Selecting the Best Hydroponic Lights

Hydroponic lights, or grow lights as they are usually called, come in several varieties and can be utilized in combination with one another to obtain the best results. If you're using natural sunlight in any way, the grow lights shall be used to supplement natural light; if you're using strictly artificial lighting, your setup will naturally be a tad more complicated.

It is important to understand the principle of color temperature and its effect on plant life if you are setting up hydroponic lighting. Not to be confused with heat/cold, color temperature refers to the color spectrum of light, and is measured in degrees Kelvin. Blue light - at about 6000K - is considered the coolest while red-orange light - at the 2000K range - is regarded as the warmest. Generally speaking, full-vegetation plants do well with the darker blue spectrum (closest to normal sunlight at 6000K), while fruit/flowering plants do well with slightly warmer color temperatures (4800K). In the reproductive/flowering stage, plants draw from the red-orange part of the spectrum. In an ideal setup, however, your hydroponic lights should be a combination of different colors to best suit your plants' needs.

The Metal Halide (MH) bulb is by far the most popular type used in hydroponics. This High-Intensity Discharge (HID) light leans most toward the blue part of the spectrum, resembles direct sunlight the most, and is preferred for almost all growing situations. As such, this bulb works best with leafy, full-vegetation plants.

Another HID bulb used is the High Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulb. Unlike the MH bulb, the HPS bulb is leans more towards the orange-red part of the spectrum - best suited for flowering plants. It must generally be utilized in combination with natural sunlight or other artificial bulbs.

Flourescent lighting is your 3rd option. These bulbs are less expensive and they emit less heat, as such, they can be placed so close to the plants.

Still, you have even more alternatives: (1) incandescent light which is not as intense and would get too warm when placed too closely to the plants and (2) LED lights, which can cover the spectrum well without emitting heat but are a bit too expensive.

As discussed above, you actually have a wide range of hydroponic lights from which to choose from. Inquire from your retailer about the best combination for your specific requirements.