Indoor Grow Lights for Vegetable Plants

Indoor grow lights for vegetable plants have opened the door for many would-be gardeners in the past few decades. The fresh smell of herbs and the satisfaction of picking tomatoes from your garden were only dreams for many. In fact, it used to be that climate, location, and spare time all played roles in making this dream possible.

Luckily, there is a solution for people who don’t have access to outdoor gardens or sunny indoor spaces. You can use indoor grow lights to create a vegetable garden inside! Maybe you can’t get sunlight all the time where you live. Your vegetables can still get the light they need for photosynthesis from any room in your house with grow lights.

How Do Indoor Grow Lights for Vegetable Plants Work?

Light streams down from above and the plants absorb that light. Once absorbed and transformed, your cucumbers, onions, etc., can use it as veggie food. This process is called photosynthesis. And, although it usually requires light from the sun, indoor grow lights can do the same job.

All you need is to choose a light that works for you and plug it in. Grow lights work in any room of your home, even a dark basement. And a decorative grow light can even provide a pleasant sight for guests in a living room or kitchen. Imagine harvesting your herbs right from your kitchen counter and then cooking them!

Which Indoor Grow Lights Are the Best for Vegetable Plants?

The grow lights for growing vegetables in the past used either metal halide or high-pressure sodium lights. These were effective products, but they required switching the light source depending on the time of the day.

They also had different purposes. For example, you could use metal halide lights for vegetables, but you needed a different light for flowers. The current tech is better, more efficient, and even costs less.

LED Lights Take Over

Modern grow lights use more efficient LEDs. These lights require less cooling and give a full spectrum of light that will work well for your vegetables. If your plants could talk, they would be thanking you.

Efficiency of Indoor Grow Lights for Vegetable Plants

LED grow lights require much less electricity than the metal halide lights of the past. In fact, they often consume 50% less energy. Running some lights for long periods can be energy-intensive and expensive, but LED lights are incredibly efficient.

Cooling

Two factors for growing vegetables indoors are the light and the room temperature. Vegetables grow within an optimum temperature range outdoors, and it’s important to recreate that indoors as closely as possible. Ideal temperatures for most vegetables are between 72- and 82-degrees Fahrenheit. LED indoor grow lights give your vegetables the intense light output they need without heating the room. Any light is bound to produce some heat. However, the difference will be negligible with LEDs, and you won’t have to shell out extra for your A/C bill.

A Full Light Spectrum

That natural light from the sun that vegetables usually use is “full-spectrum” light. That means it includes every color. Ultraviolet to infrared rays are beaming down on your vegetables when they grow outdoors.

LED grow lights produce full-spectrum light, meaning your indoor grow lights can compete toe-to-toe with natural sunlight! When you give them the right light, your vegetable plants will thank you with better yields and more flavor. If you opt for variable spectrum LED lights, you can change each color’s intensity in the spectrum. Doing so lets you customize the kind of light your vegetables are getting during different growth stages.

Space and Time

Your vegetables are like children; they need the right environment and a regular schedule to stay healthy. So, by providing them with the right light in your home and a regular sleep and wake schedule, you can expect more robust, faster growth, and healthier vegetables.

Choose a Growing Space

When placing grow lights in your home, a room that is truly dark at night is the best option. This is because plants are photosynthesizing during the day, and they metabolize all that energy at night. This process is similar to humans eating during the day and metabolizing those calories while sleeping.

For your vegetables to metabolize energy efficiently, they need a sufficiently dark space at night in which to rest. Choose a room where you can draw the curtains or blinds and consider using black-out curtains if necessary. Or consider placing them behind a wall or divider to block any ambient lighting.

Regular Sleep

We humans need to get enough sleep, and a regular sleep pattern increases our energy and health. Your vegetables need the same thing. Indoor grow lights are the optimal light source for them. However, they don’t need that light 24/7. They need to get to sleep and wake up at about the same times every day.

Grow lights often have timers so you can automate the sleep/wake cycle. Combining this with the right light placement in your home will increase your vegetables’ yield and health. In other words, you will have created the perfect environment for them to thrive. Of course, no one wants to give their vegetables subpar care. Indoor grow lights are ideal for ensuring you’re doing everything you can to help them grow up healthy and happy.

Are Indoor Grow Lights Right for Your Vegetable Plants?

Indoor grow lights are the best option for growing just about anything. However, they are particularly suited to growing vegetables. Vegetables can be fickle and complicated. They grow differently every single time. It’s tempting to think of vegetable plants only as a factory that produces a harvest, but they are living organisms.

They come with all the complications that a living organism implies, meaning they need the best environment to grow. As stated above, an indoor LED grow light provides the best environment. Plus, it can be a lot of fun for you as a farmer as well.

Being able to watch your vegetables grow as you work from home or read is a great experience. It will make you feel like you are part of the process. Instead of trekking to a garden to check on your plants, you can see their progress any time you want.

Plus, you don’t have to wait for the right conditions or have a certain kind of home. Indoor grow lights for vegetables work in any home and produce the healthiest vegetables for the freshest food. 

Frequently Asked Questions for Indoor Grow Lights for Vegetable Plants