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Cannabis Cultivation Tips: How To Set Up Indoor Grow Lights

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With LED technology rapidly advancing in recent years, more cannabis growers are now switching to LED for their indoor operations. Merely a novelty just a few years back, LED grow lights are now performing as well, if not better, than HID lamps, and have also become more affordable. Due to the many advantages of LEDs, from consuming less energy to being more robust and having a longer life span, they are now a great choice for indoor cultivators of different skill levels.

Excess light can damage your cannabis plants as much as too little light. Learn all you need to know about light as it relates to cannabis, and how to properly set up your Indoor Grow Lights for massive indoor harvests.

There are many reasons to use LED lights when growing cannabis.

Affordability

For many, the main reason is that they are relatively inexpensive when compared to the much pricier HID setup. This is especially true if you are growing a smaller number of plants. Our grow lights at A Pot for Pot are specifically designed for growing a small number of marijuana plants and is priced well under $200 – proof that high-quality lighting doesn’t need to be expensive.

This was not always the case. When LEDs were first gaining momentum among growers, the technology was still fairly new and had not entirely been perfected. Think about how expensive and inconvenient cutting-edge technology like smartphones were when they first came out, and it often wasn’t worth it. For example, many agree that the first-generation iPhone was not the greatest. However, today’s smartphones are much more affordable, and they are everywhere.

Energy Savings and Privacy

Another thing to consider is how much money LED cannabis grow lights will save you on your energy bill. HID lights are good at what they do, but the amount of energy they use will cause your energy bills to skyrocket. This not only hurts your pocketbook, but it can also draw unwanted attention in your direction either by a landlord, a nosy neighbor, and/or the police. When people had to keep their marijuana growing activities under wraps, spiking electricity bills often gave them away. While cannabis is legal in more areas now, this does not necessarily mean that you want the whole neighborhood knowing what you are up to.

Reduced Water Usage

Not only are LED lights more energy-efficient, but you’ll also save on water usage as well. As you are now aware, HID lights use a lot of energy, which in turn produces more heat. This dramatically increases the temperature of the grow room, causing your plants to consume more water. Cannabis is already quite the water hog when compared to other plants and growing even just a small amount of plants uses a lot of water. Any way to reduce water consumption is great for the environment, not to mention great for your utility bill. What's more, quantum board led grow light is also with high watts.

Durability

Finally, LED lights last longer than HID or CFL bulbs, ensuring many years of good use before they need to be replaced. Traditional cannabis grow lights last for only 20 thousand hours. In contrast, LED bulbs last more than twice as long, for up to 50 thousand, or sometimes even 100 thousand hours.

Best RECOMMENDS for you

  • HIGH EFFICIENCY & HIGHER QUALITY YIELDS:VIPARSPECTRA XS1500 LED grow light adopts the latest high-quality LEDs technology-Samsung LM301B diodes, high energy efficiency with 2.7 umol/J, generates more usable lighting per watt and provides better light canopy penetration.
  • OPTIMAL FULL SPECTRUM & FLEXIBLE DIMMIER: Consists of 3000K warm white, 5000K white, 660nm deep red, and 730nm IR light, which providing your plants with excellent full spectrum led grow lights. The red and IR light are particularly useful during bloom, which can speed up bloom time and enhance high yields to obtain the ideal harvest. An added dimmer knob is featured to manipulate the light intensity at liberty, provides desired needs for plants in all stages from veg to bloom.
  • SILENT OPERATION & SOLID CONSTRUCTION: No fans zero noise. Large areas of solid aluminum heat sinks help you to achieve the ideal cooling system. Adopts high safety performance MEAN WELL HLG series driver to achieve high PAR output, longer lifespan to speed up plant's grow processes and boost yields while saving you on your energy bill.
  • AMPLE COVERAGE & LESS ENERGY CONSUMPTION: Comparable to traditional 250W HPS/MH while consuming only 150W, which helps to get 50% higher yield harvest and save costs. Perfect for 2.5’x2.5’ vegetative coverage at 18”and 2’x2’flowering coverage at 14”. Remember to properly adjust the height and brightness accordingly to your plants desired level for optimal growth.
  • WORRY-FREE WARRANTY & FRIENDLY SERVICE: We provide 36-Month US Local warranty and 30-day money-back guarantee. Professional guidance, friendly customer service and US local after-sales service provides you with a pleasant shopping experience and helps your plants grow better. Make sure you purchase authentic VIPARSPECTRA grow lights. If you have any questions, please contact us at any time.
  • LOWER COSTS & HIGH EFFICIENCY: VIVOSUN VS1000 LED grow lights use the latest LED plant light technology including Samsung LM301H Diodes, high-energy efficiency with 2.75 umol/J; Extremely high output but consumes only 100W of electricity, making it more efficient than traditional HID lamps and other plant lamps on the market
  • DIMMABLE BALLAST: The VS1000 LED plant lamp has a dimming knob that makes it adaptable to different growing periods of your plant; It can adapt to the growth needs of plants in different periods. The first choice for beginners and professional growers alike
  • SUNLIKE FULL-SPECTRUM LIGHTING: These VS 1000 full-spectrum LEDs deliver optimal light-spectrum coverage—more power for your blooms and maximum PAR output at various distances, with super-bright lights that your plants will love; This LED light increases yield while decreasing costs, especially if you compare it to HPS/CMH combos
  • LOW NOISE & LOW HEAT: The VS1000 LED has a unique appearance, with power supply and ventilation holes; No fans needed meaning low noise; Ambient heat is very low, so there is no need to worry about burns or damage to your plant; The heat is low enough so you can place the lamp directly above your plants
How High Should You Hang LED Grow Lights?

Go-to grow lights for gardeners, LED lights take a lot of fine-tuning to find an ideal hanging height. However, with so much power, under the right circumstances you can get some amazing yields.

LED lights are tricky. There's so much variety on the market that there's no one-size-fits-all option. As a result, there's no standard distance for them. Basically, whichever unit you choose, manufacturers will provide recommended heights and you'll still wind up fine-tuning.

Another way LED grow lights can trip you up is they don't always look as powerful as they are. Lights appear dim, so it's easy to think they're not emitting enough energy. On the contrary, they're deceptively strong, and you'll need to keep an eye on things. If you don't, your plants could end up bleaching, or you'll end up with an underwhelming crop.

Although every LED grow light is different, as a general rule, hang them further away than you would other lights, and adjust. You can then keep adjusting throughout the plant's grow cycle, moving them closer to the plant as it flowers.

Start Growing with LED Lights

Cost is not the only reason to make the switch to LED lights. Experienced growers know that seedlings and plants in the vegetative stage benefit more from blue light, while flowering plants need red light to thrive. Before LEDs, growers would have to purchase two different types of lights: metal halide for the vegetative or blue light stage, and high-pressure sodium bulbs for the final flowering stage.

With LED cannabis grow lights, this is not the case. Different color LED bulbs give a grower the ability to manipulate the color spectrum, thus allowing you to use the same light setup for both phases of growth. This not only eliminates the need to purchase two different types of lighting setups, but you’re also guaranteed the best results in your plants!

The benefits of using LED cannabis grow lights are many. The next big question is how to grow marijuana using only LED lights. A good rule of thumb is one light per every 1.5 square feet. This generally will yield you up to 6 ounces per plant, which ends up covering what you spend on the light and will definitely end up saving you money in the long run. If you are growing only 1-2 plants, our single 75 watts LED light supplies plenty of light for your plants.

Even if you’d like to grow more than a few plants, you don’t have to go for the more expensive HID lights. Simply add to your setup with either a few larger LED bulbs or several of the smaller ones. If you opt to go for the latter option, make sure that your plants and your lights are spaced out correctly, as you want to make sure that each plant gets adequate amounts of light. Using too few lights can cause stretching, whereas using too many lights leaves you at the risk of light burn, as well as energy overconsumption.

If you are willing to step up the quantity of your grow, that is, really take it to the next level, you should be prepared to spend a little bit more cash. A large scale 350-400 watt LED operation that will outdo the average 600 watts HID lighting system is not going to come cheap. However, a larger LED light setup will still be more cost-effective than an HID setup of the same size.

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