Author: Aqua Gardening

Best Commercial LED Grow Lights 2021

Aqua Gardening list some of the best commercial LED Grow Lights on the market. Most of this range of LED Grow Lights is suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

Power and detailed specifcations are shown on this table.

 

What is the best height for LED grow lights?

These are the best heights for LED Grow Lights created with a combination of Aqua Gardening's experience and supplier's information. Whenever the height of the grow light is changed, keep a close eye on how the plants react to prevent bleaching and heat stress. Also check when there is a change in the temperature and humdity of the grow room, or intake air.
 

 

What is PPFD?

So what the hell is this PPFD? Full daylight sun at noon in the summer produces PPFD of about 2000 (μmol/m2/s). But we don't need to shine that much artifical light on our plants, they might be damaged and it would cost more money. Often manufacturers quote PPF - this is the maximum amount of light that comes out of a light source and often measured right up close to the lamp or LED board. This isn't much use to compare lights with, and lumens are used the same way as PPF. PAR is another measure of the total amount of light that reaches a plant during the day - this measurement is also not easy to measure and use. So it is best to speak in terms of PPFD to get an even playing field, the density of light reaching plants, which still changes depending on the distance from the light source. PPFD also needs to be varied depending on the size of the plant. For an example, heavy flowering plants need different amount of PPFD light depending on their size and stage of growth.

  • For Seedlings - 200 to 300
  • For Veg Phase - 300 to 600
  • For Flower Phase - 500 to 1000
  • Autoflower - 300 to 600 for whole life

 

So how do you get the right light intensity with an LED Grow Light?

The intensity and ability to grow different crops depends on your light fixture and height you are hanging it above the crop / canopy. LED lights are commonly compared at 30cm above the crop height, but at this height there is not much spread and bleaching commonly occurs. Aqua Gardening sells Lumatek Zeus Pro 6 bar [600W] and Pro Grow 6 Bar [630w] which are great for regular hobby growers because they deliver enough light for a flower phase at between 50 and 80cm above the crop - see PPFD chart below. They can almost cover a 1.5 x 1.5m area with more than 400PPFD, but they have a spike in the centre of over 700 so the plants in the centre will grow faster and rotation will be required - unless the grow has multiple lights and can overlap the light spread. At 1.5m height, these LEDs can do Seedlings and Veg stages over up to a 1.8x1.8m area. This is why the 8, 9 and 10 bar LED grow lights have evolved - fixed high they can deliver sufficient PPFD especially with multiple fixtures working together.