Can you use regular led lights for grow lights? Full Guide for Growers

Gone are the days of positioning your plants by the window to receive sunlight. With the introduction of LED lights that can mimic sunlight, indoor gardening, especially growing cannabis, became easier.

Yet, some growers wonder what kind of light they should use. This is because regular LED lights are relatively cheaper compared to LED grow lights.

So you might be wondering if can you use regular LED lights for grow lights, in general yes you can, but sometimes this could be at the expense of efficiency or the health of your indoor plants.

To answer that, we could take a look at the construction of a LED grow light for Marijuana. LED grow lights, as you may notice, are rendered on a flattened surface and dotted symmetrically throughout this flattened surface so that they cover it evenly. You may also observe that once you turn them on, they are a groovy purple and that everything you put underneath it sort of turns purple as well, especially in the dark.
So, why are they purple?

When plants grow, they live off two main colors–red and blue. Red light is essential for photosynthesis and is responsible for controlling your plant’s height. This red light also lets your plant know that it has no competition in light absorption and it is free to fully grow and develop. Blue light is responsible for flowering, budding, and the expansion of leaves. The combination of these red and blue colors is the shade of purple which is clearly visible for many led grow lights.

Understanding Plants and Light
A plant’s lifecycle features a vital process known as photosynthesis which facilities the plant to get the required sugars. Photosynthesis processes the light energy trapped by the leaves.

This sugar (glucose) passes several stages and plants continue to grow through these stages.

Best Grow Lights for Weeds

KIND LED X-Series X40/X80 Bar Grow Light

With a wide-angle footprint and Perfect Blend Ideal Spectrum, the X-Series bar lights will be the ideal addition to any seedling, propagation, mixed-light, supplemental, complete indoor, or greenhouse application.

FLOWER SPECTRUM: The Flowering Bar Lights are biased on the red end of the spectrum and are great for all supplemental lighting on high light use plants that are in the Flowering stage or as standalone Flowering stage lights for average light use plants.

APPLICATIONS: The X-SERIES Bar Lights were designed with the utmost versatility in mind. With an IP65 rating and ETL listing, its applications are only limited by your imagination.

OPTIMIZED SPECTRUM: Perfect Blend Spectrum provides ideal photon emissions in every essential wavelength along the photosynthetic spectrum.

IDEAL INTENSITY: Perfectly tuned photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) delivers optimal concentration and quantity of photon energy from canopy surface to base of plant.

Xtrasun 315W CMh Lighting System 3000K

Excellent PPF (Photosynthetic Photon Flux): 1. 95 µmol/s
Longevity — 90% PAR output at 8, 000 hours and 20, 000-hour average life
Horticulturally-optimized spectrum and increased UV promote enhanced plant quality
3000K 315W ceramic metal halide lamp included
Double-jacketed CMh lamp does not require reflector safety lens
Digital ballast features low frequency, square wave technology
Multi-voltage: 120/208/240V
95% reflective European hammertone aluminum specular
Ideal for low ceilings/tents/vertical gardens

Obviously, your choice of CMH grow lights or LED grow lights are going to be specific to your plant needs, grow space, and even personal preferences based on your past experiences. Growing cannabis for either personal use, or as a cash crop requires a bit of research to determine what is best for your strains, and to maximize potency.