How to Choose a Grow Light for Seedlings

Table of Contents:

Using Cheap Grow Lights
Using Expensive Grow Lights

If you're looking to get into starting seedlings indoors to get a jump on the gardening season, you're in the right place.

Let's talk about how to choose a grow light for seedlings. I've found there to be roughly 2 main categories of indoor grow lights:

-Cheap ones (like blurples) that will do the trick for young seedlings
-Expensive ones with a refined full spectrum which can flower and fruit plants

seedling rack with led lights for germination

Using Cheap Grow Lights

I find that the cheap lights like blurples are more cost-effective for the first 3-4 weeks of plant growth, whereas the expensive lights will give the plants a huge boost after that and prepare them for life out in the sunshine.

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One mistake I made was trying to rely on cheap lights to raise my plants up for multiple months indoors.

Instead, I now use cheap lights for germination and early growth, and then switch over to much better lights to really help my seedlings take off.

A consider here is that the cheap lights tend to need less room above them for heat dissipation, and also generally run just 1-2 inches above the plant canopy.

Cheap lights are less efficient with energy usage, and cost substantially more over time. The up-front investment is cheaper though, so it's worth factoring this into your grow light decision.

Using Expensive Grow Lights

Expensive lights tend to need a minimum of at least 12" above the plant canopy, and perform best when they have 24"+ of room between them and the plant canopy.

This means the expensive flower & fruit lights will use a lot more vertical space, which is something to think about if you're building seedling starting racks or shelves.

seedlings on germination rack with indoor grow lights

Despite the increased vertical space needs, however, a good flower / fruit light will make all the difference in the world compared to the cheap bar lights, T5's, or blurples.

If I could only buy one light, it would be a full spectrum Spider Farmer light that can take plants from seedling stage all the way through fruit.

If you prefer a domestic brand and are located in the US, HLG is a great option that's comparative to Spider Farmer at a slightly higher price point. Either of these lights are incredible and will revolutionize your indoor gardening game completely.