Growing Plants With LED Grow Light Strips & Bars
LED grow light bars have been steadily increasing in popularity among both indoor and greenhouse growers. Many growers use LED bar lights as a supplemental lighting source to add additional light to the plant's undergrowth, to mix in different spectrums to the room, and much more.
LED light bars are a great option for indoor and greenhouse growers due to their thin and narrow shape. Their slim form factor allows them to minimize any blockage of light that should be getting to the plants. Traditional panel-type LEDs are large and bulky, which ends up blocking a lot of light in greenhouse-growing applications.
Many growers that are starting from seeds or are using a cloning machine have switched over to now start using low-wattage LED grow light strips to start their seedlings. New technology and research have proven that young plants require much less energy to start rooting.
In fact, these plants often have much better results when starting with a high-quality clone or seedling-specific light bar.
Types of LED Light Bars For Growing Plants
Supplemental LED Bar Lights
The most popular type of bar light for plant growth is supplemental lighting. These are often full spectrum and are really mainly for adding light to areas in your plant's canopy that are not receiving a popper amount of light.
This is a common issue with new growers. We know it can be scary to cut the plant's undergrowth, but it can be a necessity to make sure your plant's structure is ideal for producing the highest yields possible.
After making sure you have removed the excess leaves and stems from the under-canopy, you can add supplemental light to provide light to the bottom half of your plants.
Greenhouse Supplemental Lighting
Although many bar lights look similar, greenhouse bar lights are much more thick and bulky for a few reasons. Their sleek linear design eliminates unwanted shadows and makes them ideal for supplemental lighting in greenhouses, but are as powerful as a standard indoor LED light fixture. The added thickness is to allow the large heatsinks, drivers, and diodes to fit and provide their high output.
Clone & Seedling Lights
As mentioned earlier, clone and seedling led bars are a must-have for growers that start from seeds or clones. These low-wattage LEDs provide the right amount of energy for the young plants to accept and process, but not too much that they start stunting the growth.
Spectrums Of LED Strip Lights
Depending on the application, there are various spectrums that you can choose from, but each has a specific recommended use.
Full Spectrum Light Bars
A full-spectrum LED grow light contains light from the infrared to the ultraviolet spectrum. A full spectrum is an ideal option to cater to your plant's needs at each specific point in its life cycle, and implementing one will prevent you from having to purchase multiple spectrums for vegetative growth and flowering. Full Spectrum LEDs will include both Red and Blue, White and UV.
UV Light Bars
Ultraviolet light is extremely important for plant growth. In safe doses, ultraviolet light helps plants and crops produce essential plant oils which not only enhance the flavor and smell of fruit but also help the plants protect themselves from too much ultraviolet exposure; acting as their own natural sunblock.
When it comes to the full UV light spectrum, it's best to stick with UV-A and UV-B varieties for your plants. As mentioned, there is no benefit of direct UV-C exposure to you or to your plants (although UV-C may help clean your grow room).
Bloom Light Bars
Red light is highly effective at regulating the growth and development of plants. Red light helps to flower and fruit and prolong flowering. It can greatly enhance the photosynthesis of plants and promote the growth of plants.
Vegetative Light Bars
Bar lights used during the vegetative phase emit blue light. For plant growth, growth, blue light is essential to help plants produce healthy stems, increased density, and established roots - all of which occur in the early vegetative growth stages.
Last Thoughts On LED Light Bars
In the end, using a LED will not only save you money, but it will provide your prized indoor plants with all the light to grow they will need! Not sure exactly what you need? Call us at 888-815-9763 and one of our representatives will be glad to help!
