Grow lights are one of the equipments you will need if you are planning on starting an indoor garden. They mimic sunlight and helps your indoor plants grow. This works particularly well if you plan on planting summer crops in the fall or winter, or if you live in a place where there isn’t enough sunshine for the crops you want to cultivate. The use of grow lights indoors has led to the availability of certain fruits of vegetables even out of season. You two can do this in the comfort of your own home.

There are many indoor grow lights to choose from, and choosing the right one is very important. The type of light that grow lights give out must mimic the type of sunlight a plant should receive at its various developmental stages. Two popular options indoor plant growers have used are LED grow lights and fluorescent grow lights.

LED Grow Lights
People choose to install LED grow lights because they cost less than most other options, being that they consume less power, and they also produce less heat. They are also extremely low maintenance and don’t have noisy ballasts that require a lot of power to use. There are four types of LED grow lights used, to correspond to the four chlorophyll absorption peaks of plants.

Fluorescent Grow Lights
Fluorescent grow lights are one of the cheaper options one has in choosing among the grow lights available in the market. They are available in whatever desired color temperature you require, though standard fluorescent lights can be used to grow vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, and herbs. Other fluorescent grow lights:

• High Output fluorescents – has a very thin profile (great for vertically limited areas) and produce twice as much light as standard fluorescent lamps. High Output fluorescents produce about 5,000 lumens per 54 watt bulb and are available in warm (3000 K) and cool (6500 K) versions. Usable life span for High Output fluorescent lamps is about 10,000 hours.

• Compact fluorescents – smaller versions of fluorescent lamps and are used for propagation, as well as for growing larger plants. Compact fluorescent bulbs are also available in warm (3000K) and cool (6500K) versions. Usable life span for compact fluorescent grow lamps is about 10,000 hours.

• High Output Fluorescent/HID hybrids – combine cool burning with the penetration of high intensity discharge technology. They blend different light colors and provide broad even coverage. They also consume less power than incandescent lighting.

Author: BlueLGCrew
Keywords:
Added: March 27, 2010