25 Oct
LED Grow Light

How Do LED Grow Lights Work?

We know that light emitting diodes work well to grow plants, and especially to grow cannabis. But how do they work exactly and what is it that makes them so good for plants? Let’s begin by taking a look at how light emitting diode technology works in general. Then we’ll see why it works so well for indoor gardening.

How A Light-Emitting Diode Works

A light-emitting diode is a simple semiconductor that emits light when a current is sent through it. Semiconductors are generally made from material that does not conduct electricity well at all, like silicone, but with an impurity added that makes it more conductive. Adding these impurities is called “doping.”

But semiconductors are only conductive in one direction. If you reverse the current, they do not conduct electricity. That is the reason they are called semiconductors.

The reason for this is that two layers are used, each doped with a different impurity. One layer is made up of n-type material. It is called n-type, because it has a negative charge, due to an excess of electrons. Phosphorus or arsenic are commonly used, because each has 5 electrons, which leaves one free when added to the silicone with its 4 electrons. The other material is called p-type, due to a positive charge from a lack of electrons. Boron or gallium are commonly used, because they only have three electrons. When added to the silicone, the lack of a 4th electron creates a hole.

When you place an n-type material and a p-type material next to each other, you create the potential for the free electrons in the n-type material to fill the holes in the p-type material. This happens in the zone where the two meet, called the depletion zone.

But it only happens if you apply a positive charge to the p-type material and a negative charge to the n-type material. The positive charge repels the positive particles and sends them toward the middle (the depletion zone, where the two materials meet) to interact with the negative particles in the n-type side which are also sent toward the middle because they are repelled by the negative charge.

When the electrons combine with the electron holes, they release energy in the form of photons. This creates light. The color the light takes is determined by how much energy is needed for the electrons to cross the gap (the depletion zone) in the semiconductor.

How Does LED Light Work As A Grow Light?

One of these semiconductor diodes is fairly weak, but if you combine many of them, you can get a very bright point of light, like the LED chips used in grow lights. Even the smallest ones are quite powerful and the larger ones, like COB LEDs, are incredibly bright.

Because an LED fixture is made up of multiple larger diodes, and each diode is in turn made up of many small points of light, you have the flexibility to combine many different colors of light in the same fixture. This is a unique advantage of LED grow lights and it allows you to achieve the exact mix of colors that plants need.

As you can imagine, the difference this makes is huge.

24 Oct
LED Grow Light

Best Cannabis Grow Light For Beginners-Part II

In the last blog, we talked about the LED grow light balances both efficiency and power. So, what are the exact benefits of it?

The Benefits of LEDs for First-Time Cannabis Growers

As we just mentioned, there are many benefits beginners can enjoy if they opt for LEDs. Below, we’ll break them down in full.

  • LEDs Run Cool Despite High Energy Output

With LEDs, depending on which you select, you can achieve comparable energy output to HID, but without nearly as much heat! Thanks to the efficiency of the system, which we’ll speak more on later, all the energy it takes in is directed through hundreds of little lights. Far less gets wasted.

  • Less Heat Leads to Decreased Water Usage

Thanks to minimal heat in the growing room, you can also expect the water you give your plants to last longer than it normally would. Since you don’t have to deal with rapid evaporation, your watering schedule will not only decrease, but become more efficient.

If anything, all you have to worry about when growing with LEDs is overwatering.

  • Decreased Water Usage Leads to Fewer Nutrients in Turn

Since many growers include their plant’s nutrients in their water, decreased water usage will also lead to decreased nutrient usage. That, again, is thanks to the fact that plants are able to use said water and nutrients more efficiently.

  • LEDs Allow for High Light Intensity

The low heat output of LEDs allows for yet another benefit: the potential to offer your plants higher light intensity. See, rather than intense light, it’s intense heat that is the main culprit behind burning plants. If the plants can enjoy more intense light without worrying about heat, however, they can take in a lot more energy.

  • LEDs Are More Energy Efficient Overall

Lastly, thanks to the fact that far less energy gets wasted on creating heat, LED lamps are the most energy efficient option (relative to their power) of any type of grow lamp. Along with that, you don’t need to have as powerful of a vent or cooling system to account for heat, which you’d need with HID lamps, so you take up even less energy as a result.

Don’t Forget to Adjust Your Grow Light

Before we let you go, we want to emphasise again that photoperiod plants will only thrive if they’re on the right light schedule for the vegetative and flowering stages. To assist in that effort, Aokairuisi grow light team include a switch that allows you to switch between modes for each stage. Along with making that switch, be careful to ensure that you’re raising your lights up in proportion to the vertical height of your plants. The lamps may not generate much heat, but you still want to avoid the risk of burning them.

Other than that, just focus on having a good time!

23 Oct
LED Grow Light

Best Cannabis Grow Light For Beginners-Part I

Growing cannabis can be tricky as a beginner, as there are a lot of factors you have to keep in mind. One of the most important, though, is light. Specifically, you need to make sure you’re picking the ideal light for your strain and grow space, and that you’re keeping those lights on a precise schedule. Here’s everything you need to know. With seeds ready to be germinated, pots ready to be filled, and your grow room ready for a long, rewarding season, you may be feeling ready to cultivate some cannabis. You’re just missing one more vital component: the lights!

It may seem like you can just use any sort of grow light and achieve sufficient results, but that’s far from the truth. Different lights are calibrated for different plants and grow spaces. Some may not provide enough light, causing wilting and poor development, while others exude too much heat and cause burning. It can take quite some time to do research on the right types of lights for cannabis, especially when you don’t have much experience growing. We’re happy to walk you through what makes a perfect grow light for beginners!

Why Is Light Important for Growing Cannabis?

Light is vital to photosynthesis, and thus essential to the growth of almost all plants. But, the specifics of how cannabis plants receive light are especially important. For instance, photoperiod cannabis (non-autoflowering cannabis) grows best when it receives a particular amount of light hours per day, usually 16 or more, during the vegetative stage of growth. Once plants hit the flowering stage, that light requirement changes to around 12 hours per day. This, of course, is in line with the shift in sunlight hours that occurs in the spring, summer, and fall. With that external signal, female cannabis plants (that haven’t been pollinated) know to start shifting their energy towards producing resin-loaded buds. If they don’t receive that signal, however, they won’t know how to distribute the energy they take in from the sun, and your yields will end up smaller than they otherwise would. In turn, if you’re growing your weed plants indoors, it’s vital to ensure that your grow lights not only simulate the sun’s energy output, but shine on the same schedule as well.

What’s the Best Type of Grow Light for Beginners?

Considering just how important light is in the growing process, beginners should focus on getting a light that not only helps them achieve high yields, but saves them money as well. So, what lights fulfil that role? Well, there are plenty out there that will deliver fine results, and plenty others that’ll save you money, but the only ones that balance both efficiency and power are lamps fitted with LEDs.

In the next blog we’ll share more details with you, please wait and see!

22 Oct
LED Grow Light

Best Herbs To Grow Indoors This Winter

Winter can be tough, and not just because of the weather. Depending on where you live, you might be dealing with limp lettuces, tasteless tomatoes, and maybe even dried herbs.

It doesn’t have to be this way though. There’s light at the end of this tunnel, and if you’ve got some on your windowsill then why not make use of it to grow some hardy winter herb varieties that pair well with winter cooking? Here are some of our fave winter-hardy herbs to grow indoors so you can start your own indoor winter herb garden now.

What Herbs Can Be Grown Indoors In Winter?

Rosemary

This herb, which is one of the best indoor herbs to grow during winter, has a woody stem and thick leaves that stand up well year-round. In addition to being able to tolerate winter’s cooler temperatures, rosemary also pairs well with hearty root vegetables, roasts, and warming flavors like garlic. Rosemary has long been hailed for its medicinal properties. Rosemary was traditionally used to help alleviate muscle pain, improve memory, boost the immune and circulatory systems, and promote hair growth.

Growing Tip: Rosemary prefers drier conditions – so we recommend you use soil for this one and not a bottle garden. 

Thyme

In the kitchen, thyme is most commonly used for soups and sauces. With its slightly citrus flavor, it does a great job of breaking up starch-heavy foods like potato, rice, and even fresh bread. It also goes well with most root vegetables and roasts. Thyme is believed to lower blood pressure, stop coughing and boost immunity. 

Parsley

Parsley has two main types, flat-leaves and curly. Of the two, flat-leaf has the more robust flavor, and curly is considered more decorative – though both look great as a garnish. Parsley pairs well with pasta, pizza, some salads, and a lot of cooked breakfast foods. 

Cooking Tip: Whenever you’re using leafy herbs like parsley, basil, and cilantro in cooking you want to avoid subjecting them to too much heat.

Chives

Chives are a cold-tolerant perennial herb, and among the best herbs to grow inside in winter/early spring as they do like full sun. It likes fertile, rich, well-draining soil, and if left to flower will spread quickly. Chives are related to onions and leeks, and you’ll notice this association in their taste. 

Oregano

Some might call it “the pizza herb” – and although it does have a much wider range of uses, this herb does have one of the boldest and most distinctive flavor profiles of all the herbs we’ve listed here. It will overpower light delicate dishes and is better suited to pairing with more wholesome meals. A little oregano goes a long way! Its most common culinary pairings are grilled, fried, or roasted vegetables as well as meats and fish. Unlike leafy green herbs (as mentioned above) oregano is one that you can afford to subject to some heat in cooking – doing so will release some of its essential oils and soften the flavor though, so don’t go overboard. 

Growing Tips: like the other Mediterranean herbs on this list, oregano is sensitive to overwatering.

If you’d like to shop a good grow light for your indoor herbs, check our shop and pick it: https://ledgrowlight.co/shop

21 Oct
LED Grow Light

What Are The Best Fruits And Vegetables To Grow Indoors?-Part II

We talked about the best fruits to in the last blog, we hope that’s useful for you. In this blog, we will continue to talk about the best vegetables to grow indoors.

Easiest Vegetables To Grow Indoors

Best Vegetable To Grow Indoors #1: Lettuce

Some people say that they’ve never known a garden that cannot grow lettuce, which brings this vegetable to the top of this list. Lettuce can be grown either indoors or outdoors. It is a very popular plant that can be used in a lot of food varieties, from salads to burgers to soups, you name it. Check out with our team for more details about growing lettuce indoors.

Best Vegetable To Grow Indoors #2: Carrots

Carrots can be very easy to grow, but take note that it can only happen when the soil used for planting them is loose and sandy. You also need to make sure that you plant carrots during the spring and fall as they like cooler temperatures. Aside from this, carrots can help keep blood sugar levels under control. They are also loaded with vitamin A and beta-carotene, which there’s evidence to suggest can lower your diabetes risk.

Best Vegetable To Grow Indoors #3: Kale

Kale is one of the most nutritious vegetables there is and if you love nutrient-dense leafy greens like it, you should try growing it at home. If you want to learn more about growing kale indoors, we will send you some notes.

Shop Our Indoor LED Grow Light Now!

Now that you have an idea on what are some of the fruits and vegetables you can grow indoors, you may want to check our LED grow light that can help you start your own indoor fruit or vegetable garden. Do not hesitate to contact us!

20 Oct
LED Grow Light

What Are The Best Fruits And Vegetables To Grow Indoors-Part I

In this time of the pandemic, everything can be bought online, from clothing to home décor, to food and essentials. However, it may be very convenient, but what’s more convenient than being able to grow your own food indoors? In this blog, we will talk about the best fruits and vegetables to grow indoors.

Easiest Fruits To Grow Indoors

First of all, can you grow fruits and vegetables indoors? The answer is yes – it basically depends on the fruit and vegetable, the soil and weather, and other factors that may affect them. But yes, it is not impossible. Here are the easiest fruits to grow indoors:

Best Fruit To Grow Indoors #1: Meyer Lemon

The Meyer Lemon is a popular indoor citrus fruit tree that can produce delicious, sweet lemons. This lemon plant needs a higher humidity level than is found in a typical home, so we recommend placing it near a humidifier. Putting a pebble tray under the pot could help, too. Meyer lemons also prefer brighter light, so a south-facing window or an LED grow light could be of great help. Usually, citrus fruit trees don’t have a dormancy phase, so they appreciate a lot of light year-round.

Best Fruit To Grow Indoors #2: Tomatoes

Tomatoes made into this list because they are one of the most common and easiest fruits to grow indoors. They are also used in various cuisines and dishes.

Best Fruit To Grow Indoors #3: Bananas

Bananas can also be grown indoors, but of course, if you want the fruit tree to be larger, you can also plant it outdoors. This fruit is one of the most common and most delicious fruits, and thankfully, it is quite easy to grow indoors. If you need a detailed guide on growing banans indoors, please contact Aokairuisi team.

Best Fruit To Grow Indoors #4: Strawberries

Everyone loves strawberries, don’t we all? Strawberries are also one of the easiest fruits to plant indoors! Check out with our Aokairuisi team for a detailed guide about how to grow strawberries indoors.

Best Fruit To Grow Indoors #5: Avocados

Avocados are famous especially to healthy foodies out there! They are high in fat with 60 percent of this being monounsaturated fats, which research suggests helps to protect against heart disease and lower blood pressure. They are also an excellent source of potassium, folate and fibre, all of which benefit the heart and cardiovascular system. Knowing this, we know that you also want to try growing these at home, especially because they can be quite expensive in supermarkets. Check out with us about growing avocados indoors for a more detailed guide. You can also check our shop and choose an excellent LED grow light: https://ledgrowlight.co/shop

19 Oct
LED Grow Light

How To Keep Your Plants Alive In Fall And Winter

First of all, can you plant plants in winter or fall? Fall and Winter months typically mean chilly weather, cozy blankets and hot cocoa – but while most of us are well equipped to handle the change – the combination of cold air, lower temperatures and shorter days can make it difficult for plants to thrive.

Are you curious about how you can keep growing plants inside in winter? Well, you’re in the right place.

Steps On How To Save Your Plants From Winter

1. Keep Your Plants Warm – But Not Too Warm

Many plants are extremely sensitive to cold air. The #1 step to caring for houseplants in winter is to make sure they are protected from the cold air. You can partly solve this by sealing up your windows and insulating the doors of your home. Also, if you keep plants next to outside doors or leaky windowsills during the warmer months, make sure you move them to other rooms where they won’t get shocked by the cold air.

You also want to make sure you keep plants away from sources of heat, like fireplaces, radiators, and even heating vents. Blasts of hot air can be just as bad for your plant as blasts of cold air. Keep your plants at a steady temperature between 65-75 degrees F (18 – 24 C) during the day, and above 50 degrees F (10 C) at night for the best plant living conditions.

2. Reduce Your Watering And Use Warm Water For Plants In Winter

Even though your plants are inside, the majority of houseplants go ‘dormant’ in the fall and winter months. Less light means less growth, and less growth means they need less water and fertilizer. This can also mean less feeding for your indoor plants in winter.

Follow standard watering advice, and only water if the soil is dry an inch or two below the surface. You want to make sure your plants don’t stay sitting in water because that can lead to root rot, fungus, mold, and a host of other issues. If you see yellow leaves or moldy soil, then you’ll know you need to reduce your watering frequency. You may also want to use warm water for your plants in winter. Watering plants with warm water in winter is better as not only it helps the plants grow faster and larger, it will also keep them warm.

Most houseplant owners will use a ‘once per week’ schedule for watering – and we recommend you keep this up for consistency’s sake and so that you don’t break the rhythm. But just reduce the amount of water you provide, by somewhere in the 25-50% range, on your weekly watering days.

3. Increase Your Home’s Humidity

Low humidity in the cold months isn’t just a problem for people – it’s a problem for plants, too. Plants enjoy humidity levels around 50 – 60%, so keep your humidifier running if you have one. If you don’t, try clustering your plants together in the most humid rooms of your home (typically the bathrooms or kitchen), or placing them on top of a large tray or baking sheet filled with water. (You just have to make sure the pots don’t touch the water, so place some stones in the water and put the plants on top of the stones.)

4. Clean Your Plants

Sun is in short supply in the winter. To make sure they can take full advantage of the little light they have, make sure your indoor plants’ leaves stay clean and dust-free. Every couple of weeks, put your plants in the bathtub and use a handheld sprayer to give the leaves a gentle shower, or use a damp towel to wipe dust and grime off the leaves. Keeping the leaves clean means, they can be more efficient at photosynthesis.

5. Give Them Plenty Of Light

The last answer on how to keep your indoor plants alive is that plants need light more than anything else in the fall and winter. You will need to be extra careful to rotate your pots to make sure each plant is getting the sunlight they need. If the available natural sunlight isn’t enough, use a full-spectrum LED grow light and shine it on your plants for at least 12-14 hours a day. Learn more about setting up a grow light, or purchase an LED grow light in our store: https://ledgrowlight.co/shop

As a final tip, it pays to keep in mind that some of the recommendations we’re making in this article involve changing multiple variables – for example, if you move your plants away from a drafty window, you will almost certainly be changing the amount of light it gets – perhaps also the humidity is changing at the same time too. For this reason, monitor your plants daily after they have been relocated – some changes may need to be reversed, or you might need to do some trial and error to get it right.

18 Oct
LED Grow Light

You Eat Plants While Plants Eat Light

Putting your plants in areas where they have enough light sounds simple enough, but is the biggest hurdle you’ll face as an indoor gardener. Part of the challenge is that our eyes automatically adjust for brightness, making them lousy at evaluating light from the plants perspective. Part of the challenge is that plants’ light needs vary widely and there’s inconsistent terminology. Confused by the difference between Medium Light and Part Sun? You are not alone. 

In this blog we’ll give an overview of how you can master your lighting.

Tell Me Why Plants Need Light Again?

Light is the sole source of energy for plants – the only reason they put out leaves is to collect sunshine.  Light plays a couple secondary functions, like telling plants when to produce flowers,  what direction to grow in, and even what essential oils and flavors to produce. Also, just like sleep is an important part of growth, plants need rest periods of darkness to recover, but more on that later. 

How Much Light Do Plants Need?

It really depends on the plant. Some have evolved to naturally live under a dark jungle canopy while others are native to bright open areas. Most of the fast growing edible plants are on the brighter end of the spectrum. 

The chart below shows how much light you should give common indoor edible plants – however you should always defer to the seed packet as light needs can vary with variety.  Light green indicates the minimum amount of light they need to grow, but they will grow more vigorous with more light (dark green). 

Understanding Your Environment: Making A Light Map

Indoor gardening will help you to understand your home environment in a whole new way. Over time you’ll learn that lettuce loves one window while your tomatoes are happiest on the counter under a light. While you can get there through trial and error, creating a light map of your space will give you a big head start. 

Modifying Your Environment

So you thought your window was bright enough… but your plants grew tall, skinny, and slow (or maybe your light map is dark and disappointing). Fortunately there are several ways to give your plants more light. You can make some simple changes to increase the natural light that reaches your plants (like placing your plants between your window and curtains). If those don’t cut it, you can bring in grow lights to supplement, or totally replace, sunlight. 

Grow Light Buying Guide

There’s a grow light for every situation where you might want one. Fortunately it’s a whole lot simpler than it seems – You don’t really need to know about the lux, lumen, or footcandles – what matters is how much light energy is delivered to your plants (and how it looks too, of course). You can see our Aokairuisi tests of the top sellers here: https://ledgrowlight.co/shop and buying guide to help make the right choice.

17 Oct
LED Grow Light

LED Grow Light Terms: PAR, PPFD, PPF (introduction)

This is an introductory article for three commonly used and important LED grow light terms: PAR, PPFD and PPF.

PAR, Photosynthetically active radiation

This term is often used when displaying and marketing LED grow lights. Often this term is misused and confused with PPFD, more on this later.

PAR is, simply put, the range of light that drives photosynthesis in plants. Photosynthesis is the process that drives plant growth. The better we stimulate photosynthesis in a plant, the more the plant will grow. Giving the plant too little light would poorly stimulate photosynthesis. Same thing applies if a plant receives too much light, which could also lead to light bleaching and leaf burn.

The so-called electromagnetic spectrum consists of x-rays, UV, visible, IR, microwaves, etc. Among all of these segments, a portion of the visible light is absorbed by plants (simplified, it’s between 400-700nm) This range is what drives photosynthesis. This is the Photosynthetically active radiation, or PAR.

PPFD, Photosynthetic photon flux density.

This is the most important term when it comes to grow lights. PPFD describes how many photons from the PAR-range (the range of photons with the correct wavelength to drive photosynthesis) that land on a specific area. With today’s tools, it’s possible to measure even more specifically how much light ends up on a certain spot, on a plant or on a leaf, for instance. A quantum meter is the right tool for this job. An Apogee MQ-500, for instance. Its sensor takes in how many photons land on it every second and then it translates that value to, let’s say, 500 µmol/m2/s.

That would mean that the photosynthetic photon flux density, the PPFD, is 500 µmol/m2/s.

We know what PPFD levels plants prefer during their different stages. If we know how much our plants want, and we’re able to measure how much is actually emitted, we’ll then be able to set up our grow area and lamp so that we give the ideal amount of light to our plants.

PPF, Photosynthetic photon flux.

This term tells us how much light, or rather, how many photons a light source emits in total per second. PPF does not take into account where the light lands or how it flows. It just describes the total output of photons from a lamp or any light source. PPF is measured in µmol/s.

Takeaways:

PAR: a specific range of light that drives photosynthesis within the electromagnetic spectrum (400-700nm).

PPFD: the number of photons (quantity of light) that lands on a specific spot.

PPF: the total amount of light emitted from a light source.

16 Oct
LED Grow Light

Is UV Light Important For Cannabis

You may heard about something about how UV light plays a role on cannabis growing. So, is UV light important for cannabis? The answer is, yes!

UVA light has been shown to increase secondary metabolite activity in many plants, and this is also the case with cannabis. The most important secondary metabolites from a cannabis grower’s perspective are cannabinoids such as THC and CBD, as well as terpenes which give cannabis its distinctive aroma. Short wavelength irradiation, such as UVA and blue light, trigger the plant’s stress response system and the plant starts to protect itself from the abiotic stress i.e. short wavelength irradiation. Increased stress level results in increased metabolite activity and therefore higher THC accumulation in flowers, when compared to light sources lacking UVA or blue light.

As plants cannot move, they read signals about their surroundings from temperature, light spectrum, soil moisture content, etc. Short wavelength irradiation, such as blue and UVA light give the plant a signal that it is under a clear sky without competition from the neighboring plants. A no-competition environment indicates that the plant it is in no hurry to re-produce (make seeds) or stretch towards light. Plants which are grown under rich blue and UVA spectrum often have short internodes, small leaf area, and thick leaves. These responses can be reversed by green or far-red light, which induce shade-avoidance-syndrome symptoms such as stretching of the stem, increased leaf area, and enhanced flowering. Therefore, by adjusting the amount of blue and UVA in the light spectrum into a perfect balance in relation to other wavelengths, we can manipulate the size and biomass accumulation.

Perhaps it then comes as no surprise that in the nature, the most potent cannabis plants are typically found on high altitudes of mountain regions. In such areas plants have unobstructed access to an abundance of clear sunlight whose spectrum is higher in UV wavelengths than at lower altitudes.

As pointed out earlier, UVA increases the metabolite activity, such as elevated THC or terpene content in flowers, however the grower can benefit from the increased secondary metabolite activity in other ways as well. A plant which is mildly stressed by the UVA irradiation, constantly produces secondary metabolites, such as antioxidants and phenolic compounds, so as to protect itself down to cell level from the abiotic stress. These secondary metabolites protect the plant not only from light irradiation, but also from pathogens and pests. The result is a compact plant with increased THC concentration, and it is furthermore stronger against fungal pathogens, such as Botrytis and pests. UV light has also been shown to directly decrease fungal pathogen growth by inhibiting sporulation.

Aokairuisi has been studying and working on this for some years. We have the ability to provide the best LED grow lights for your plants.