Traditional
These lights also have the widest spectrum availability. From cool and warm temperatures like T5s to deep purples all the way to UV and IR lighting, there’s virtually no wavelength of light that traditional LEDs can’t give you.
As great as they are, traditional LEDs can be on the heavy side. The stronger the light, the more equipment is used, which adds weight to the light. Any light falling on your plants will harm them, but a high-powered traditional LED like the Spectrum LED Grow Light Panel that weighs over 30 lbs crashing down onto your plants will annihilate them, no question.
So when you’re going the traditional route, focus on two things: ensuring it has the spectrums of light your plants need, and that your grow room is equipped to handle at least 25 to 30 lbs securely.
Spread
Spread-style LED grow lights get their name from the way the diodes on them are spread across their surface. They’re relatively inexpensive compared to other LED grow lights, and just as effective despite their limited wavelength offerings.
The chips in spread-style LEDs tend to be low, but with the number of diodes on each panel, the possibilities of reaching a high lumen output are virtually endless. That’s because of two key structural factors:
Each diode contains a single .25 to 1w chip. With an average lumen output of 60 lumens per watt, a simple 50w panel with 50 chips can give you 3000 lumens of light — that’s more intense than a 54w T5 6400k bulb.
Spread LEDs usually don’t use domed lenses. This frees up space on each panel to fill with as many diodes as possible. This will both increase the overall intensity of the LED and increase the light footprint it casts.
While they have the possibility for wide, even light coverage, that coverage tends to be less focused than with other LEDs. This results in softer coverage, requiring many more diodes to increase power. When using spread LEDs, be sure you have plenty of room to adjust their height as needed. If you don’t have the room to raise your lights, make sure the spread LED you choose offers a dimming feature.
COB (Chip on Board)
COB stands for “chip on board”, and it’s called that because of the construction of the diodes. Each diode contains many tiny, low-wattage chips that shine together to give you a super charged light out of a single diode.
50w COB diodes, for example, usually have fifty mini 1w chips on one small surface, giving you around anywhere from 3000 to 5000 lumens out of a one diode. That’s right — the same intensity you’d get out of a fifty 1w chips on a larger panel, you can get out of one COB diode. It will take fewer COB diodes to give you the same lumens as a spread or traditional panel, which means you can get high-powered COBs in much smaller sizes than other LED grow lights.
While they offer crazy intensity, the issue with COBs lies within their limited spectrum availability. These are available primarily warm 3500k spectrums and cool 6000k spectrums, but nothing in the way of multi-colored wavelengths, IR, or UV spectrums. However, if you’re looking for a grow light with huge intensity out of a small light, COBs are the way to go.
Primary vs. Supplemental Lighting
Like the names imply, LED grow lights can either be your plants primary source of light, or they can be used to supplement the lights you’re already using.
Your primary lights will have the most significant impact on your plants. Therefore, you’ll want to ensure these lights offer plenty of strength to stimulate plant growth.
At the lower end of the scale you’ll see 210w LED grow lights that offer peak PPFD at 455 or higher, which is good for a single flowering/fruiting plant.
On the higher end, you have 1000w lights that pump out over 1700 PPFD, which is more than enough for 2 to 3 mature fruiting plants per light.
As far as their spectral availability, primary lights come with an array of multi-colored spectrums, as well as white color temperatures. Some primary lights offer 1 spectrum, while other lights have the ability to adjust spectrums. The Kind LED K5 Series XL750, for example, has programmable wavelengths to offer plants all-red, all-blue, all-white, or a mix of wavelengths depending on the stage of growth. No matter what spectrum of light you give your plants, make sure your primary light has all the wavelengths they need.
Supplemental lights, on the other hand, are made to supplement your primary lighting. You can use them to fill in dark areas around your grow room when your primary lights can’t reach. They're also perfect for seedlings, clones, and young plants because they give them enough light to grow without overwhelming them.
For example, the 50 Watt Advance Spectrum All Blue LED Grow Light Panel has over 100 low-wattage chips. These will help fill in gaps of light around your plants during the vegging stage, and can give you enough light for smaller plants like clones and seedlings.
In general, supplemental LEDs are great at giving your plants an additional amount of lumens and wavelengths they need. If your primary light can’t give your plants all the lumens or wavelengths they need, using one or more lower-powered supplemental LED grow lights will help your plants get all the light they need to thrive.
