Can Regular LED Lights Grow Plants? 2020 Updated

What Are LED Grow Lights: Importance And Benefits?

Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are small, yet efficient bulbs used to customize the light spectrum. These are typically used in a panel to emanate more than one wavelength at a time. Hence, LEDs are useful for all growth stages.

Basically, LEDs are monochromatic sources of lights. Yet, they are the only sources of light that are designed to provide the right spectrum for the growth of your plants.

Not only do LED lights save space, they also save power because they can give off a great deal of light without drawing much power. Hence, you save money in the long run.

Can Any LED Light Be Used As A Grow Light?

LED lights are more energy efficient and emit much lower levels of heat than other types of lighting. But can you use any led lights to grow plants?

Generally, yes.

But because LED technology is so customizable, every bulb is different and you want bulbs that produce the exact mix of red, blue and other wavelengths preferred by your plants.

White light contains a great mix for plants, so white LED bulbs will work to grow. The main issue is one of power. You need lights that give you sufficient output to flower plants and many regular bulbs will not do that.

For instance, if you want to grow marijuana, the LED lights will play a critical role in the development process. Marijuana has different requirements and nature when it comes to sustainability and will need proper lighting.

Although the regular LED bulbs feature only a few colors and bands like white and sometimes yellow, weed plant requires light that is similar to sunlight. Sunlight offers different light wavelengths as well as different colors like red, purple, violet, green, orange, and more.

Similarly, marijuana requires almost all the above colors to grow better. Hence, it is not advisable to grow weed using the regular LED light as most of these colors aren't present.

The LED grow light niche is a better alternative where you will get different brands providing different light for various purposes.

Well, if you look at the sun, the colorless rays can be quite difficult to totally match as it comes from a serious balance of wavelengths and all of the spectra that enables plants to naturally grow all over the planet. Regular LED lights that are used for household purposes may mimic this in a sense, but not truly.

Although there is very little known about household LED bulbs when it comes to their actual wavelength, intensity, and color spectrum, this can greatly vary from brand to brand, so you can never be sure except by trial and error.

LED grow lights, on the other hand, have measured and secured the right wavelength and spectra that are essential for plant growth, so no guesswork is involved. Although they may not be full spectrum, they provide the right wavelength that is sure to give you growth and yield.