How Should Growers Choose Indoor House Plant Grow Lights?

To help growers choose the most suitable indoor house plant grow lights, some suggestions are provided for the concept of full spectrum.

1. The spectrum of indoor plant lights

The first thing to understand is that "full spectrum" is actually not strictly defined and does not target any industry, and standards or regulations are essential. The term is a marketing tag used to describe light sources that mimic natural light ("white" light). Therefore, the full spectrum may mean different things to different grow light manufacturers.

Secondly, LED grow lights produce white light in two ways: by mixing red, green and blue diodes to produce white light. Or more commonly, a phosphor coating is applied to a single diode, for example, a yellow phosphor is applied to a blue diode to produce white light. However, the coating will degrade over time, causing color shift, and thicker coatings may limit the light output efficiency. There is no such thing as a white LED grow light, only the light emitted by the LED looks white to our eyes.

2. Indoor plant lights are different from sunlight

The wide spectral range of indoor house plant grow lights is not completely covered. The complete solar spectrum includes UV and IR wavelengths that many full-spectrum products cannot produce. This type of light effectively spans the visible spectrum (combining purple, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red), but is less concerned with ultraviolet and infrared rays that benefit certain crops. In other words, in most cases, full spectrum is not a true substitute for outdoor growth conditions.

3. Strategically choose indoor plant lights

The most easily absorbed colors for plants to promote photosynthesis are red and blue. Research continues to prove that the red and blue grow lights are the most efficient, provide the highest output (umol/s), and consistently produce excellent results. For example, in a greenhouse where sunlight already provides the yellow and green wavelengths required by plants, supplementary purple indoor house plant grow lights can promote annual yields.

Finally, growers can strategically add white work lights to improve employees' comfort while applying purple light.