Grow Lights for Plants

Reviews of the Best Grow Lights for Tomatoes, Pepper, Lettuce, Basil, and other Plants and Herbs for Indoor Gardening

Growing plants indoors can be a delight…and a struggle.  Since the grower is responsible for providing most of the conditions instead of Mother Nature, an indoor garden does require a certain level of involvement to be successful. You must give your plants an adequate amount of water, nutrients, and light to keep your them healthy.  As far as the lighting is concerned, the amount of sunlight plants are able to receive from your windows may not be sufficient to power them through all stages of growth. The solution to this problem is supplementing – or substituting entirely – the natural sunlight with an artificial grow light that mimics the sun’s rays. Let’s review some considerations before you purchase your grow lights for plants, as well as review some of the best indoor grow lights for plants on the market today.

Grow Lights for Plants: The Requirements

Light is crucial for photosynthesis, when oxygen, carbon dioxide, water, and light combine to give plants the energy source they need for growth. If natural sunlight is inadequate in your indoor grow space, grow lights can provide the boost of light plants need to bring about photosynthesis. When you are searching for a grow light for indoor plants, consider the following:

Color: Different types of grow lights provide a varying range of energy outputs, wavelengths, and colors. For example, blue light is best for promoting foliage growth during the vegetation stage, while red light helps to promote flowering and fruiting during the later stages of growth. Blue light waves tend to be shorter and possess more energy whereas red waves have a longer reach but possess less energy output. Grow lights with a “full spectrum” possess all colors of the sun and appear white in color.

Light Intensity: The light’s brightness determines how much light energy can be absorbed by the plant.  A grow light’s intensity is measured in Lumen output. Low intensity grow lights are not optimal because plants must reach in order to find adequate light, which can result in long, leggy plants. On the other hand, high-intensity lights tend to produce more compact, dense, and higher yielding plants (a good thing). You can increase intensity by moving low intensity grow lights closer to the plants, but why not just start off with a high intensity grow light from the beginning?

If you are growing larger indoor plants, we recommend you pick a grow light that has a broad spectrum of colors and is capable of delivering the high-intensity light.

Different Types of Grow Lights for Indoor Plants

Incandescent

Only Acceptable for Indoor Plants with Low-Level Lighting Needs 

Incandescent bulbs are by far the least expensive and most widely available option. The downside is twofold: they are not very powerful as a grow light, and the heat from incandescent bulbs requires them to be placed at a 2’+ distance to the plants because their heat output can do damage to the plant if it’s placed too close. Not recommended for anything other than low-light plants like ferns, vines, and dracaenas.

Fluorescents

Good for Indoor Plants with Low to Medium Level Lighting Needs

The two types of fluorescent grow lights – CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lighting) and T5. goes, you can spot CFL lights by their twisted shape, while T5 grow lights are long and narrow.

Fluorescent bulbs are a popular choice for indoor gardens because they are versatile and budget-friendly. The colors of fluorescent grow lights can be warm, cool, or have a full spectrum. They can be used in standard light sockets, give off a non-offensive color, are budget-friendly, energy efficient,  and do not run hot like incandescent lighting. They are a good choice for plants with low to medium-level lighting needs such as African Violets, herbs, greens, carnivorous plants, and phalaenopsis orchids. For larger and more demanding plants, fluorescent lighting tends to produce smaller yields per watt vs. HID and LED and must be positioned close to the plant to be effective.

High Intensity Discharge (HID)

A Top Choice for Advanced Growers, With Some Caveats

High-Intensity Discharge (HID) grow lights are more efficient than fluorescent lighting and a much better choice for larger and more demanding indoor plants. HID lighting is recognizable by its awkward shape and often used in conjunction with a reflector hood (which redirects light downward towards the plants). One notable disadvantage to this type of lighting is their tenancy to run hot, so much so that exhaust fans are typically used to vent the heat.  They may also require ballasts to mediate the electric currents. So while LED grow lights may be more expensive, the maintenance of HID lighting can end up being more costly to operate over time. Plus, HID light bulbs need to be replaced more often than LEDs.  That said, HID lighting is capable of producing high yields because of its higher intensity.

The three types of High-Intensity Discharge lighting include Metal Halide (MH), High-Pressure Sodium (HPS), and Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH, LEC, Light Emitting Ceramic). Metal Halide’s blue hues are very beneficial to vegetative growth, while the yellowish colors of HPS yellow produce an amazing yield per watt and are great for the flowering stage. Ceramic Metal Halide lighting is made with ceramic, which makes them more efficient than standard MH lighting.

Bottom Line: HID / MH lights can produce high yields and high-quality crops. However, they do require more safeguards and upkeep to prevent overheating issues.

LED Grow Lights

Powerful, Versatile, Efficient, Easy to Use – Our Top Pick 

While HID lighting is certainly effective, the heating issues are a concern. As you may have read in our Best LED Grow Lights article, the main benefit of LED grow lights is they run cooler and consume less power than other lighting sources.  Most LED grow lights have heat sinks and built-in fans for ventilation and temperature regulation and are more energy-efficient than its competition. Yes, the initial purchase cost is higher, the efficiency of LED grow lights are a cost savings over time.

LED grow lights are great for novice growers because they are plug-n-play. Simply hang the grow light above your plants and plugged into a wall socket – and adjust the settings – and you are good to go. Quality LED grow lights are capable of producing the particular spectrum plants needs at its various stages of growth. Additionally, LEDs do need to be replaced as often as fluorescent or HID lights.

Bottom Line: LED grow lights are low maintenance, cost efficient, and possess a lifespan of several years or more. Serious growers often use both LED grow lights and High-Intensity Discharge lights together, but LEDs are capable of amazing results as a stand-alone grow light. Use them to grow herbs, greens, tomatoes, peppers, flowers, cannabis, or nearly any plant variety.

Best Grow Lights for Plants

Now that we know the types of grow lights for indoor plants,  let’s look at some your options.

Thanks for reading our Best Grow Lights for Plants article. We hope that you found a suitable light for your indoor grow. For more hydroponics and aquaponics articles, please see our LED Grow Light Reviews, Grow Cabinets, Grow Tent Kits, Hydroponics Growing Medium, and Hydroponics System pages.