Lots more growers are beginning to use grow lights, especially LED grow lights, but there is a lot of confusion about exactly the way to use them. one among the foremost common questions on

using LED grow lights is how far they ought to be from plants.In general, LED grow lights should be 12-30 inches from the tops of plants. As plants grow, you’ll adjust your lights to take care

of a uniform distance from the plants. However, the space will vary counting on the wattage of your lights, the sort of plant, and therefore the amount of ambient light.LED lights & how close

they ought to be Light-emitting diodes (LED) lights are an efficient source of sunshine for your greenhouse. They’re extremely energy efficient, give off little or no heat, emit both red &

blue wavelengths of sunshine , and usually last far longer than other sorts of electric lights.In short, LED lights are the go-to sort of light employed by gardeners.Since LED lights produce

far less heat compared to other sorts of lights, plants can tolerate LED lights being much closer.A general rule is that LED lights should be about 12-30 inches from the highest of your plant.

As your plants grow, you’ve got to vary the peak of your lights to accommodate the growing plants’ height. Typically, most people adjust the peak of their grow lights using simple chains or

cables, which permit the sunshine fixture to be raised or lowered, counting on the peak of the plants.LED distance from plants and LED wattageThe main consideration for determining how close

LED grow lights should be from plants is that the wattage of your LED lights. Higher watt LED lights mean that you’re going to got to have the lights further faraway from plants. Conversely,

lower-wattage lights are often moved closer to plants without harming the plants.

The chart below shows how the space between the lights & plants must be adjusted supported the wattage of your lights:

Wattage Distance from top of plant (inches)

200-399 12-20″

400-599 20-27″

600-799 30-38″

800-999 32-42″

1,000+ 36-46″

You can also fiddle with the space , experimenting a couple of days at a time, and noting the effect on the plants. for instance , you’ll start with the lights a touch further faraway from

your plants, then after a couple of days, move the sunshine a couple of inches closer.

If you notice your plants wilting, looking burnt, the leaves looking dry or discolored, then move the lights further away. It’s basically like watching your plants to form sure you are not

getting them sunburnt.Typically, when plants start flowering & producing fruit, you will need to maneuver the LED light closer to the plant so it’ll have more light available for

photosynthesis & producing flowers& fruit.If your LED lights are too on the brink of your plant, the plant will begin to bleach and develop yellow spots. Since LED lights don’t produce

the maximum amount heat as other sorts of growlights they are doing not burn plants the maximum amount . However, you ought to still take care if the plant presents signs that it’s being

burned.Different types of LED lights As mentioned earlier, different wattages of LED lights should be at different distances from your plants. The lower the watt, around 200, should be placed

around 12-20 inches from the highest of the plant. Higher watts, 1,000 and above, should be placed around 36-46 inches from the highest of the plants.

Since LED lights emit primarily red & blue wavelengths, they’re well-suited for early-stage plant growth, also as when the plants begin flowering & producing fruit, since those phases

of plants’ life cycles require the foremost intensive light for max production. The low intensity of the blue light helps with the plant production of chlorophyll and make photosynthesis more

productive. Red light is extremely energetic but isn’t effective on its own. When the 2 lights are combines in LED lights your plants grow stronger and greener leaves.

Advantages of LED grow lights

LED lights should be used for indoor gardening because they’re energy efficient, easy to put in , have a extended lifespan than other lights, and produce less heat than other lights.

Compared to other lights–like high sodium lights, metal halide lights, incandescent lights, and high-intensity discharge lights–LED have tons of advantages .

For starters, LED lights last way longer–typically around 10 years or 50,000 hours. That’s tremendously long, considering the very fact that other sorts of lights might blow out within a

couple of months or a year.Another huge plus to using LED lights is their minimal energy consumption. albeit you are not a tree-hugging, granola-eating hippie, that minimal energy consumption

means LEDs will cost youfar but the other sort of light.

Let’s stack on another benefit to using LED grow lights: Since LED lights produce less heat, you’ll put them closer to your plants. they will be placed between 12-30 inches above the plants

and have a coffee probability of burning the plants.Speaking of stacking: since you simply need 12-30 inches of space between an LED light & your plant, you’ll stack shelves of plants

& lights vertically, doubling, tripling, or maybequadrupling the quantity you’ll grow from each sq ft of floor space.Light color and LED grow lights Most LED grow lights produce light

within the blue & red portion of the spectrum, which is great to supply strong, green, and abundant leaves.The color of sunshine needed by plants depends slightly on their stage of growth.

Seedlings & young plants need more blue light to place energy into growing leaves & stems. During flowering & fruiting, plants need more red light.So, LED lights that provide both

blue & redlight are an excellent general-purpose light , assuming you do not have enough sunlight (which is particularly true during short winter days).In fact, a number of the newer LED

lights allow you to adjust the colour of sunshine emitted. you’ll pick a extended wavelength (red) or shorter one (blue) to profit each sort of plant. this is often an enormous advantage of

LED lights,since it makes LEDs the sole sort of light that allows you to do that .

How to measure effects of LED lights OK, we’re getting to get a touch technical here–but fear not!

The light produced by any quite light–whether we’re talking about LEDs, incandescent, whatever–is measured by a lux meter. Basically, a lux meter allows you to measure the quantity of

sunshine output that’s produced.Another way to live light from your lights is by watching photosynthetic photon flux units.Yeah, I told you we’d go nerd.The photosynthetic photon flux units

measure the quantity of sunshine produced per second in LED lights. As this technical article from Oklahoma Statediscusses, LED lights produce 13 and acouple of ,000 units of sunshine per

second. Yeah, that’s an enormous range. Like if your car could anywhere from 13 -2,000 mph. rock bottom line: LED lights have the capacity to emit anoutsized amount of sunshine in one second,

especially for lights at the highest end of that range.

So, if you’re already using grow lights and your plants aren’t growing the maximum amount as you think that they ought to , the space between your plants & your grow lights might be the cause.

(At least that’s one factor to regulate & experiment with–soil pH, nutrients, water availability, etc. are other possible causes). So, move your lights closer to your plants for a couple of

days or every week , and see if it makes a difference.How are LED lights better and worse than other sorts of lights For grow lights, there are a couple of various types:

LED

metal halide

high-intensity discharge (HID)

Incandescent

Flourescent

Here’s a fast run-down of every sort of light, compared to LEDs:

Grow Light type Details

Metal halide Produce blue light, so are good during beginning stages of a plants life. They consume an average amount of power, and last for the entirety of the plants life span. Typically

used in conjunction with High-Intensity Discharge lights. Less efficient & shorter lifespan than LEDs.

High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Long lifespan, but half the lifespan of LEDs. Consumes more power than LEDs.

Incandescent Used in addition to other grow lights. Short lifespan, cost more, and are less efficient than other lights.

Fluorescent Somewhat cost efficient. Good for herbs & some vegetables. Their uneven light causes uneven plant production. Shorter lifespan, higher cost, and more energy intensive than

LEDs.So, clearly, LEDs come out on top–it’s actually not much of a contest.