Do Plants Grow Better in Blue Lights?

Bringing light to your plants is as easy as buying a blue LED (Light Emitting Diode) light. The blue light mimics what the sun offers to plants, with less power usage than other, non-LED grow lights to create the green, leafy foliage you want to see.

Blue Light = Lush Greenery

Blue light is necessary for plants for regulated plant growth, as it helps to create strong stems and also helps create the chlorophyll needed to create the plant's lush greenery.

No Red, No Flowers

Although it is possible to use only blue lights for your inside plants' growing needs, if you want to have flowers in your home or greenhouse, you will need a red LED light. Red light is needed by plants to flower, but if a plant receives too much red light it will become brittle and die. Blue light is a must when growing plants, but for flowering varieties, you must add red lights to your lighting system.

High Pressurized Sodium (HPS) Lights

Growing plants with HPS lighting offers plenty of orange and yellow light, similar to being outdoors in the sun, but not enough blue light. You can purchase Enhanced Performance HPS bulbs, which offer some blue spectrum light, but still not as much as you get with blue LED lights. Also note that HPS lighting bulbs get hotter to the touch than LED lights.

LED vs. HPS

LED lights offer plants less heat than could potentially burn plants' tender stems and leaves when they start growing. In addition, the blue LED lights use less energy than HPS lights for the same amount or more light output. Often times, the LED lights are made in different shapes and sizes, much smaller and more convenient than the large, bulky HPS systems.

Lighting Costs

One 400-watt HPS lamp may cost about $100. This does not include the reflector (which can cost $200 or more). Keep in mind, too, that powering an HPS lamp will add up, especially at 400 or so watts an hour.

Blue LED lights (which output the same 400 watts but only use about 9 watts of electricity to do so) may cost about $159 for one setup for a larger growing area than with an HPS lamp. You can grow more plants with less energy costs in the long run using LED grow lights.