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Whether you don’t have a yard or it doesn’t receive much sunlight, you can use one or more grow lights to grow plants indoors. The light from a grow light replaces or supplements sunlight to help your plants stay healthy. To help you select a light, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best grow lights on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
Compare Top Grow Lights
| Product | Included Items | Watt Rating | Light colors |
|---|---|---|---|
| GE Lighting Grow Light Bulb | One bulb | 9 watts | Red and blue |
| Barrina Grow Lights | Eight tubes and their accessories for power and mounting | 80 watts | Blue, red, and green |
| AeroGarden Indoor Garden With Grow Light | One container and six plants | 20 watts | Red and blue |
| GHodec Four-Head Grow Light | One floor light | 80 watts | Red |
| SnapFresh 360-Degree Grow Light | One table light and three gardening tools | 85 watts | Red and blue |
| Product | Included Items | Watt Rating | Light colors |
Best Bulb Light
GE Lighting Grow Light Bulb
- $19.22
Prices taken at time of publishing.
This grow bulb offers full spectrum lighting that appears white and screws into a lamp or fixture like a regular light bulb. It produces a red and blue light spectrum that’s ideal for growing cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, and other greens from seed to vegetable.
Key Features
- Comes with one bulb
- Has a nine-watt rating
- Uses red and blue light
What Customers Are Saying
Customers appreciated how bright this bulb was given its low energy consumption. They also said that it effectively grew a variety of plants. However, frustrated customers said that it died quickly and made an irritating buzzing noise when it was on.
Best Linkable Light
Barrina Grow Lights
- $56.98
- $69.99
- 19% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
For gardeners who need multiple grow lights that can cover a large area, this eight-pack is for you. You can link these tubes together using the included cords, and even link multiple packs for large gardens. There are three different ways to mount them to your ceiling or another surface using the included tape, clips, screws, and ties.
Key Features
- Comes with eight tubes and their accessories for power and mounting
- Has an 80-watt rating
- Uses blue, red, and green light
What Customers Are Saying
When they were installed together, these lights provided bright light for customers’ gardens. Users also liked that they could grow practically any plant with them. Negative reviews said that the light skewed pink rather than the advertised white. Other users claimed that the wiring shocked them.
Best Garden Light
AeroGarden Indoor Garden With Grow Light
For novices, this all-inclusive gardening container has a built-in grow light and water chamber. The six holes in the pot hold the included pods that each contain a different budding herb and some plant food. As the plants grow, you can raise the light and adjust its settings.
Key Features
- Comes with a container and six plant pods
- Has a 20-watt rating
- Uses red and blue light
What Customers Are Saying
Customers who left positive reviews for this indoor garden said that it was both decorative and functional, as it had a sleek, stylish design and grew healthy plants quickly. However, customers who left negative reviews struggled with the digital display. They also didn’t like that the built-in light limited how tall the plants could grow.
Best Floor Light
GHodec Four-Head Grow Light
- $29.69
- $34.99
- 15% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Meant for fruits and flowers, this grow light uses a mix of red and white lighting to help plants flourish. You can position the light exactly where you need it, as the bulbs are spread across four bendable heads that sit on an height-adjustable tripod stand.
Key Features
- Comes with a floor light
- Has an 80-watt rating
- Uses red light
What Customers Are Saying
Customers thought that this light was easy to use, especially with the built-in control panel on the power cord. They also liked that it was lightweight in case they needed to adjust its placement. Meanwhile, some customers didn’t like this light, stating that it wasn’t bright enough.
Best Table Light
SnapFresh 360-Degree Grow Light
- $32.99
Prices taken at time of publishing.
This light sits on or clips to your table using its two-in-one base that acts as feet or a clamp. It has 80 LED bulbs across four long and skinny heads that rotate 360 degrees. With blue, red, and blue and red modes, this light supports your plants through every growth stage.
Key Features
- Comes with a table light and three gardening tools
- Has an 85-watt rating
- Uses red and blue light
What Customers Are Saying
Customers who were satisfied with this grow light liked its multiple settings and simple setup. Unsatisfied customers warned about its lack of durability, saying that its clamp broke and its light randomly shut off.
Buying Guide for Grow Lights
To make an informed purchase about what grow light works best for your gardening needs, consider the following factors.
Size/Number
Choose a light that’s large enough to cover all of the plants in your indoor garden. For one plant, you can get a small light that can move from room to room with your plant. On the other hand, you need a large overhead light if you have rows of plants. You can also purchase several lights if one isn’t enough.
Light
Different plant species and growth stages require different colors and temperatures of light. Warm light helps with fruit and flower production. Cool light, meanwhile, helps seeds grow stems and leaves and greens expand their foliage.
If you have both flowering and leafy plants or don’t know which type of light your plants need, you can find full-spectrum grow lights. These provide a balance of warm and cool lighting to resemble natural sunlight.
Bulb
Most grow lights on the market today use LED bulbs. LED lights are long-lasting and energy-efficient. They also come in different colors and temperatures to suit your lighting needs. These bulbs have almost entirely replaced fluorescent and HID ones.
Fluorescent bulbs are useful for growing plants that require a modest amount of light. However, because their output is fairly weak, you have to put them a few inches from your plants. Though HID bulbs are powerful, even more so than LED ones, they are expensive and energy-inefficient and require special fixtures.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far should my grow lights be from my plants?
It depends on the type of bulb, plant, and light, but a general rule of thumb is two feet away. If you’re using fluorescent bulbs, you can put them a little closer.
Do grow lights work as effectively as natural sunlight?
Grow lights are not as effective as direct sunlight. Plants get the same amount of energy from six hours of sunlight as they do from 13 hours under grow lights. However, for those who don’t have a yard or enough sunlight, grow lights can be a viable alternative. To replicate sunlight as closely as possible, look for a full-spectrum grow light.
How long should I leave my grow lights on?
Grow lights should stay on for eight to 16 hours a day to mimic natural sunlight. The exact number of hours depends on a variety of factors, including what plant you’re growing, how much natural sunlight your plant is getting through a window, and what type of bulb your light is using.
Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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