LED Grow Lights vs Fluorescent Grow Lights

Growing plants indoors can be a fun and rewarding hobby. For the novice and experience grower alike, the choice of lighting is a big decision. Which will better meet needs the needs of my plants: LED Grow Lights or Fluorescent Grow Lights?

Both LED and Fluorescent lights can produce good results when used properly. Modern growers, however, feel that the LED lights may be slightly superior to fluorescent bulbs in that LED lights can be more easily tailored to meet the natural lighting needs of the plants. Since LED bulbs run much cooler than fluorescent bulbs and are used farther from the plant, they are a good choice for plants that need very intense lighting in that LEDs are less likely to fry the plant.

Initial cost of lighting is about twice as much for LED lights as for fluorescent bulbs. This can be an important consideration for the small grower or beginning grower. This is offset by the cost of using the lighting fixtures over the course of a year. LEDs use about 1/10 the energy to produce the same amount of lumens. Another consideration for the home grower is that since LEDs produce cool, they don’t heat up the area around them the way florescent do. This can mean an overall savings in household energy use.

Another consideration is the cost of replacement when the LED’s or fluorescent bulbs burn out. LED lights last 10 times longer than their fluorescent counterparts. Both can be deposited safely into landfills.

LED grow bulbs produce the frequency of light best absorbed by chlorophyll. Fluorescent lights produce light frequencies that are closer to natural daylight and thus look more normal. The grower who wishes for their plants to be on display while growing may find the fluorescent bulbs a better choice as LED light may distort the color of the plant.