LED Grow Light Review: Which Is Best For Your Hydroponic Garden?

Although all elements of your hydroponic garden are important, light is the most vital. Without the proper kind of light, your plants cannot photosynthesize and will ultimately die of starvation.

The LED UFO

One of the challenges when it comes to your hydroponic plants is to select the correct light fixture and bulb. For hydroponic growing, the ideal grow light should meet all of the following criteria:

• provide light throughout the entire spectrum
• not give off excessive heat
• consume a minimal amount of energy
• be long lasting

The LED UFO meets all of these requirements; consuming only eighty watts of power, this type of grow light has a lifespan of up to 80,000 hours, and can be used during all phases of the plant's growth process. The UFO can be used by itself for all cycles of plant growth (covers 9 square feet), can be combined with fluorescent lighting, or can be used to expand your current indoor garden. It can be used in any application whether hydroponics or soil, home or greenhouse! Although some Internet retailers and auction sites claim to offer lower prices, you can expect to spend at least $500 for a new LED UFO grow light, depending on the manufacturer. However, when you consider the power savings (an 80-watt LED UFO provides the same amount of light as a comparable HPS drawing five times that amount), this could easily pay for itself in short order.

Another issue to consider is efficiency. Plants only use the blue and red parts of the spectrum; the yellow and green regions are essentially wasted. LED UFOs provide only those parts of the spectrum that the plant actually uses for photosynthesis.

The Supernova LED - a The Cutting Edge Solution

For those wishing to take hydroponic lighting to the next level, the Supernova LED offers the greatest amount of control over the spectrum, thanks to its system of control knobs that allow the user to adjust blue and red independently. This grow light is an upgrade of the earlier LED UFO and builds on this technology to produce the equivalent of a 1 megawatt HID that draws a fraction of that amount in terms of energy. The Supernova LED 270-watt grow light produces more light than a 1,000-watt HID light at a fraction of the cost.

In addition to independent controls for red and blue regions of the spectrum, the Supernova LED has multiple circuit boards allowing the use to control the angle of the light beams in order to maximize coverage and more accurately reproduce natural sunlight at various times of the year.

The only drawback to the Supernova LED is its cost, which is currently around $1,000. To put this in perspective however, keep it mind that this light costs very little to operate compared to most less-expensive lighting devices. Another issue to consider is heat; both the Supernova LED and the LED UFO generate very little in the way of excess heat; additionally, the Supernova has an integrated cooling fan, so additional ventilation and cooling systems that would otherwise add greatly to the cost of a hydroponic system is not required.

Which One Is Best?

If your budget permits, we strongly recommend that you go with the Supernova LED; it costs very little to operate, requires no additional cooling system and is likely to be the last grow light you will ever need to buy. Nonetheless, the LED UFO is still an excellent product that can be purchased for much less; it will still serve you well for several seasons with proper installation and maintenance.