HID, LED and Fluorescent Grow Lights: Choosing Your Perfect Cannabis Grow Light
HID Grow Lights
High-Intensity Discharge lights are the most commonly used cannabis grow lights around. They’re as close to mimicking the sun as you can get with a grow light, in both color and warmth. These have the ability to be used from seeding through harvest without a problem, and when used with proper cooling equipment, have shown to grow virtually anything you can think of: vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices, flowers- you name it, H.I.D.’s can grow it, and grow it on a big scale.
HID grow lights are great for grow rooms, grow tents, and warehouse grows. You don’t want to limit an H.I.D. to a grow tent (or grow area) smaller than 4×4′ area because these lights pump out some major heat. Properly cooled and ventilated grow tents and grow rooms are great because the heat of the light can be circulated throughout the area instead of focusing on the plants directly.
Warehouse grow rooms utilize H.I.D.’s because of their coverage area and intensity. H.I.D.’s traditionally have a large coverage area, and that space has intense light within it. This is perfect for a warehouse setting because areas that large need lots of coverage, and the more intense the better.
Pros
LED stands for light-emitting diode. A form of solid-state lighting, an LED uses a semiconductor chip, known as an LED die, that turns an electrical current into photons through a process called electroluminescence. An LED may be configured either as a single-die emitter that’s mounted on a circuit board, or an array of dies mounted directly on a circuit board, which is known as a chip-on-board (COB) module. An LED lamp is made up of an LED mounted to a heat sink, along with directional lenses and a power supply.
Today’s LED grow lights are designed to emit wavelengths of light that produce the natural daylight spectrum, or they can be precisely adjusted to put out ideal wavelengths for the varying needs of growing plants. They feature additional cooling systems to increase their efficiency.
Pros
Fluorescent grow lights are a mainstay of the modern nursery. As stated above, their low heat production makes them ideal for nurturing baby plants (Leaf lettuce, spinach, and herbs also do very well under tubes). Florescents come in a variety of styles though most common is the T12, which you've likely seen people hitting each other with the the Jackass series.
Pros
High-Intensity Discharge lights are the most commonly used cannabis grow lights around. They’re as close to mimicking the sun as you can get with a grow light, in both color and warmth. These have the ability to be used from seeding through harvest without a problem, and when used with proper cooling equipment, have shown to grow virtually anything you can think of: vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices, flowers- you name it, H.I.D.’s can grow it, and grow it on a big scale.
HID grow lights are great for grow rooms, grow tents, and warehouse grows. You don’t want to limit an H.I.D. to a grow tent (or grow area) smaller than 4×4′ area because these lights pump out some major heat. Properly cooled and ventilated grow tents and grow rooms are great because the heat of the light can be circulated throughout the area instead of focusing on the plants directly.
Warehouse grow rooms utilize H.I.D.’s because of their coverage area and intensity. H.I.D.’s traditionally have a large coverage area, and that space has intense light within it. This is perfect for a warehouse setting because areas that large need lots of coverage, and the more intense the better.
Pros
- Lights can be dimmed to customize the amount of light made available to the plants
- They produce more lights than the fluorescent lights
- HID bulbs can be used without changing ballast
- If not monitored or controlled properly, HID bulbs may produce heat enough to burn plants
- Effectiveness of each bulb decreases over time so it’s important to replace them on time
- They need extra hardware such as a reflector and ballast to operate
LED stands for light-emitting diode. A form of solid-state lighting, an LED uses a semiconductor chip, known as an LED die, that turns an electrical current into photons through a process called electroluminescence. An LED may be configured either as a single-die emitter that’s mounted on a circuit board, or an array of dies mounted directly on a circuit board, which is known as a chip-on-board (COB) module. An LED lamp is made up of an LED mounted to a heat sink, along with directional lenses and a power supply.
Today’s LED grow lights are designed to emit wavelengths of light that produce the natural daylight spectrum, or they can be precisely adjusted to put out ideal wavelengths for the varying needs of growing plants. They feature additional cooling systems to increase their efficiency.
Pros
- The most energy efficient grow light
- Barely produces heat
- Plugs into standard outlet
- Long lifetime
- High initial costs
Fluorescent grow lights are a mainstay of the modern nursery. As stated above, their low heat production makes them ideal for nurturing baby plants (Leaf lettuce, spinach, and herbs also do very well under tubes). Florescents come in a variety of styles though most common is the T12, which you've likely seen people hitting each other with the the Jackass series.
Pros
- Inexpensive to purchase
- Inexpensive to operate
- Long service life—roughly 10-20 times that of an incandescent bulb
- Low heat production
- Florescents produce a narrow spectrum of cool light that is unsuitable for triggering the flowering response in plants.
In summary
There are 3 types of grow lights you should know about: fluorescent lights (CFL), high-pressure sodium lights (HPS), and light-emitting diodes (LED)
While LEDs are the most efficient grow lights, they are less readily available and have a higher upfront cost than CFL
CFLs have a low upfront cost and are widely available at most retail stores selling light fixtures, but they are less efficient than LED
HPS grow lights require upfront investment and may be difficult to manage for beginners because of the set up process and veniliation and heating issues that HPS presents.
Comments
Post a Comment