Nowadays, the role of grow lights in an indoor garden is a vital one and most horticultural researchers keep searching for new ideas and technology to improve these. For plant growth, it all has to do with the process of photosynthesis, during which the plant uses carbon dioxide, water, and light as the main energy source to produce oxygen and glucose.

Back in the old days, most growers would use sunlight as the natural source of light, fluorescent lamps, or HPS (High-Pressure Sodium), LED grow lights to illuminate all their crops. However, there were some certain disadvantages to using such light sources.

As an example, the natural source of light is one only available during the daytime and most HPS lights consume more energy as well as run on high temperatures, which prevent them from being closer to the plants. So many types of grow lights also have mercury, which upon disposal may be problematic.

A Light Source with Several Advantages for Indoor Plants

The development of LEDs or Light Emitting Diodes in the last couple of decades brings growers to a better and new source of lighting that provides a number of advantages. The very first advantage is that plants all need wavelengths in regions that are visible (about 400-700nm) in varying proportions. The PPF (photosynthetic photon influx designated the light intensity of the spectral visible radiation, which the plants use in the process of photosynthesis.

The plants make use of blue and red light for the process of photosynthesis than they use green and the spectrum of absorption of the plants will effectively match the right combination of the LEDs.

How Light Intensity Affects Plant Growth

Usually, seedlings all require a brighter light and when they do not receive this light, they get leggy and weak. In many cases, even the sunniest windows will not be able to provide the exact light intensity they need. The best solution at such times is to grow all your seedlings under special Dorm Grow LED lights. When you grow plants like tomatoes, lettuce, under these lights, this lets you control the intensity in two particular ways, the brightness of the bulb as well as how close the light actually is to the plant’s foliage.

LED grow lights are good for seeds since they give off less heat. In addition, they use about half of the electricity and last five times longer than mercury-free and fluorescent bulbs and they do not shatter as glass does. Most smart indoor growers do not use these bulbs to grow their seedlings because they end up giving off much heat and they can burn tender foliage.

As seedlings grow, you can raise the fixture of the light about once in a week to keep the lights just a few inches above the foliage. To make this task easy, you can use one or more adjustable stands.

Tailoring Light to the Needs of Plants

LED grow lights also provide the unique opportunity to use the spectrum of the light tailored in special ways to provide the best benefit to plants and minimize the risks of wasted energy. So many LED wavelengths can combine to form the best illumination source that follows the sensitivity curve of the plant. Apart from this, several other advantages of these lights in the field of horticulture include:

• Efficiency: Know that the electrical efficiency of LED lights is more than other grow lights and this helps most growers to save more on their electrical bills.
• Geometry: The radiation of the light falling on the plants is often proportional inversely to the square distance between the plant and source of the radiation. It is quite advantageous to bring the plants closer to the source of light. You can then place the LED lights closer to the plants than it is possible with other types of lamps since LEDs often run cooler than other types of lights that produce much heat and end up burning the leaves at the closer distances.
• Spectral Quality: The spectral quality of choosing LED illumination carefully can also have dramatic effects on the anatomy, pathogen development, and morphology of the plant.
• Durability: The LED lifetime takes a longer time to drop to 70% of the original value. About 50,000 hours, and much stronger than the usual lifespan of HPS lights and fluorescents
• Small Size: The compact and small size of LED fixtures today allows better options for installing the source of light and offers more room for plants to grow.

LED grow lights work in remarkable ways to supplement the actual effects of sunlight. This means when you take up an indoor grow project, you do not have to worry about a lack of proper lighting to help with the process of photosynthesis. These lights as you can see come with numerous benefits, so it is best that you survey the market and choose the best ones. They are ideal for the growth of various plants, including crops like tomatoes, lettuce and more.