LED grow lights are possibly the most important thing you need to grow indoor plants. It provides sufficient light to your plants and helps them grow. With the best budget LED grow light you can grow an entire indoor garden in your house.
However, if you are just a beginner, there are certain things you need to keep in mind. In this post, we will discuss some of the common mistakes to avoid when using LED grow lights.
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Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some of the most common mistakes that people make when using LED grow lights.
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Overheating the plants
Too much heat can prove to be damaging for your plants. If you notice the leaves of your plants turning brown, then it’s an indication that you are overheating your plants.
The first signs usually look like thin outlines on the edge of the leaves. If you notice them quickly, then you can prevent your plants from getting damaged further.
Overheating is caused due to LED grow lights. If you are using a very powerful LED light, then it may result in overheating. You may also notice the leaves curling up when you place your plants too close to the light. Besides that, you also need to have a good ventilation system in your grow tent as it helps in cooling.
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Installing the lights at an improper distance
As a newbie, you may not be able to figure out the correct distance to place the lights. You can either end up placing the lights too close or too far away from the plants.
Placing your plants too close will result in overheating as described in the first pointer. On the other hand, placing the lights too far will provide insufficient lighting to the plants.
Although there is no hard and fast rule for setting the distance, it is recommended that you place the LED at least 12 to 18 inches away from the plants.
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Not following the right light schedule
Many growers tend to leave the lights on at all times. If you are one of them, then you are doing it all wrong.
Keeping the lights on 24 hours can impact your plants heavily. It might sound trivial to you, but it can easily mess up your plants. Even a slight change in the light schedule can hurt the growth of your plant.
Plants like cannabis are sensitive to light and using the wrong light schedule can affect their growth badly. Cannabis plants need about 18 to 24 hours of light during the vegetative stage. But during the flowering stage, only 12 hours of light is enough.
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Not adjusting the lights
Another common mistake is when growers forget to adjust the grow lights. With your plants growing, you must change the position of the lights to avoid overheating or insufficient lighting.
You are required to occasionally rotate the plantation platform to prevent the plants from getting close to the light source. If you ignore these small things, it can affect the growth and health of your plants.
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Choosing the wrong light spectrum
Different plants need a different spectrum of lights. Choosing the wrong light spectrum can affect the growth of your plants.
You can opt for a full-spectrum LED light, so you can adjust it as per your requirement. But if you set it wrong, your plants will not develop well.
Most plants in their vegetative stage grow the best in the blue spectrum. So if you set the light spectrum to red, it will only hinder the growth of your plant.
By avoiding these small mistakes you can grow a healthy indoor garden in your house. If you are a newbie, do some research before getting started.
