Picking the right grow light is key to success when designing a indoor garden, after all its the most important, expensive piece of equipment you will buy, so its important that you pick the right one.
There are many different types, styles and sizes of grow lights, but we will be focusing on just 5 grow lights for now . HPS(high pressure sodium) MH(metal halide), LED(Light emitting diode), CMH(ceramic metal halide) and fluorescent grow lights.
I'll start with the HPS and MH Grow Lights. I group them together because they're basically the same fixture with interchangeable Lamps (bulbs). For a long time these were the industry standard, proven results for decades. They are very powerful grow lights but also expensive and hot to run.
MH Lamps are used for the vegetative growth stage then switching to the HPS lamp when its time to fruit or flower. HPS produces a spectrum that tries to mimic end of the season sunlight while MH Lamps produce more of a white spectrum similar to earlier in the year sunlight.
Great, proven grow lights but these lights run really hot especially when u get up to the 600-1500 watt range. Keeping your garden cool is challenging when running multiple grow lights. In addition to that, you will need some ceiling height because these grow lights need to be at least 18-36 inch's away from the tops of your plants or the heat they give off will stunt growth or even cook the tops .
Next we'll talk about LED grow lights. These lights have come along way in the indoor grow light industry. The best selling point about this type of grow light is the low heat they give off and the power efficiency. Running a 600 watt led is said to be equivalent to a 1000 watt HPS or MH grow light. Also the heat is so minimal that cooling the grow area becomes significantly easier. Before you go reaching for you wallet just just know this, a quality, trusted brand is about 4 to 6 times more expensive then traditional HPS/MH grow lights. Also a lot of growers are still not sold on the yield or spectrum of these grow lights.
Ceramic Metal Halide are a bit new to the grow light game. Like the LED, their efficiency and low heat output are the selling point, but also, the spectrum of these grow lights are receiving high praise from the grow light industry and consumers alike.
A 315 watt CMH grow light is said to produce as good as a yield as a 600 watt HPS grow light. You don't need to be a growing expert to know that this is a game changer. But like the LED, the initial cost is going to run you a bit more then traditional grow lights. The heat factor with these grow lights lies in between LED and HPS/MH. Not as cool as the LED but much less heat then the latter. While the jury is still out on the CMH grow light, more and more growers are swearing off their traditional grow lights and are fitting their entire grow room with these newcomers.
Fluorescent grow light fixtures are great from bringing a plant from seedling or cutting to its vegetative or even flowering stages. Although not as powerful as the before mentioned grow lights, this grow light is essential to any serious growers arsenal. Low heat, low wattage and great spectrum are just some of the virtues of this workhorse. This grow light is industry standard for seedlings and cuttings growth and also keeping mother plants on which to clone off of.
There are many different types, styles and sizes of grow lights, but we will be focusing on just 5 grow lights for now . HPS(high pressure sodium) MH(metal halide), LED(Light emitting diode), CMH(ceramic metal halide) and fluorescent grow lights.
I'll start with the HPS and MH Grow Lights. I group them together because they're basically the same fixture with interchangeable Lamps (bulbs). For a long time these were the industry standard, proven results for decades. They are very powerful grow lights but also expensive and hot to run.
MH Lamps are used for the vegetative growth stage then switching to the HPS lamp when its time to fruit or flower. HPS produces a spectrum that tries to mimic end of the season sunlight while MH Lamps produce more of a white spectrum similar to earlier in the year sunlight.
Great, proven grow lights but these lights run really hot especially when u get up to the 600-1500 watt range. Keeping your garden cool is challenging when running multiple grow lights. In addition to that, you will need some ceiling height because these grow lights need to be at least 18-36 inch's away from the tops of your plants or the heat they give off will stunt growth or even cook the tops .
Next we'll talk about LED grow lights. These lights have come along way in the indoor grow light industry. The best selling point about this type of grow light is the low heat they give off and the power efficiency. Running a 600 watt led is said to be equivalent to a 1000 watt HPS or MH grow light. Also the heat is so minimal that cooling the grow area becomes significantly easier. Before you go reaching for you wallet just just know this, a quality, trusted brand is about 4 to 6 times more expensive then traditional HPS/MH grow lights. Also a lot of growers are still not sold on the yield or spectrum of these grow lights.
Ceramic Metal Halide are a bit new to the grow light game. Like the LED, their efficiency and low heat output are the selling point, but also, the spectrum of these grow lights are receiving high praise from the grow light industry and consumers alike.
A 315 watt CMH grow light is said to produce as good as a yield as a 600 watt HPS grow light. You don't need to be a growing expert to know that this is a game changer. But like the LED, the initial cost is going to run you a bit more then traditional grow lights. The heat factor with these grow lights lies in between LED and HPS/MH. Not as cool as the LED but much less heat then the latter. While the jury is still out on the CMH grow light, more and more growers are swearing off their traditional grow lights and are fitting their entire grow room with these newcomers.
Fluorescent grow light fixtures are great from bringing a plant from seedling or cutting to its vegetative or even flowering stages. Although not as powerful as the before mentioned grow lights, this grow light is essential to any serious growers arsenal. Low heat, low wattage and great spectrum are just some of the virtues of this workhorse. This grow light is industry standard for seedlings and cuttings growth and also keeping mother plants on which to clone off of.