What do we see for 2018? An Increased Demand for LED Grow Lights
Another year, another chance to refocus energies and set to breaking conquering some goals. It’s no different in our world here at LED Lights Canada. With some changes in legislation coming into effect in our great country, we are preparing ourselves for growth. The plant kind. We see new laws and new trends of urban growing stimulating a sprouting market into a major branch of our very own business. No, we aren’t going to start farming but we are preparing for an increased demand for LED grow lights. We are starting with our own form of research and product testing.
What we consider to be important
We have a list of criteria for our LED grow lights to make sure you are getting the best mean for your green. First, it comes down to the proper certification for use in Canada. The big players we are familiar with are cETL, cUL and CSA. These certifications apply to line-voltage (120V AC) connections. Look for one of these to ensure you are covered under your insurance. Second is affordability. I will make it clear that quality is tied into that criterion. We want the average person to be able to explore using these grow lights within the sometimes limited space of their own home without spending a fortune. Regardless of the method, vertical, hydroponic, aquaponic, soil trays, etc., we want you to be able to find a reasonably priced, reliable, line-voltage certified product for small-scale projects or residential use.
Look for one of these certifications
Have we walked the walk… or should I say, potted the pot?
No, we haven’t gone that far, nor will we. To become a legal producer of marijuana there may be an application and approval process. According to some reports, legalization laws may still restrict growing for personal use. While others are predicting upwards of four plants per household. Considering these regulations and the movement to grow your own produce in an urban space, we are testing out LED grow lights. Early last year we adopted a role as a plant hospital, bringing in sickly house plants in for a turn of R&R. Our office plants were doing fairly well but we knew we could improve the conditions with a UV producing LED lamp.
The results are in
We set up a 50 watt full-spectrum LED grow light to see how our plants would respond. Our plants have become more like the trees they were intended. No quantifiable measures were collected but it appears that there are a few positive results: faster shoot production, larger leaf size and a plant that is now almost as tall as me. 
Moreover, we are satisfied with the results. We consider this particular light a bit too bulky for home application. The hunt continues for a more versatile size of LED grow light. A standard medium based bulb would be great and a low profile fixture to mount closely to the plant would be even better. We are looking to start customizing our own linear fixtures.
For more insight on projections in grow light sales, we suggest this article.
Many thanks to Sarah Ouwendyk for sharing such a helpful concept. I have read your blog and gotten many information also led grow light is very useful for indoor plants. Now I want to grow plants in my leaving room corner by led grow lights. But I have a question. Please could you suggest me that, after how may days, I will water into plants? Because my plants is indoor not outdoor for that.
I will wait for your valuable opinion and I will save your website and I will share it with my friends. I hope they will be benefited by this topics.
Thank you for following our blog Jessica. It is always a pleasure to interact with our readers, so thank you for reaching out as well.
As a beginner green thumb, my advice is limited to my own experience and knowledge. However, I believe watering depends on the plants requirements. If you are growing something that requires more water, you would not let the plant dry out as much between “feedings”. If you are growing a type of plant which prefers a drier environment, let the soil dry out between watering intervals.
I always let it dry out a bit to avoid over-watering but I usually stick to watering at least once a day (adjusting how much) with indoor plants. This changes with the growing vs dormant seasons that we experience locally. To test the dampness of soil I stick my finger a couple centimeters into the soil. Usually the upper layers look dried out long before the root layers have lost their water content. See how much water is in those deeper layers where the roots are absorbing it.
Others, I have been told do a weight comparison test. They will get a feel for the water content in the soil by doing a thorough watering and actually lifting the entire plant pot to feel its weight. Then they repeat the process after a few days and the soil has dried out. They compare the two different weights and keep the heavier ( water-soaked) weight in mind as a guideline. This seems impossible with some of my larger plants, so I stick to getting a bit dirty.
That’s what growing plants is all about anyway. Getting in touch with nature, literally! So get in there! Try what works for you. It’s always a trial and error process. Maybe you have a more dry or more humid environment in general, and need to adjust you watering schedule to compensate.
Another idea, if it is a deeper potted plant and not indoor trays, are the self-watering globes. These convenient inventions release water as it is used. They help keep the root layers damp. Which is important because this is actually where you want the water to go.
I hope this helps you a bit with your own indoor garden. Maybe your friends will appreciate the opinion too.
From one gardener to another, best of luck in your own experimentation.
You are right. I saw lots of people started to use led grow lights to grow plants indoor, and they get good results. I think this is a good trend in future.
We agree Thomas! We are interested in seeing the quantified difference LED grow lights have made in indoor farming. This sounds like a new blog topic to explore;)
Nice Post!! This is the one of the best post that I ever read for growing LED lights. From last 3 weeks i daily search something new about indoor growing and effects of LED lights. I think here my research is completed. Keep sharing such info with us.
I was looking for some stunning reasons behind LED grow light’s increased demand for some research and thesis purposes. Now, I got many and yeah, some of the changes in the laws around USA and canada had played an essential role in this increased demand of LED grow lights in indoor growing segment.
Thank you, Edwin. It is always appreciated to hear what other people have found to be impacting our industry. We hope your thesis research has come to a close and you do well in presenting your findings.
Majority of us nowadays choose to use led products compare to incandescent or any ordinary lights as led lighting products is more environmentally-friendly alternative, efficient and power-wise.