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Growing weed with LED bulbs is becoming mainstream. LED grow bulbs have gained a steady and positive reputation among many cannabis growers.

As a popular alternative to HPS and other grow lights, some advantages include their ability to run cooler and the fact that they are especially built not to overheat. They are also ideally plugged into a wall and you can simply hang it over plants in a practical manner.

Unlike fluorescent lights that need to be moved around regularly, LED lights have a greater penetration reputation so you can let them hang tight. In the light of these and other benefits to be discussed, one thing’s for sure, and that’s the growing popularity of growing cannabis with LED lights.

Let’s take a more detailed look at why and how to grow cannabis with LED bulbs.

Why Grow Cannabis with LED Bulbs?

  • It’s an ideal and practical lighting system for growing indoors in tents and cabinets
  • It provides a full spectrum, ensuring good growth from start to harvest.
  • LED lights don’t take up too much space and the low heat generated is not an issue.
  • In relation to the above, LED lights don’t produce much heat or use a lot of electricity
  • Wide Spectrum LEDs provide even more color spectrums that cannabis plants like
  • The average LED bulb last for up to 100,000 hours
  • LED grow rooms run optimally at a much cooler temperature

If you plan to start growing cannabis with LED bulbs, the next thing you want to do is pick a light.

Different LED Lights for Growing Weed

Before you make the investment of buying an LED grow light, it helps to understand all of your options in advance. There are three types of LED lights on the market that you can use to grow cannabis with.

Each of these come with their own benefits, depending on your preference. The type of LED light you choose must depend on the size of your grow among other factors. Here, we take a look at the three types of LED grow lights;

  1. Standard Purple LED
  2. COB
  3. Spread Style or Panel

Growing Weed with LED Bulbs: Need-to-knows

Most LED grow lights have a fixed light spectrum that works for both the vegetative and flowering phases. In this manner, you can just use the same light throughout your entire grow – which is ultimately the ideal scenario for indoor growing.

Some LED lights can be fine-tuned for best results and optimal efficiency in each growing phase. For this purpose, some commercial LED lights have a switch to activate a vegetative light spectrum or a flower light spectrum. Now that you understand how a LED light works, here are some more factors to consider throughout each stage of grow.

Seedling Stage & LEDs

As soon as your seeds sprout their little heads above the ground, they will need as much as they can possibly be given. It is unlikely that you will burn seedlings when growing cannabis with LED bulbs.

But if your LED has a dimming option, turn it to a lower intensity during the first stages of life. Otherwise, you can move your lights further away from the precious babies – but never too far.

Ideally, set your timer to 18 hours of light per day. As your seedling grows taller, stronger, and approaches the vegetative growing stage, you can increase the light intensity

Vegetation & LEDs

During the vegetative stage, it’s generally recommended to set your light schedule to 18 hours per day and 6 hours of darkness. However, some growers choose to grow with up to 24 hours of light to maximize vegetative growth. Cannabis plants don’t really need to ‘sleep’ until flowering stage.

If all goes well, your cannabis plants should grow healthy, strong, and bushy during the vegetative stage. If not, it’s likely because it’s not getting enough light. Increase the intensity by moving the light closer to the plant or turning up the intensity.

You can let your plant grow under 18–24 hours of light as long as you want, but there will likely come a time when you want to switch to flowering, as you might run out of space.

The Flowering Stage & LEDs

Cannabis starts to flower naturally in late summer when the daylight hours naturally begin to diminish. Indoors, the grower is responsible for inducing a suitable light schedule to make cannabis plants bloom. The flowering stage requires 12 hours of light and 12 hours of total darkness – strictly done.

When the flowering stage is active on a 12-12 light schedule, it is very important that the phase of darkness is not interrupted. So, ensure this doesn’t happen, it’s best to make absolutely sure absolutely no light enters your tent or greenhouse from the outside. This would otherwise revert your flowering plant back to veg or cause plants to become hermaphrodites. Also remember to lower your lights to the recommended distance from your plants at all stages.

LED Grow Lights for 2023

In no particular order, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular, efficient, and budget-friendly LED lights on the market. Generally, you want to go with anything 200 Watts and over for a proper indoor grow. To narrow your options down, here you go:

  • Mars Hydro – Available in 600Watts, 1000Watts, 3000Watts
  • Electric Sky 300 V3 Wideband
  • Spider Farmer SF-2000
  • BESTVA 2000W Full Spectrum Dual-Chip
  • Advanced Platinum Series P300 400W
  • Phlizon Newest 1200W
  • King Plus 1500W Double-Chips
  • BESTVA 1000W Full Spectrum Dual-Chip
  • Roleadro 1000W Galaxyhydro
  • UFO Led Grow Lights, Growstar 150W Full Spectrum
  • Phlizon 2000W CREE COB
  • CREE COB Growstar 600W

Let There be LED Light!

If you’re still reading this, you’ll have mastered the art of growing cannabis with LED bulbs. And, last but not least, lest we mention the inherent necessity of caring for your plants beyond their lighting schedule!

Be sure in addition to providing your plants with the required levels of water, nutrients, patience, and care. With some powerful LEDs to back you up, you’ll be harvesting thick buds in due time! Happy LED growing!

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Luis Cordova
Luis Cordova

Luis Cordova is a distinguished author, and renowned expert in cannabis cultivation, who possesses a Master's degree in Plant Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Science. As a valued contributor to highly esteemed publications such as Cannabis Training University and Maximum Yield Magazine, Luis has emerged as a trusted source of guidance and knowledge in the cannabis industry. Having written thousands of informative articles, Luis is widely recognized for his comprehensive expertise on cultivating cannabis, both indoors and outdoors.

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