If you want to grow cannabis plants indoors, you need to choose the right led grow bulb. Without enough light, you won’t get a decent harvest. The best lighting is usually equal to the highest quality THC, so it’s important to get the best lighting you can afford. There are many different types of led grow bulb to choose from, and finding the ideal plants that meet your needs is challenging.
This article provides some convenient lists of the best cannabis led grow bulb available for indoor weeds in the market. Some of them are cheap; The others are a little expensive. In any case, if you use them correctly, they will get the job done.
Why Should You Use Led Grow Bulb For Indoor Cannabis Plants?
The layman may think that indoor lights are enough to grow cannabis plants. However, even if you use LED lighting, it is almost certain that it is too weak to help the cannabis crop in the growing room. Remember, your lights are designed for your eyes, not for plants. It helps us see that the spectrum we need is very different from the spectrum that plants need for photosynthesis.
Some plants, such as miniature green leafed plants, can flourish with basic lights. However, hemp plants need fairly strong and consistent light to help them enter the flowering stage. Remember, when you grow cannabis plants indoors, you’re competing with the sun! This means that you need to install high-power lights in the growing space of plants.
What Factors Should Be Considered Before Buying Led Grow Bulb for Cannabis Plants?
Before we reveal different led grow bulb for cannabis plants, there are many factors to consider. So let’s condense them into the following convenient categories.
Budget
The first thing is first; What’s your budget? If the price is less than $100, you can still find something. But, for example, you won’t be able to get the output that a high-quality LED system worth more than $1000 provides. Also, remember that you need to provide different lighting for each stage of the growth cycle.
It’s best to calculate how much cannabis you need every year. It is better for MMJ patients and ordinary entertainment users to invest in decent standard lamps at one time. In addition, the more you plan to harvest, the faster you will be able to “pay off” lighting costs. If you plan to grow cannabis only occasionally, hid may meet the requirements because of their lower initial cost.
Ventilation
Some lights operate much hotter than others. For example, HID is very hot and needs air conditioning. Otherwise, the temperature of the growing room may be too high and damage the growth of plants. Note that this is an additional charge added to the “cheaper” hid settings.
Space
How much room do you have for growth? If you don’t have much space, you should avoid the “hot” lights, otherwise the room temperature will rise rapidly. You also don’t have enough space to install the AC equipment.
Safety
Check your circuit breaker board to make sure there are enough outlets and enough power to handle your lighting easily. Next, look at the complete list of devices to determine their power usage. If you do not have enough power capacity, the risk of electrical fire increases significantly.
Growth Cycle Stage
The lighting required by cannabis plants varies according to the stage of their growth cycle. Young plants need a different spectrum from mature plants. For example, metal halide lamps are associated with plants in the vegetative stage. In contrast, HPS lighting is often used at the flowering stage.
What Are the Best Indoor Cannabis Led Grow Bulb?
There are a variety of grow lamp types, with different advantages and disadvantages according to what you are looking for. We provide a summary of the most common options below. Are you trapped in time? Look at the pros and cons of each method at a glance.
LED Grow Lights Advantages
- less heat is generated than other lamps.
- incredible energy efficiency, which means lower energy costs.
- you can buy them from multiple locations.
- long service life.
- beginners have no learning curve.
LED Grow Lights Disadvantages
- High initial cost.
- Due to their relatively low power, large LED boards may be required.
- Some manufacturers have made suspicious statements about their lighting intensity.
HID Grow Lights Advantages
- They are usually the choice of professionals.
- They are the strongest light options available to ensure that your plants get all the light they need.
- The initial cost is lower than led.
HID Grow Lights Disadvantages
- You need a variety of HID plant growth lights to accommodate different growth stages.
- HID lamps require additional investment in protective covers and reflectors.
- The bulb needs to be changed regularly.
- They operate very hot and consume a lot of electricity
Fluorescent Grow Lights Advantages
- Low power consumption.
- Low heat output means you can put them close to plants.
- Widely available.
- You can use them in smaller planting spaces.
Fluorescent Grow Lights Disadvantages
- Only suitable for small planting.
- Low efficiency and low output.
- Each bulb needs a socket
LED is the abbreviation of light emitting diode, which is a simple form of light with high energy efficiency. Because of how the light in LEDs is generated, they use a small amount of electricity to get the same amount of light as other light sources.
However, LED has pricing problems. The lamps needed to grow cannabis are expensive. If you try to use cheap Christmas lights, your cannabis harvest will be less than the carbon footprint of LEDs. If you want to invest your budding properly, be prepared to spend a lot of money.
One of the great advantages of LED grow light is that they produce relatively little heat compared with other types of lamps.
This ensures that your growth chamber does not overheat. Cannabis plants like a warm environment. However, too much heat can damage them and may cause your planter to catch fire.
Because of how light is produced by electroluminescence, led grow bulb can also distribute more complete spectra. This can get better and higher quality yield from your buds.
This benefit is partly offset by the fact that the power of ordinary LED panels is quite low. So you need either multiple boards or a huge single board. In addition, the best results can only be obtained by using LEDs that provide full spectrum.
HID plant growth lamps — traditional and energy consuming options
HID grow light is the abbreviation of High-Intensity Discharge. It is a large bulb that can emit a lot of heat and light. They usually need a complete exhaust fan to remove excess heat, and the power consumption is huge. In addition, they usually need a lot of time and space to build a normal working system.
HID lamps are usually divided into several different varieties or subcategories:
Metal Halide Grow Light
Metal halide or MH grow lights are mainly used for plant growth. It’s part of the life of the cannabis plant, where growth begins and leaves begin to flourish. MH lights produce intense blue light, which plants prefer at this stage of growth.
It may sound strange that plants prefer a light. However, the light intensity of different colors is only different in wavelength and intensity. Because of this difference in wavelength, plants prefer strong light or weak light at different stages of their development.
For the early vegetative stage, metal halide lamps emit the best blue light.
High Pressure Sodium Grow Light
High pressure sodium (HPS) grow lights are much more efficient than other forms of HID. They emit a milder yellow light, which cannabis prefers at the flowering stage. This yellow light helps to promote strong bud formation. In addition, it allows you to more precisely configure the size of the final harvest.
You can buy HPS lighting of various intensities, but don’t use 1000W. It’s so powerful that it’s only suitable if you create a vast underground cannabis plantation! On the contrary, a pair of 400W or 600W HPS lamps is enough.
Light Emitting Ceramic Grow Light
This type of lighting is also called ceramic metal halide lamp, which is characterized by a set of ceramic heating elements in the lamp. The manufacturer uses ceramics because it has a higher arc tube temperature. Arc tubes help create lighting within MH lights. The results are that the efficiency and color rendering are improved.
Whether the use of LEC instead of the standard MH growth lamp is a personal preference. However, it is also related to costs. LEC plant growth lights represent a higher initial investment. However, in the long run, they are also more efficient, which reduces your overall electricity bill.
The HID plant growth lamp is an old school, which can generate a lot of harvest, but it will consume a lot of electricity. However, due to their efficiency and power output, they are still widely considered the standard for indoor cannabis cultivation. Before the cost of electricity goes into the equation, they also have cheaper costs to buy.
Fluorescent Grow Light – best for small plants
Two types of fluorescent lamps are T5 and CFL. The former is long and narrow, while the latter is twisted into shape. They have cool, warm or full spectrum colors. Growers sometimes use them because they are cheap to buy and low in energy consumption, saving energy costs. They also provide pleasant colors for indoor planting places.
Fluorescent lights don’t need all kinds of ridiculous lights like HID lights.
In addition, fluorescent lamps do not need to invest in additional settings like hid. You also don’t need to include a specific ventilation system to lower the room temperature.
However, the production of fluorescent lamps is lower than that of its competitors. You also have to place them close to the plants for any benefit. This means that you can use them in a small room, but if you plan to grow multiple plants, they won’t work.
The Final Idea of the Best Indoor Cannabis Grow Light
When growing cannabis indoors, you have to decide what is the top priority. Do you care about your energy bills, environment, confidentiality or efficiency?
If you are looking for caution, LED grow light and fluorescent plant growth lights are the most likely choices. But if you pursue efficiency, HID is probably the best cannabis growth lamp. That is to say, as long as you don’t mind the increase in electricity charges.
Again, if you have less than 5 square feet of planting space, fluorescent lights are enough when your plants are small. As the plant grows, you can upgrade to 250W HPS. If you have enough space, MH Lamp in plant growth stage and HPS lamp in flowering stage will work well. MH lighting is good throughout the process, but it produces fewer flowers, more leaves and lower yields.
Different options are most suitable for different solutions, so choose the one that suits you and take advantage of it. Once you have chosen the lamp that suits your needs, you can start growing marijuana. Of course, after choosing soil types, fertilizer preferences, and other things!