When you have a set of grow lights, you can cultivate several plants, including cannabis. Grow lights are vital for seed germination and plant growing since light is a trigger for plants. Even during winter, you can grow your crops without worrying about the cold environment outside. By knowing how plants utilize lights and digging deeper into the ins and outs of light fixtures, you can choose the best among the variety of grow light set up systems in the market.
Fluorescent Vs. LED: Which One Should You Get?
Fluorescent and LED grow lights offer a full-spectrum of light. But, LED is more beneficial to your living environment and your budget. Product development has produced energy-efficient, affordable, and productive LED lights that meet all the essential needs of plants. They provide the exact luminous and full-spectrum light that your plants require, with an added jab of blue light to help increase photosynthesis, generate powerful root growth, and guarantee massive yields. With LEDs, you can develop healthy cannabis plants!
Extremely sufficient
LEDs utilize half the electricity and last longer than fluorescent bulbs.
Good for the plants
State of the art LEDs are engineered specifically for an indoor garden.
Environment-friendly
LEDs are mercury-free so they won’t break just like glasses, which mean less waste.
Proper Grow Light Intensity
The amount of intensity the plant receives is dependent on the distance of the plant to the light source and the brightness of the bulbs used. Plants have different needs when it comes to intensity. Generally, plants that originated from shady forests or tropical jungles don’t need the same amount of light as those that are native to sunny and dry places including southern Mexico and Mediterranean.
Get the Duration Right
Regardless of the variety of plants you are cultivating, you need to give them a break. When it is dark, plants respire, which is an essential part of their growth procedure. A perfect balance between growth time and rest time can lead to a higher growth rate and the formation of spectacular buds. Invest in a power strip that comes with a built-in timer to get the right duration of rest and growth period every single time.
HPS Light
High-pressure sodium or HPS Grow Lights are the top choices among cannabis enthusiasts and hobbyists. This is because it works great in the flowering and vegetative state of the cannabis plant. Light spectrum from HPS bulbs replicates the spectrum of the sun. Also, it has an increased level of the red spectrum that is vital in stimulating maximum flower among flowering plants such as cannabis. Over the past years, HPS light technology has been the best grow light option for outdoor and indoor growers alike. If you wanted to get a huge harvest all the time, HPS grow lights is the light system you should invest in.
What is an HPS Light?
High-Pressure Sodium or HPS was invented in 1964. It is the light system that has strongly influenced how we grow indoor plants such as cannabis. HPS grow lights is made of a thin arc tube mounted using a frame in a bulb. To increase its efficiency, the arc tube is maintained at intensely high pressure. Mercury, xenon, and sodium are kept inside the bulb to enhance the light spectrum.
The most popular method to start the bulbs is by using a pulse start. It begins with an arc in the xenon gas and causes the bulb to turn into a sky-blue color. Then, the arc heats the mercury which lights up the bulb and gives it a bluish hue. As the bulb continues to heat up and the sodium begins to vaporize, it creates an arc that’s more than 240° C or 450° F. After that, the sodium is combined with other impurities to produce white light.
The most important thing to remember is you can’t operate an HPS bulb without a suitable ballast. Most HPS grow lights, like those from Gavita, offer sets complete with reflector and ballast. Chances are you are going to fracture the bulb, which can cause an explosion in a worst-case scenario. Ballast powers HPS bulbs, the electric current and input voltage goes through it. It regulates pulses inaccurate frequencies, which empowers the bulb to operate effectively and optimally, even if there is voltage snap outside of the system. The ideal digital ballast can keep your HPS lights running smoothly even if the input voltage drastically shifts.
1000 watt Grow Light
1000 watt LED grow lights are more efficient than 400 watts but less efficient than 600 watts grow lights. This efficiency depletion is somehow accurate, which is why cannabis growers choose to cultivate with two 600 watt grow lights before they jump to a massive 1000 watt grow light. Considering this, you have to note that with 1000 watt, there is no larger or more effective single HPS bulb solution. Moreover, as its light emission increases, so do the heat it creates.
Suggested Area: Six feet by six feet or 1.8 meters by 1.8 meters
The Distance: It should be at least twenty-four inches or 60 centimeters away from the canopy.
Conclusion
This is everything you need to know when it comes to the different grow light set-up available in the market. If you are planning to grow cannabis in your home, always remember that choosing the best grow light is one of the keys to successful and massive harvest. Every plant has different needs when it comes to light and you need to determine the ideal requirements for your crops. This will help you put up a suitable light system in your growing environment, without worrying about overheating or starving your plants from the light they crave.
