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LED grow lights stand out as the preferred lighting option for commercial-scale indoor growing projects. Smart growers today are growing with these lights and reaping the benefits. When growing with the best LED grow lights on a large-scale project, it is imperative that to understand the different features of the lights. You need to understand the basics and what make these lights a worthwhile investment. Compared to other lighting solutions, here is what you need to know about these lights.
Lumens and LED Grow Lights
When using light bulbs, people often measure the brightness using the lumens or luminosity. Although the lumen is an excellent metric to measure white light, it isn’t suitable for LED grow lights. For LED lights, the PAR value measured in PPFD is the crucial metric. The PPFD is the number of photons that hit the surface of the leaf each second. While white light measures high lumens, it measures lower PPFD since the brightness is not the deciding factor for plant photosynthesis. As an example, consider the red color, which is essential for the plant’s flowering stage but has the lowest measurements of lumens because it is a dull color.
A Better Understanding of PAR
PAR refers to Photosynthetic Active Radiation, and the value determines the growing strength of the light. The best way to express PAR is the PPFD or Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density. The PPFD value, expressed in ΜMOL/M2/S, shows the number of photons that hit the plant’s surface per meter squared per second. To summarize, lumens or lux measures what the human eye can see (brightness), and the PAR or the PPFD measures the total energy that the plants absorb.
2019 Best LED Grow Lights
Among the many grow lights, one of the best ones amongst the top tier brands is the Dorm Grow G8LED 900 Watt Veg/Flower light. This light is for seedlings through harvest for 8-12 mature plants. This light is an excellent choice for professional growers because it has the growing power of 1200-1400 watts of metal halide (MH), or high-pressure sodium bulbs while using less than half the power at 540 watts. It covers up to 24 square feet of the grow space and penetrates 5 feet down past the plant’s canopy. This light is a smart investment for any sized grow room.
The best LED grow lights provide exceptional results for the vegetative as well as the flowering phases of the plant’s growth. When growing in the vegetative stage, maintain the temperature in the grow room, avoid overwatering the plants and give them enough nutrients. Give your plants enough light to cover the entire grow space and penetrate to the lower branches of the plants.