Grower's Choice GHS-730 LED grow light VS Fluence VYPR 3p LED Grow Light

 Indoor gardening has never been easier. Indoor grow lights allow you to grow a wide variety of plants in any climate at any time of year. These grow lights are specifically designed to replace natural sunlight, stimulate photosynthesis and provide the correct color spectrum for plants to grow and thrive.

There are several types of grow light types to choose from, each with their own advantages and characteristics. Here’s a guide on how to choose the best grow lights for your situation and how to set them up properly.

What Are Grow Lights Used For

Grow lights are used by both houseplant lovers and professional plant nurseries for supplementing natural light or fully replacing natural light, for growing plants of good quality and plant propagation. These lights stimulate photosynthesis and provide the right color spectrum for the plants to grow and thrive.

Whether you will use grow lights depends on the amount of natural light available in an apartment you live in and your plant’s needs for light.

If you grow plants in an apartment that has small windows or north-facing windows (if you’re living in the northern hemisphere), or in a basement apartment with minimum or no natural light for most of the day, you will need to use indoor plant lights to supplement or fully replace natural light. If you’re living in the southern hemisphere (South America, Australia, part of Africa) and have south-facing windows, they receive the least amount of light, so in that case, you might need to consider grow lights.

Seasonal changes and lack of light during wintertime can also nudge you to use grow lights to supplement the amount of light your houseplants usually receive during other seasons.

What Color of Light?

You may notice that many grow lights have both red and blue bulbs. During our previous discussion on LED lights, you learned that plants only really care about these two types of light. But what’s the difference?

The blue spectrum of your grow light to aid in photosynthesis, but don’t contribute as much to your plant’s growth as the red spectrum. Researchers at Michigan State University have discovered that blue light tends to suppress growth and plants grown solely in blue light tend to be shorter with thicker and darker colored leaves.

However, blue light is beneficial in regulating and encouraging flower growth in some species of plants, especially at higher intensities.

Red light is responsible for extension growth and those same researchers at MSU found that plants grown only under red light tend to be tall, thin, and elongated. The red light also had an effect on the flowering of the plants involved in the study.

Researchers concluded that the combination of red and blue lights was the most effective in terms of both growth and flowering. So that’s why most of the grow lights you see on the market today have both.

Grower’s Choice GHS-730 LED grow light

Features:

This Grower’s Choice grow light is designed and manufactured specifically for use in commercial gardening facilities. GHS-730 provides one of the industry’s highest light output with 730W of power, and has excellent thermal management. Its stylish linear design eliminates unwanted shadows, making it ideal for supplemental lighting in greenhouses. Growers Choice GHS-730 brings efficiency and savings to a whole new level. GHS-730 prides itself on its energy efficiency, which is 40% lower than other LED grow lights on the market today. GHS-730 has full spectrum coverage and can generate up to 730 watts to provide high-quality lighting for your plants. GHS-730 uses passive cooling, which can reduce your HVAC requirements by 40%, and save you more costs through this growing light.

Fluence VYPR 3p LED Grow Light

Features:

Featuring a broad white spectrum, this Fluence grow light is a full-cycle cultivation top light for greenhouse supplemental lighting and indoor sole-source applications. Combined with Fluence’s beam widening reflectors, VYPR 3p further improves light uniformity and reduces the number of fixtures required in a given cultivation area, lowering the capital investment and accelerating the LED adoption in horticulture lighting. With more compact power supplies, beam widening reflectors and new mounting options, the latest VYPR empowers growers to achieve their growing targets all year round. The VYPR series has 3 different mounting hardware options for quick and easy installation, to fit your space. VYPR’s compact power supply and linear design result in a reduced shadow on plants, ideal for greenhouse supplemental lighting

Things to Consider Before Buying LED Grow Lights

While nearly every plant loves light, they don’t taste the same. Here are some things to consider when buying LED grow lights.

energy consumption
Although LEDs are more efficient than their older counterparts, they still require a constant flow of energy to operate. And leaving them on all the time — especially if you run a lot of them — can really start to increase the ecological impact and your electricity bill.

Older bulbs were used to measure power in watts, but LEDs don’t work that way. The input power on the LED indicates how much power it will use, but not necessarily how bright it will be. High-efficiency LEDs emit a lot of light from just a few lamps, while other arrays use a larger number of small lamps.

Your needs are specific to your plants, but don’t buy an LED light array just because it has a high power rating. Look for equivalent wattage or other measurements.

Spectrum coverage
A full spectrum light can mean different things, depending on the model. True full-spectrum lights include infrared modules that emit waves that you can’t technically see. Different wavelengths of light often serve different parts of the growing process, so you need to match the spectral performance to the plants you are trying to grow. If your plants aren’t fussy, most “full spectrum” lights should do just fine. However, it’s worth doing some research on your specific plants to make sure the lights you buy will meet their needs.

Dimming
Not all grow lights are dimmable. Some have on or off settings and not many others. Other LED grow lights can provide ten or more different levels of lighting, so you don’t always have to blast them at full power.

selfie
Plants don’t need 24 hours of light, so you’ll need to turn the lights on and off as needed. Some lights have built-in timers that allow you to program them on a custom schedule. This saves you from having to remember to flip a switch, which can have profound effects on your plants, especially if you’re trying to grow outdoor plants indoors.

Conclusion

With current planting patterns, LED grow lights seem to be the future of indoor gardening. If you have zero growing experience with HID lights or any other lights, we recommend starting with LED grow lights. This is because LEDs are cost-effective, cheaper, and ultimately the future of indoor gardening. Many people also like to change lights at different growth stages, which is not good. We strongly recommend using the same lights at all stages to avoid shaking the plants and increase yields. With the options and buying guide above, you can now make an informed decision based on your budget and needs.