General LED lights are cheaper, abundant, and feasible, but will they work as a grow light? You may want to start using regular LED lightbulbs to begin your project, but for your plants and in the long term, should you use any LED lights as a grow light?
All regular LED lights will provide some spectrums of the wavelength for houseplants. Yet, it essential to recognize the benefits of a specialized LED for plant grow lights. These benefits may range from a simple increase in plant growth to lowering energy bills.
Grow lights are an essential nutrition source for your plants, and what you select can impact your plant’s growth tremendously. Also, knowing what your plants need and seeing when a plant needs a new grow light is essential.
Whether you have a few house plants or would like to try growing your indoor garden and hobby, it is a critical factor in selecting the right grow-light for your plants.
Can You Use Any LED Light as a Grow Light?
Simply put, yes, you can use any LED light as a grow light for your plants, but at the expense of efficiency and the health of your plants. Not to forget, the overall energy cost for the light source.
Let’s dig deeper into what an LED is and how you can find the best selection for your plants.
What Does Your Plant Need From its Light Source?
LED is a substitute for sun rays. Color and the appropriate light spectrum is the source for photosynthesis.
First and foremost, how do you know when to switch to a specialized LED grow-light if you have been using regular light for houseplants. Signs to look out are signaling that your LED light is not suitable for your plants: It does not trigger a metabolic reaction. Hence, the plant may grow tall, but the leaves will be a lighter color.
As for regular house plants, the ones placed in the corner may not be receiving enough sunlight and only getting nutrition from a traditional light source. In the wintertime, especially, you may notice your plants (that want to live through the season) will need extra help during the season.
Specialized LED Grow Lights Vs. Regular Lights
LED grow lights that are specialized for plants are a great option to maximize growth and, in the end, save cost by increasing efficiency and output.
Why LED Lights Anyway?
LEDs are helpful to customize the light spectrum. They also emanate a wide range of wavelengths at once. For these reasons, LED is a useful resource for all growth stages of the plant.
Besides saving costs by maximizing growth and increasing efficiency, LED lights also give off a large amount of light while drawing in little power.
LED is also common between gardeners that they come in various types of bulbs. The more options, the better you can customize for the plants. In many cases, LED lights can also outperform natural sunlight as you can select the optimum grow lights for your plants.
This brings us to the point that you will want to select a grow light instead of a regular light.
LED Grow Light Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Specific Wavelengths
- Great for customizing for growth
- Supports all growth phases
- Low energy
- High power output
Cons:
- Expensive when first purchasing
- Damaging to eyes
LED Regular Lights
Pros:
- Cheap
- Abundant
- If used sparingly, can be energy efficient
Cons:
- Narrow Wavelengths
- High amounts of heat (emitted)
What Your Plants Need and LED Grow Light Spectrum Requirements
LED lights are substitutes for sunlight. During photosynthesis, plants need the light energy absorbed by the leaf to process into sugars
Therefore, most house plants will require wavelengths best matched to natural sunlight. Whether you can find a LED light that can change to best mimic the light you need or select the closest resemblance as possible, these are the most essential “colors” to keep in mind.
Red and Blue = Purple?
In general, for phases of sprouting, blooming (flowers), and forming of fruits, red-lights are essential. Red is a crucial component for all growth stages, but during most budding, fruiting phases, blue wavelengths work in conjunction with the red-light.
| Roles of Redlight | Roles of Blue light |
| Blooming/Flowering | Blooming/Flowering |
| Stem elongation inhibition | Stem elongation inhibition |
| Uninhibited growth in height | Leaf curvature towards the light source |
| Sprouting | Leaf growth |
| Key for photosynthesis | Budding |
To use regular LED lights, the light source must offer enough PPFD. Remember, LED lights are not as powerful and do not provide the full life spectrum, which means your plant will have inadequate nutrition during most phases. Regular LED lights such as white LED bulbs may offer a broad spectrum, but it will lack the power.
You may attempt to compensate for the low power and perhaps think to provide more light with more bulbs or even placing them closer to the plants. Beware, heat from light sources can be harmful to the plants and even fire hazards!
This comes down to another benefit of Specialized LED grow lights. Since specialized LED lights have less heat emittance that will prevent any unwanted heat transfer to plants and hazardous fires.
LED lights also are designed for our (human) everyday uses. This means the bulbs are not concentrated enough to give the benefits of proper care.
LED grow lights are designed specifically to produce the ideal ratios for plants. This provides for the different stages of plant growth.
Best LED lights for less than 100$
Here is a list of popular LED lights just under 100$ (USD) to help you with some options.
| Product | Prominent Features | Price Range |
| King plus 600 Watt full-spectrum LED grow light (with UV and IR) | Part of the King plus series Large coverage area High power | 50 – 80$ |
| Viparspectra Series VT300 LED grow Light | Long-rated life spanLarge cover areaGreat warranty | 80 – 100$ |
| Roleadro 600 Watt full-spectrum white | Great spectrum for floweringProvides full-spectrum white LEDUses only 124 watts | 50 – 80$ |
Best types of LED lights to purchase
Many argue that Horticultural LED grows light (uses COBs) are the best types of LED lights. These lights produce wavelengths used by plants in ideal ratios. They are most beneficial for the blooming phases of plants.
COB LEDs are better than most LED because they offer high intensity at compact sizes, and also offer simple designs with low failure rates.
The compact size is beneficial when fitting into smaller spaces and a great way to increase output in a given (small) area. With high-intensity, more sub-canopies will still have access to the light source and gain nutrition.
The low heat generation and overall simplicity in design explain how COBs have a history of less failure rate. Although COB lights may not offer all spectrums of light like some LED grow lights, they offer the spectrums that you will need for plant growth.
Recommended COB LED lights
The following are some COB products that are favored by gardeners.
| Product | Features |
| Phlizon COB Series 2000 W LED plant light | High quality Wide spectrum for plant growth |
| Aglex 2000 Watt Full-spectrum COB LED grow Light | Powerful Good coverage UV and IR diodes |
| Canagrow 400 Watt CREE CXB3590 | Great spectrum for plants growth Dimming capability |
| Hipargero 800 Watt COB LED Grow Light Fixture | Great spectrum for plant growth Cost-efficient |
Final Thoughts
Overall, you may want to try switching to a specialized LED light to maximize growth and minimize cost. It is a win-win investment opportunity.
It may be costly at first as regular LED lights are more abundantly available and cost-friendly, but in the long run, the extra couple of dollars on a specialized LED light will lower your electricity bill, all while maximizing your plant health and growth.
Whether it be fruits or leaves that are your outcome or simply the joy, it is worth switching to a specialized LED light for your plants.