Can LED Strip Lights Be Used As Grow Lights?
Eric St-Cyr
| March 09, 2023 | 6 MIN READ
Are you looking for a more energy-efficient way to light your plants? LED strip lights may be the perfect solution. They are cost-effective, easy to install, and provide long-lasting lighting for your plants. So can LED strip lights really be used as grow lights? In this article, we explore the answer to this question by taking an in-depth look at how LED strip lights work and what makes them so popular when it comes to growing plants.
What Are LED Strip Lights?
LED strip lights are a versatile and popular LED lighting source. These lights use long strips of LED bulbs to provide bright light with low energy consumption. They're often used in residential and commercial environments to provide accent lighting or supplemental lighting where needed.
LED strip lights can be used as grow lights if they produce sufficient brightness and a color spectrum to meet the needs of your plants. Generally speaking, these types of LEDs don't produce an intense white light like other forms of LED growth lights. Instead, they emit softer colors such as blue, green, pink, yellow light, etc. That said, some of the more powerful models may offer sufficient lumens output to facilitate healthy plant growth without the need for additional supplementation from another form of light bulb.
Different Types Of LED Strip Lights
LED strip lights are a type of light-emitting diode (LED) that comes in many different shapes, sizes and colors. There are two main types of LED strip lights: white LED and full-spectrum grow light. White LED strips emit a bright light with good color rendering, making them ideal for general lighting in the kitchen, office or bedroom illumination.
Full-spectrum light provides a better quality light with higher efficiency than traditional fluorescent bulbs and are commonly used as grow lights because they produce an intense source of light across the visible light spectrum. Standard LED strip lights are available in a variety of lengths and widths, allowing you to customize your own installation without having to purchase large amounts of additional hardware needed to build larger units like those found in fluorescent lamp or HID lighting systems.
What's the difference between LED lights and LED grow lights?
The Role Of Wavelengths In Grow Lights
LED strips are another popular type of light used for indoor plant growing. These strips come in a variety of colors including blue, white, and green. Blue wavelengths have higher amounts of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), which helps seedlings and succulents grow.
The other colors, such as white, green and red, provide additional spectrums that can promote plant growth by providing more nutrients or allowing plants to stay exposed longer during periods of darkness if needed. Combining all of these colors gives us what’s known as full-spectrum lighting, which emits a range of visible and non-visible light wavelengths and mimics the energy from sunlight.
Benefits Of Using LED Strip Lights For Growing Plants
The advantage of using LED strip lights is that they offer multiple levels of brightness, adjustable color temperatures and a range of specialty effects such as dimming capabilities or motion sensors. Their slim profile makes them perfect for installation in tight spaces where regular fixtures may not fit due to size constraints.
They make it possible to control light exposure, as well as the color and output of the light. This allows growers to customize their lighting setup and achieve better results than with regular white or fluorescent lights. The flexibility of strip LEDs also means that they can be used both as supplemental light sources or as brighter primary lights when more intense illumination is required.
With a wide range of colors of light available, they can even provide unique color combinations that would otherwise be difficult to recreate with other types of light solutions. In addition, LED strips are very energy efficient and cost-effective compared to traditional light, making them ideal for anyone looking for ways to save money on their indoor gardening projects without sacrificing quality plant growth.
How To Choose The Right LED Strip Light
While it is possible to use LED strips as grow lights, there are many factors that go into choosing the right light fixture for your needs. It is important to consider how much artificial light is needed per day and what type of light lumens you need from a specific output light fixture.
When choosing the best LED strip lights for growing plants, it is necessary to understand the importance of lumen light or photon flux in horticultural lighting. This measurement determines the effectiveness of a particular product when used as a light source. Additionally, this measure can help determine whether or not an LED strip is capable of providing sufficient light output for a given area.
It's also important to note that some LEDs may require additional fixtures, such as reflectors and diffusers, to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness when used for plant growth. Understanding these requirements before making any purchasing decisions can help you get the most out of your investment in LED strip lights for growing plants.
What type of light is best for growing plants indoors?
How To Set Up LED Strip Lights For Growing Plants
Setting up LED strip lights for growing plants can be an easy and cost-effective way to give your plants the extra light they need. When you buy LED strips, there are two main categories: cheap LED strip lights and normal LED lights with higher light intensity. Cheap LED strip lights will provide adequate light, but won't have the same brightness or color range as regular LEDs. On the other hand, normal LED lights tend to require more wiring and fixtures to get enough lumens of light for successful plant growth.
Factors To Consider When Using LED Strip Lights
The intensity and spread of light produced by the strips is important. While they may not produce an even canopy of light over a large area, bright strip lights can provide sufficient energy input for certain types of growth. It's also important to consider the spectrum of light emitted by specific LEDs or groups of LEDs to determine the color wavelengths that will benefit your plants most.
In addition, when using LED strips for plant growth, it’s important to consider the amount of power these units consume compared to other grow lights. That's because the quality of light they produce, and the benefits they provide, depend on how efficiently plants use the energy from each type of light source.
Tips For Growing Plants With LED Strip Lights
Here are some tips on how to successfully use LED strip lights for your plants:
- Choose the right type of strip light: you need to choose one that emits enough visible spectrum light to cover the area you need. As a rule of thumb, consider 1 foot of LED per bulb or 2 feet per metal halide bulb.
- Consider using a seedling heater mat: this is useful if you are working with delicate seedlings to provide heat and ensure adequate light exposure.
- Adjust the angle of the light strip: it should close enough to reach maximum intensity without burning your plants.
- Consider installing an alarm clock or timer near your plants: this will ensure that they receive an equal amount of day and night light each day.
- Keep track of any changes you see in your plants: whether you see positive or negative changes, analyzing plant growth and health will help you make necessary adjustments.
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Cost Of LED Strip Lights For Growing Plants
LED strip lights are quickly becoming one of the top choices. Compared to other types of grow lights, they can be surprisingly inexpensive. Depending on the type and length of the strips used, you can purchase enough for a small garden or greenhouse for under $100.
Compare LED strip light prices
Shop For LED Strip Lights
LED strip lights can be used as grow lights for growing plants. They are energy efficient and cost-effective options that work well for a variety of applications. If you are looking to purchase LED strip lights to build your own grow light setup, Canada Grow Supplies is here to help!
We sell a wide range of quality indoor and outdoor gardening equipment such as: