HID
Whether used as a complete replacement for the Sun, or to supplement natural light levels, there are several different kinds of grow light available. No matter the material used to give you light (gasses, metal halides, or sodium), High Intensity Discharge Bulbs use an electrical arc tube to heat up elements inside the bulb. The materials and how hot they’re allowed to get will determine the color and brightness of light when your lights are on.
HID Double Ended
The newest technology in HID Bulbs are the Double Ended HID bulbs. These bulbs degrade slower than traditional single ended bulbs. In fact, after 10,000 hours double ended lamps will still output approximately 90% of their original intensity. Double Ended bulbs are also more stable than traditional single ended bulbs, and this allows them to have a 10% increase in light intensity and PAR output over traditional single ended bulbs. Lastly, Double Ended bulbs emit more UV and IR light than traditional single ended bulbs, increasing the potency and essential oils of oil producing plants.
HID CMH
Growers are moving to Ceramic Metal Halides because of their power per watt. A 315w CMH light is known to match and even outperform some 600w HID Bulbs. You’ll not only save money lighting your garden with less power, but you’ll also reduce a lot of the heat you were getting with higher wattage HID’s. The most impressive feature a CMH light is the spectrum of light they give off. CMH’s tend to give off a spectrum closer to that of the sun than other lights. Their spectrum rates anywhere from 90-92 on the color rendering index, which means the light your plants are getting is closer to the spectrum of the sun (which has a CRI of 100). All that spectrum means you’re also getting a good amount of UV and IR in there compared to standard HID’s.
LED
What if you could save electricity, reduce heat output from lighting, and still have a huge harvest? That’s exactly what LED grow lights can do for you! LED grow lights are marketed as an upgrade over the costly and inefficient HID variety, As long as you purchase LED growing lights of of high quality, they will perform just as well as HID light. LED lights are not created equal. We’ve sold over a dozen brands in the past decade and have searched far and wide for the brands that perform to the highest of standards. This is a technology that continues to improve. Trust us to guide you in this fascinating new thing. We will not sell you an LED that doesn’t perform as promised.
We won’t sell you LED lights that use low-grade materials, and will only last a short time. We avoid the cut-rate LED lights that use more electricity and generate more heat than high-quality ones. If the price of the LED grow light is unbelievably low, we know the quality of the light output will be low as well.