Turns out those fancy LED grow lights really do make a difference for seedlings

I spent years using cheap fluorescent shop lights from the hardware store for starting seeds in my basement. Always had leggy, pale tomato and pepper seedlings that took forever to harden off. My buddy at the community garden kept telling me to switch over to full spectrum LEDs. I figured it was just hype to sell expensive gear. Finally grabbed a small 2-foot bar last February after my pepper sprouts looked like spaghetti again after 3 weeks. Within 10 days under that light, the new seedlings were thick, dark green, and half the height of my fluorescent batch. Now I'm curious if anyone else has tried mixing both types of lighting or if you just go all in on one kind?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nathan6d ago

Funny enough I just listened to a gardening podcast where they did a side by side test with the old T5 fluorescents versus the new LED panels. They found that the LEDs basically double the amount of usable light at the same distance because the spectrum is better matched to what plants actually want. Your spaghetti pepper story sounds exactly like what they described with the fluorescents. I actually run a mix now - I have some cheap warm white LED strips I got off Amazon for supplemental side lighting, but my main overhead is a higher end full spectrum panel. The combo seems to help with stem thickness on my tomatoes. But honestly I think the biggest difference I noticed was just getting the light intensity high enough, which fluorescents really struggle with unless you pack them tight and close.

patriciah516d ago

So you're saying the cheap LED strips actually help?

emmawood6d ago

Oh man, "spaghetti pepper story" got me lol. That's exactly what mine looked like too. I had those pale little strings of pepper plants stretching toward the window like they were begging for help. I actually run a mix like you do now after having the same experience with fluorescents. My main setup is a couple of the full spectrum panels, but I added some cheap warm LED strips along the sides for my tomatoes. The stem thickness difference is wild, I used to have to stake everything from day one and now they just stand up on their own.