Growing Cannabis? Why LED Grow Lights Are the Way to Go

As more indoor growers are producing healthier looking plants than ever before, the tide has turned in favor of the LEDs. Here are some critical considerations to take note of, so you can make the best choice when investing in LED grow lights.

Advantages of LEDs for Growing Marijuana

There are tremendous benefits to growing with LEDs as compared to high-pressure sodium bulbs, fluorescents, and plasma lights. LED growlights run very cool, use little electricity, and produce healthier plants with superb taste and scent. The jury is still out on some other benefits such as the LEDs' ability to deter pests and bacteria. What we do know is that LEDs are an excellent way to save energy, eliminate excess heat problems, and grow healthier plants.

The best LED Grow Lights will give comparable yields to HID bulbs.

What About the Yields?

For many years LED grow lights could not produce the same yields as their high-pressure sodium counterparts.

Grow light technology has advanced considerably and some of the best lights like the G8LED 600W Veg/Flower with UV and IR are able to provide comparable yields to the tried and true 1000W HPS bulbs. This G8 produces healthy plants with vigorous growth and tight intermodal spacing for fuller yields.

The advantage of the light emitting diodes is that they operate at a much lower temperature, consuming less than half the electricity and give more control over the plants. With these lights, the cannabis plants grown indoors will have a superb scent, flavor, and frostiness.

The most efficient LED grow lights reduce electrical consumption by 60%.

Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF)

PAR value is the photosynthetic photon flux, measured in micromoles (μmoles) per meter squared per second. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use light to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water, resulting in plant growth.

The number of photons of light determines the photosynthetic photon flux. Natural sunlight has a PAR value of 1200-1600 micromoles (μmoles) when directly overhead.

An effective grow light will have a PAR value between 800-1600μmoles. Using lighting with higher PAR values may be counterproductive and cause stunted growth of plants.

The G8LED 600 Watt Veg/Flower light has a PAR rating of 1480μmoles

The Color Band

Since the whole point of using LEDs is to reduce power consumption, it is advantageous to grow with a very efficient grow light that maximizes photosynthesis.

The best LED grow lights will utilize six to nine different wavelengths of the light spectrum. If less than six wavelengths, the light is not advanced enough for robust growth.

If more than nine wavelengths, the light will waste electricity by emitting portions of the light spectrum that the plants don't need. This waste results in lower yields and added heat.

With LEDs, it is also possible to emit ultraviolet light, which is not possible with traditional bulbs. LED grow lights that emit UV have the added advantage of increasing resin formation and also help to stave off pests in the grow room.

Growing with a grow light that has UV diodes will increase the potency of your crop.

Invest In Your Cannabis Lighting

After the selection of the plant strain, lighting is the next critical component of the indoor grow garden. Investing in top-shelf lights like G8LED or Blackdog will pay off for years to come. Growers can reduce costs and produce excellent harvests.

It is exciting to see this revolutionary technology transform indoor gardens around the world. LED grow lights are proving to be the future of indoor growing.