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Quote Originally Posted by WAbedroomponics
do LEDs work to help plants grow? i am new to indoor systems and aquaponics altogether and have never heard about LED lights as grow lights but i am always learning new things welcome
They do work and eat up less power, but studies showing their effectiveness are really lacking.

I have found that inexpensive fluorescent lighting does a better job, and the total cost of ownership is still cheaper than the LEDs. The most common lights to buy for indoor growing on the cheap are:

  • 40 to 150 Watt equivalent CFL ranging in color from 2700K to 6500K
    34 or 40 Watt 4 foot T12 bulb for standard shop light assemblies ($1 a bulb and $10 for a 2-bulb shop light at HD/Lowes)


For instance, I bought 5 shop lights and 10 bulbs ($10 per shop light and $1 per bulb), and I got over 32,000 lumens @ 400 Watts for about $60 (a few bucks for some wood, screws, and chains to hang it up). This will give you strong coverage for a 8-12 square foot area. I grew duckweed, peppers, lettuce, watermelon, cucumber, Chinese okra, and basil indoors this way, and it shocked me how darn well it all grew.

This compares well even to HID/MH bulbs and assemblies costing $200-$400 for the same results.

So, unless you are made of money or just have your heart set of LEDs... get some florescent tube lights or even the compact ones. They are cheaper and grow just as good or better than the LED lights on eBay. The LED UFO light might be good in some commercial operations. For instance, raising onions that are long day type, you can use the UFO light to CHEAPLY lengthen the day length since the plant could care less about the quality of the light! Anyway, just my 2 and a half cents...