Right now the world is experiencing a cannabis growing revolution, and that means there are more options for growers out there than ever. However, it also means that it’s not always clear what the best alternatives are, especially when new tech comes out so fast.
We evaluated each grow lamp based on numerous factors, including durability, cost, yield, wattage, spectrum and more. The details of your grow determine which are the best 300W LED Grow Light options for your grow, so we wanted to go deep and present the range of the best choices out there.
Obviously, budget, growing experience, strains, environment, and goals will all define growing needs. That’s why each grower’s needs are unique.
What Are the Benefits of Using LED Grow Lights?
Ever since LED bulbs were introduced in the market, their customer demand continues to increase over time. In fact, the majority of the bulbs and lighting fixtures that are sold on the market today are LEDs. Thus, even nature lovers nowadays who prefer to keep their plants indoors find ways to take advantage of these lights. So, these are the top benefits of having a good LED grow light:
Energy-efficient
This is the number one advantage of LED grow lights to other lightings since LED bulbs consume fewer watts. However, it can produce the same light that High-Density Discharge (HID) bulbs have. Even with fewer bulbs, you can assure that the biggest portions of energy they use are converted into light than heat.
Unlike traditional lightings, LEDs don’t burn anything just to produce light. Thus, it wastes less energy which turns into heat while you can keep your energy bills at bay.
Eco-friendly
As mentioned earlier, LED grow lights don’t contain mercury, gas, filaments, and any other toxic substances like HID lights. Instead, these light bulbs are designed and manufactured with eco-friendly materials that are 100% recyclable. Thus, you don’t have to worry about you or your plants getting harmed after being exposed to its light. To guarantee this, the best LED grow lights usually have a RoHS certification to prove its quality.
Faster harvest cycle
Unlike outdoor plants that rely on the natural sunlight, indoor plants rely on artificial light from LEDs. These LED grow lights can be used for long hours to help your plants grow faster to increase your harvest cycle. Thus, you can regulate the red wavelength light at the right time to boost the growth of your plants.
You can also alter the daylight hours of these bulbs so you can have multiple harvests during one season.
Healthier plants
Other artificial lightings release more UV rays, IR rays, and heat which harm the plants. But with LEDs, everything extra for the plants is reduced like the green and yellow wavelengths. Thus, your plants get just the right amount of these components which help them grow healthier and longer. In fact, you can also regulate the wavelengths of its lights which help your plants in the process of photosynthesis.
Cooler operating temperature
Compared with HID lightings, LED grow lights produce less heat which doesn’t affect much the entire temperature indoors. This is especially true if you have a greenhouse where more LED lights are installed. Thus, you can cut costs for not needing a cooling system to keep your plants healthy.
Pros
Decreases operating costs
Year-round production
Suitable coverage
Cons
Indoor use only
Not waterproof
Crecer Lighting MetriX 300 LED Grow Light
Pros
Easy to set up
Durable
Highly resistant
Cons
Small size
Heating issues
Not suitable for commercial growing purposes
Why Choose LED Plant Lights?
There are many different kinds of grow light fixtures including High-Intensity Discharge or HID grow lights, Metal Halide, ceramic metal halide (CMH), High-Pressure Sodium (HPS), and good old everyday fluorescent lights. All of these types of lights to grow plants have their supporters and applications. However, as the best all-around indoor plant grow lights, my preference is for LED (Light Emitting Diodes) plant lights.
There are a number of reasons I prefer growing with LED lights:
LEDs are energy efficient grow lights and last for up to 50,000 hours. If you’re using them on a 12-hour timer this is equal to 11 years. Some people argue LEDs are expensive and, to be fair, they have a higher upfront cost than their HPS counterparts. Over time, however, they are cheap grow lights to run long-term thanks to their reduced power consumption.
They can be plugged into a regular socket and usually don’t require a separate ballast so they are easier to use in small spaces.
LED plant grow lights produce less heat than HPS grow lights and can be placed closer to your plants without risking damage. Producing less heat also means you expend less energy maintaining the correct temperature in your grow room.
LEDs can be customized to emit specific wavelengths of light (for example you can have red LED grow lights but studies show adding green and blue LED grow lights will help plants perform better. With LEDs you can adjust the colour balance to suit the specific plant type.)
LED full spectrum grow lights are the best grow lights for cannabis. (I’ll discuss why LEDs are the best lights for growing cannabis in full detail in their own section below.)
LEDs don’t contain harmful mercury so they don’t need to be disposed of in a particular way. This, in addition to their energy efficiency, makes LED grow lights the best choice for the environment.
Conclusion
It might be hard for you to understand the technicalities behind the LED grow lights at first – but once you are able to work through them it will be a charm to be able to grow your home-based produce! This product does take a little learning to do but it goes a long way in helping you get organic farm-fresh fruits and vegetables with the highest nutritional value possible. Lumatek grow light can be your great choice for a big plant area, and Crecer Lighting grow light can choose for a small grow area.
Overall, LED is an effective lighting solution to replace the natural light. The more familiar you get with the technique – the better your indoor plants will look.