Indoor plant growing is a rewarding and efficient way to solve the lack of light and heat for plants in some districts where days are shorter or the weather is bleak and unpleasant for growing plants; it is also the best planting solution in winter. When winter comes, you can bring your plants indoors for months as long as you have adequate sunlight. A grow light is the most essential component of an indoor garden. It is widely used for both hydroponic and organic growing. Generally speaking, grow lights are divided into three types. They are HID, LED and Fluorescent grow light.
HIDs or high intensity discharge lights includes HPS and MH, both of which are highly efficient in providing light spectrum simulated with real sunlight. MH or Metal Halide bulb gives out blue light spectrum, which is good for the growing of the leaf and shoot. The lighting time of MHs is 18 hours/D, and it should be hung higher than 18" from the top of a plant.
As for the HPS or high pressure sodium lamp, it mainly provides red and orange light which are suitable for flowering. Generally it should be on for 10-12 hours a day at the distance around 18" from the plant. However, small lighting systems like 200 watt or less, can be hung 1-2 feet away. Long term running of HIDs with high power could come out with sufficient heat which is over enough for your plants. Air Cooled Reflector Hood can solve the problem. It is designed to attach the ventilation system which can filter particulates and purify the air.
LED grow light is known as the most efficient grow light. Most of LEDs consist of Red or Blue LED bulbs. Red and Blue light are the most suitable for plants growing among all the light spectrums in sunlight. Thus the combination of red and blue LED lights will bring about better plants. The great things of LED lights are that it produces little heat and the light is directly straight down. That means you will only need to hang it at the right place and proper distance from your plants without installing any reflective or ventilative system. As it products very little heat, you can mount it fairly close to the plants and no need to worry about over heat of the air.
Fluorescent lamps, known as T5 lights generally provide high light output and less heat. The including of all visible lights besides infrared ray and ultraviolet, make the light or a fluorescent lamp more suitable alternatives to sunlight. Thus it is generally known as a normal grow light which fit for all plants in different growing steps.
