A LED grow light is a lamp that is used in garden and greenhouse construction to grow plants (and flowers). After many years of expiration with LED, it is possible to get a higher yield of flowers and fruits with a lower wattage. Unlike with a normal HPS lamp, sodium or incandescent lamp, there is less heat dissipation with LED, making high temperatures a thing of the past.
How does that work, such a Groeilamp?

We recently also wrote about the exact science behind LED growth lighting, but that may go too far for now. The big difference with old-fashioned HPS or sodium lamps is in the light spectrum. This light spectrum is expressed in the value PAR. The amount of PAR says something about photosynthesis, the more PAR the more photosynthesis and the better the plant can grow and flower.
Light spectrum of a LED grow light (see page operation and spectrum)

A LED grow light of the LED department store often comes standard with a 12-band spectrum. In addition to the regular colors red and blue, the LED grow lights also have orange, white and UV light, Infra-red light and 'flower boosters' in the far-red spectrum. This makes the 12 band spectrum a full spectrum.
Advantages of LED grow lights

Compared to regular grow lights (HPS sodium), LED grow lights provide a number of important advantages:

    Up to 60% power saving

    A healthier growth and flowering of plants and flowers

    Less heat: A better regulatable temperature in the grow room or greenhouse

    Longer lamp life (up to 50,000 hours of operation)

Energy-efficient lighting requires light sources that produce as much light as possible for plants using as little energy as possible. And that is no longer the sodium lamp, but the "high power" LED lamp!

An LED grow light is made up of a group of LEDs (light-emitting diodes). For the lighting of plants, in particular the blue and red parts of the light spectrum have a great influence on the flowering of the plants. Various studies carried out by, among others, TU Delft and the University of Wageningen have shown that the crop production with LED lamps improves considerably.

Light for plants is often referred to in Lumen and PAR light, but what plants really matter is the PPFD factor (Photosynthetic Photo Flux Density). The latter is measured in micro-mole. Micro-mols are energy packets that are measured by the number of packets that reach a surface of 1m² per second.

In other words, the energy pumped into LEDs can fully benefit the lighting of plants, saving around 50 percent of energy!
Benefits of growing with LED

Growing with LED lamps has, besides energy saving and long life, a number of very big advantages. Because only limited heat is generated, breeding with LED lamps is completely fire safe, which is always a tricky issue with traditional grow lights. This allows you to light up with LED grow lights right up to the crop, without degenerating or burning the foliage and the plant tops. Other advantages are that no expensive switching equipment, ventilation and cooling systems are required. But perhaps the best thing is that the plants under good LED lights are much healthier and more vital in comparison with HPS lighting!