants.

LED Bulbs: Like fluorescent bulbs, LEDs also provide full spectrum light and is also easy on the pocket. They also use half the amount of electricity and are better for the environment. The blue light provided by LEDs stimulates healthy growth of the plant and its roots.


Top 5 Best Lights to Grow Plants Indoors

1. LED Grow Light for Indoor Plant, 68W 132 LED Timing Grow Lamp Auto On/Off 

LED Grow Light for Indoor Plant 68W 132 LED Timing Grow Lamp Auto On Off - Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

Pros

  • Provides a full-spectrum lighting for the plants
  • It includes an inbuilt automatic timer
  • It has 5 different brightness modes and thus is suitable for many different kinds of plants
  • It also has 3 light bulbs to provide for a number of plants.

Cons

  • It doesn’t come with a base stand and thus it will have to be clamped onto the required surface.
  • The clamp often turns loose and thus efficiency is hampered.

2. Plant Lights for Indoor Plants, Plant Light with 64 Full Spectrum LED, Adjustable Dual Head Gooseneck Growing Lamps with Stand

Plant Lights for Indoor Plants Plant Light with 64 Full Spectrum LED Adjustable Dual Head Gooseneck Growing Lamps with Stand - Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

Pros

  • It can provide lights of different wavelengths for different plant targets.
  • It contains blue and red LED chips, which aid in the holistic and overall development and healthy growth of the plant.
  • This does not produce too much heat and thus saves energy and has a longer shelf life of nearly 50,000 hours.
  • This also provides for full-spectrum light bulbs which are easy to replace.
  • It contains an inbuilt automatic timer.

Cons

  • The plugs of the light system are sometimes faulty and are not universal as it is the type A kind.
  • Clamp-on nature of this model can sometimes be inconvenient.
  • The inbuilt timer turns off the system after 12 hours so the user must constantly turn the system back on.

3. Plant Lights for Indoor Plants, Plant Light with 64 Full Spectrum LED, Adjustable Dual Head Gooseneck Growing Lamps with Stand

Phlizon 1200W Double Switch Series Plant LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants - Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

Pros

  • It contains LEDs that are dual-chip and thus has a higher power.
  • It is safer than most Grow Lights since it doesn’t contain a reflector which is usually not heat resistant.
  • This light provides for full spectrum lighting, which helps in the healthy growth of plants.
  • It can be used for different kinds of plants and is efficient in saving energy.

Cons

  • The inbuilt timer is sometimes faulty
  • LED bulbs don’t last very long and thus has a short lifespan.
  • The cooling fans on the lights are noisy.

4. Roleadro LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants

Roleadro LED Grow Light for Indoor Plants - Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

Pros

  • It contains Red and Blue chips to provide the full spectrum lighting required for healthy plant growth
  • It can be used for different kinds of plants
  • Provides for 6 wavelength options and is easy to set up
  • Doesn’t heat up easily due to the presence of cooling plates

Cons

  • The bulbs lack longevity and the product has a very short lifespan
  • The inbuilt timer is not user friendly and offers limited timing options
  • Sometimes the power cords are faulty

5. Grow Lights Plant Lights for Indoor Plants, Semai 40W 80 LED Lamp Bulbs with 3/9/12H Timer 10 Dimmable

Grow Lights Plant Lights for Indoor Plants Semai 40W 80 LED Lamp Bulbs with 3 9 12H Timer 10 Dimmable - Best Light for Growing Plants Indoors

Pros

  • It features 4 rotatable heads and thus provides greater coverage due to the flexibility of the heads.
  • It offers a wide range of light intensities as well as 3 modes of red light, blue light and mixed.
  • It includes an inbuilt automatic timer with timing options
  • It is easy to set up and is user friendly  

Cons

  • The product could have better and more protected packaging
  • The timer has only limited options

Conclusion

When it comes to Indoor lighting for your plants, your best bet would be number 5 on our list, which is the “Grow Lights Plant Lights for Indoor Plants, Semai 40W 80 LED Lamp Bulbs with 3/9/12H Timer 10 Dimmable“.

Its many advantages and suitable design and structure make it convenient to use and maintain. It seems to have a longer shelf life as compared to most other Grow Lights available in the market.

This product is easy to set up and has 4 flexible heads, which allow for comfortable positioning of your plants. It also has options for varying light intensities that range from 10 to 100 as well as 3 modes for red, blue and mixed lighting combinations giving your plants the best of all worlds.

The bulbs on this product also seem to have a considerable amount of durability. Additionally, the bulbs provide for a full-spectrum lighting, which mimics the natural sunlight effect for your indoor plants.

This Grow Light also comes with an automatic timer that is inbuilt which takes the pressure off of you to constantly turn the lights on and off.

However, the timer only has about 3 options which may not always be the most convenient. Sometimes, the packaging of the product is not the best and that could cause issues regarding the breakage of parts such as the bulbs.

Overall, however, this Grow Light has many essential features and this would thus be a worthwhile investment and you can be well on your way to creating your own indoor garden.