With so many different types of lighting, choosing the right lighting for your indoor garden may be challenging. Here’s a rundown of the most common options.

Fluorescent Lights:
High output fluorescent bulbs, such as T5s, are a great option for growing indoors. These bulbs are relatively inexpensive, energy efficient, and produce minimal heat. Which makes them a great choice for people just starting out or growing in extremely small areas. Unfortunately these bulbs do not have great penetration, meaning they are not ideal for large, light-loving plants. Growing greens, seed starting, or simply maintaining vegetative growth are all ideal uses for this type of lighting.

High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lights:
Probably the most popular style of lighting for indoor gardeners. These lights are very intense, penetrate deep into garden canopies, and can be purchased in many different wattages to fit your specific growing area. HID lights do generate a lot of heat, so matching the right wattage to your growing space is essential.

HID lights utilize a special bulb in conjunction with a remote ballast. The purpose of the ballast is to start and maintain the arc through the bulb. To put it simply, a ballast is needed to turn the bulb on and provide a regulated voltage to the lamp.

There are two main styles of HID lamps, metal halide (MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS). Traditionally MH lamps, or blue lamps, are used for vegetative growth and HPS lamps, red lamps, are used for flowering. 400, 600, and 1000 are the most commonly used wattages of lights

LED, Induction, and Other New Lighting Technologies:

With the cost of electricity constantly on the rise, an increasing demand for more efficient styles of lighting. While still relatively new to the market, LED Lighting shows great results! Lower electric draw, better light spectrum, higher quality of light, lower heat output, and much longer bulb life are only a few of the promised benefits! The price tag on lights such as these might be higher initially, but you will save money in the long run! If this sounds appealing to you, stop by and see us or give us a call with any questions you may have!