Your Precious Indoor Plants Need Food, Water, and Light…
It takes a balance of all 3 elements for indoor plants to thrive, become full-grown, and be happy.
The water and soil part of the equation is pretty straightforward as long as you follow the recommended care instructions.
But how do you ensure your indoor plants are getting enough light?
An easy way to solve this problem is with indoor grow lights like the ones shown below…
Healthy Plants Need Light
Finding the right location in your home may require trial and error before finding the perfect spot.
Also, before deciding what type of plants or vegetables you’ll grow in your home, you’ll want to research light requirements.
A quick rule of thumb for plant growing light requirements is: low, medium, high, and very high.
If you already have a sunny room or skylights in your home, you can position your garden there.
Now:
What if you don’t have any windows to allow sunlight into your home?
In this Inside Garden Shop DIY, we will go over 5 LED Grow Lights specially designed for indoor gardens…
How to Choose the Right LED Grow Light for Your Garden
Learn How to Avoid Common Mistakes and Optimize Your Garden
Are you a beginner gardener looking to improve your garden’s growth and yield? Choosing the right LED grow light can make all the difference. With so many options on the market, deciding which one is right for you can be overwhelming. In this step-by-step how-to guide, we will teach you everything you need to know to pick the perfect LED grow light for your garden.
This guide will provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to choose the right LED grow light for your garden. We will cover topics such as wattage, watt per foot ratio, and secondary optics to ensure you make an informed decision.
What is a LED Grow Light:
LED grow lights are a type of artificial lighting used to stimulate plant growth. They are energy-efficient and provide a full spectrum of light that mimics natural sunlight.
Safety Precautions:
Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing and using LED grow lights. Wear protective eyewear when working with LED lights to protect your eyes from potential damage.
Helpful Tips:
Look for LED grow lights with a high PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) output and low heat output. This will ensure that your plants receive the necessary light without overheating.
How to Choose the Right LED Grow Light
Wattage
Explanation: Wattage is the amount of power consumed by the LED grow light. It is important to choose a grow light with the appropriate wattage for your garden size. Calculate the total wattage needed by multiplying the watt per foot ratio by the square footage of your garden.
Instructions:
1. Determine the size of your garden in square feet
2. Calculate the watt-per-foot ratio needed (30-35 watts per foot for LED)
3. Multiply the watt-per-foot ratio by the square footage of your garden to get the total wattage needed
4. Choose an LED grow light with the appropriate wattage for your garden size
Watt per Foot Ratio
Explanation: The watt-per-foot ratio is the wattage needed per square foot of garden space. This ratio is lower for LED grow lights compared to HID grow lights.
Instructions:
1. Determine the size of your garden in square feet
2. Calculate the watt-per-foot ratio needed (30-35 watts per foot for LED)
3. Use this ratio to determine the total wattage needed for your garden space
4. Choose an LED grow light with the appropriate watt-per-foot ratio for your garden size
Secondary Optics
Explanation: Some LED grow lights come with secondary optics, which can either enhance or reduce the light output. It is important to understand the impact of secondary optics and choose a grow light that meets your specific needs.
Instructions:
1. Research the impact of secondary optics on LED grow lights
2. Determine whether a grow light with or without secondary optics is best for your garden
3. Choose an LED grow light that meets your specific needs
PAR Output
Explanation: PAR output is the amount of light plants can use for photosynthesis. Look for LED grow lights with high PAR output to ensure your plants receive the necessary light for growth.
Instructions:
1. Research LED grow lights with high PAR output
2. Choose an LED grow light with a high PAR output for optimal plant growth
Heat Output
Explanation: LED grow lights produce less heat compared to HID grow lights. However, it is still important to choose a grow light with a low heat output to prevent overheating and damage to your plants.
Instructions:
1. Research LED grow lights with a low heat output
2. Choose an LED grow light with a low heat output to protect your plants
Conclusion: Choosing the right LED grow light can be overwhelming, but with the information provided in this guide, you can make an informed decision. Consider factors such as wattage, watt-per-foot ratio, secondary optics, PAR output, and heat output when choosing an LED grow light.
FAQs:
1. What is the watt-per-foot ratio for LED grow lights?
A: The watt-per-foot ratio for LED grow lights is typically 30-35 watts per foot.
2. Do LED grow lights produce less heat than HID grow lights?
A: Yes, LED grow lights produce less heat than HID grow lights, but it is still important to choose a grow light with low heat output.
3. What is PAR output?
A: PAR output is the amount of light plants can use for photosynthesis.
4. Should I choose an LED grow light with or without secondary optics?
A: It depends on your specific needs. Research the impact of secondary optics and choose a grow light that meets your needs.
5. How do I calculate the total wattage needed for my garden space?
A: Multiply the watt-per-foot ratio by the square footage of your garden to get the total wattage needed.
Warning! Be aware some plants will die from too much light… Read the instructions carefully when choosing your plants or lighting.
Best Grow Light for Indoor Plants on Amazon
A quality light source is crucial for growing fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs indoors.
But if your home doesn’t have a window to allow sunlight, you need an alternative light source for your indoor garden.
Your plants need food!
Plants use chlorophyll, carotene, and photosynthesis to transform light, water, and nutrients into the energy they need to grow…
But different plants require various particle wavelengths or spectrums of red, blue, ultraviolet (UV), and infrared (IR) light.
How specific wavelength works:
- red 620mm -720nm (red-light LED boosts the growth of buds, flowers, and fruits)
- blue 400nm – 520nm (blue-light LED renders fuller, taller vegetative growth)
- white 2500k – 10,000k (white LED is used to adjust temperature)
- UV (Harmful to humans) Skip!
- IR (Harmful to humans) Skip!
- Spectrum/Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)
This overview will look at 15 LED light kits and bulbs that are best sellers on Amazon.
Don’t worry. I’ll make it easy for you and break down the LED light units into small, medium, and large, as well as provide a seller rating, number of reviews, and popularity so you can make an informed purchase when joining the many gardeners who are growing produce indoors, year-long, right in the privacy of their home…
Grow Lamp for Succulents
Pick from the best LED, Clip On, Small, and Large Grow Lights that your garden will love…
Clip-On Grow Lights
- 6000K White Light - equipped with 10 Red + 74 White LEDs, this growing Lamp is similar to the full-spectrum sunlight at noon,that is professionally designed for indoor garden plants.Moreover, its color rendering index is as high as 95, the light is soft and flicker-free, which is very suitable for reading lamp
- Timer Function & Multiple Settings - this growing light offer the timer function with 3 options that is 4Hrs or 8Hrs or 12Hrs, it is based on a 24 hour cycle from the time you set the timer.For example,when keeping power ON, if you select 8 Hrs,it will turns ON for 8 hours per 24 hours.The other two timer settings are the same.
- Easy to Install - with flexible Gooseneck & strong clamp,it allows you to place the growth light in any direction to provide the best lighting angle for your plants，meet the cover around the plant.Powered by USB or AC Power Plug
- High Efficiency LED Lamp - as for LED power draw this seedling lights just comsume about 10watt and is equivalent to a 50W Halogen Bulb.Estimately monthly cost roughly $2 in electricity (12 hours a day). It is a great gift if you growing some small house plants.
- 【365 Days Warrantty】GooingTop service team offer 365 days warrantty and 24h friendly customer service. If there are ever any issues about the product, please feel freee to contac t us and we will send you a new replacement or fulI refund.
- SMALLER & STRONGER: SANSI LED pot clip plant light equipped with SANSI unique ceramic technology, provides more efficient power conversion. The indoor plant light provides 5W output power with 35.78 μmol/s/㎡ @6 inches growing power. Compared with the similar 10W plant light, the output power is saved by 50% and the plant growing effect increased by 25%. The LED grow light is suitable for various indoor potted plants, such as succulents, aloe vera, devil's Ivy, calibrachoa, African violet, etc.
- PROFESSIONAL PLANT SOLUTION FOR HOME GARDEN: SANSI offers a number of core patented technologies that provide more SANSI Grow Lights efficient and stable lighting, effectively helping your beloved plants thrive. 4000K natural light is more suitable for the indoor plant and not an eye sore, the grow light isn’t overly strong as it's clipped onto the pot and supports a variety of usage scenarios: desktop, plant stand, desk, and hanging, which can be flexible placement anywhere your home or office
- 360° GOOSENECK & EASY TO INSTALL: SANSI pot plant light for indoor plants is equipped with a flexible gooseneck & clamp, it's very easy to install it on a pot and allows you flexibly adjust the light to the required plant. Furthermore, there’s no additional part to hurt your plants
- 3/6/12 HRS AUTO ON/OFF TIMER & 4 DIMMING LEVELS: The LED flower lamp operates from a built-in timer with 3-mode cycle timing function which stays on for 3/6/12 hours and off for 21/18/12 hours. The indoor plant lights for indoor plants full spectrum offer 4 level brightness settings to different plant requirements ranging from 25%, 50%, 75% to 100%
- ETL QUALITY GUARANTEES & 2 -YEAR SERVICE: The input of the led grow lights is 5V low safe voltage, which is energy-saving and can be powered easily via a power bank, laptop, computer, etc. The plant lights for indoor growing are ETL listed, quality and safety verified and SANSI offers a 2-year service for this grow light. We have a professional service team that provides 7x24 online help. Please get in touch with our team on Amazon Message if you encounter any problems
- Bseah Full Spectrume grow light is professionally designed for indoor garden plants. This sunlight grow light can promote photosynthesis in plants.
- 10 Dimmable Modes & 3 Switch Modes meet photosynthesis needs of plant germination, bloom, and fruit-bearing at different stages and seasons.
- This clip grow light offer the circular memory timer function with 3 options-3h/9h/12h. Set up once, the plant grow light will turn on and turn off automatically at the same time every day.
- Flexible goosenecks with clip can be rotated 360 degrees make it easier for you to adjust the angle between the plant lamp and indoor plant.
- We provide up to 24 months warranty service for free, you can contact us anytime with any questions about the grow light.
- [Upgraded Timer 6 12 16H] Most of the plant lights with built-in controllers on the market do not exceed the timed 12H, and ours has been upgraded to exceed 12H, which is more friendly to light-loving plants, so that the plants grow better. Set the timing time(6H 12H 16H), you don’t need to manually turn on and off the grow light. The grow light will convenient to takes good care of your plants when you go out to work or on vacation
- [Full Spectrum & Cost-effective] Different from only white light or red/blue grow light, this 2 heads grow light is equipped with 9 Red +4 Blue+7 Warm White LEDs for each light tube, the spectrum is richer, it is ideal for all kinds of indoor plants at all growth stages, it can replace traditional 50W HPS, low power consumption, energy saving, great for small plants
- [3 Lighting Modes & 5 Levels Dimmable] The 16 hour led grow lights includes red/blue/warm white LEDs, you can choose 3 color modes(Red+Blue Light, Warm White Light & Mixed Light), and 5 brightness settings ranging from 20% to 100%, which effectively supplemented the lack of natural sunlight and promoted the growth of plants at all stages, especially suitable for plants seeding stage
- [Widely Illumination Area & Easy to Use] The Plant Light for Indoor Plants includes 360° flexible stainless steel gooseneck, it can expand the light area and easily adjust the angle distance between light and plants. Powered by USB or AC Power Plug(USB power adapter included), it’s portable and convenient to use at home or in the office
- [Safety & Professional Service] Garpsen plant grow lights offer 12 months of support and 30 days return. If you have any questions, please feel free to send us a message and we will reply your questions within 12 hours
- 6500K Full Spectrum White Light - equipped with 12 Red + 60 White LEDs, this growing Lamp is similar to the full-spectrum sunlight at noon,that is professionally designed for indoor garden plants.Moreover, its color rendering index is as high as 90, the light is soft and flicker-free,perfect for indoor plants growing
- High Efficiency LED Lamp - as for LED power draw this clamp grow lamp only consume about 6 watts but is equivalent to a 50W Halogen Bulb. Monthly cost roughly $1 in electricity (18 hours a day). It is a great gift if you growing some potted plants.
- Upgraded Timer 4/8/12/18Hrs - this growing lamp offer the timer function with 4 options that is 4H or 8H or 12H or 18Hrs , it is based on a 24 hour cycle from the time you set the timer.For example,when keeping power ON, if you select 18 Hrs,it will turns ON for 18 hours per 24 hours.The other three timer settings are the same.
- Easy to Install - with flexible Goose Neck & strong clamp,it allows you to place the growth light in any direction to provide the best lighting angle for your plants,meet the cover around the plant.
- A Best Gif t for Your Cute Plants - the led lamp weight is about 13 ounces, very compact and flexible, it could emit a soft and efficient aperture. And its neck is very stable and supports 360-degree adjustable, which is very flexible and useful, especially for tabletop plants
Grow Light Tip:
How much light should I give my Plants\Vegs?
For best results when using LED grow lights, a good rule of thumb is to adjust the light time between 10 – 14 hours with 8 – 10 hours of darkness…
Other recommended reading: Powerful DIY Mosquito Control Strategy that Really Works Good
* Updated on 2025-04-26 at 13:23.
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How is IR harmful to humans?
We read your blog site, share most helpful details in blog.
Do happen to have light for parrots that need sunlight in the winter???
Your blog just pop out,,, I was reading it all… and very helpful as I am looking for an advice of what to use for my succulents plants and seeds…Thank you very much..