How Use LED Grow Lights for Cannabis Growing

LEDs (light emitting diodes) have become ubiquitous in the lighting world over the last decade. While not necessarily the ideal light for growing cannabis, LED lights offer several advantages.

First of all, they are low voltage, which means less money spent on upkeep and electricity to keep them running. Coupled with this, they produce very little heat, which means you don’t need to worry about overheating your grow tent if you use LED grow lights. It also further reduces your reliance on ventilation and fans, adding even deeper energy savings. In fact, depending on your operation, you may very well need to heat the room if you are using LED lighting.

For growers prioritizing privacy, LED lights offer an additional bonus— the low heat makes LED lighting virtually impossible to detect with thermal imaging techniques commonly used to spot the infrared heat of more conventional HPS grow lights. LED lighting is also quieter than the other lighting options, without the background hum emitted by HPS lights.

Remember that not all LED lights are created equal! Be sure to check your bulbs and make sure that they are high-wattage and have a high lumen value. The higher these are, the brighter your light will be. You also want to make sure that LED lights you choose have been specifically manufactured to emit light at the full spectrum of color your plants need for proper photosynthesis.

LED lights do have a higher initial investment than some of the cheaper options, which can cause some growers to be skeptical about using them. Then again, they are very efficient. LED lights waste far less energy as heat, assuming the room doesn’t need to be heated, and those savings on electricity will pay for themselves in just a couple years. You also don’t need to worry about setting your grow room on fire, and LED lights last for a long time. Some manufacturers advertise more than 100,000 hours of life in their LED bulbs, which gives you enough time for almost ten years of harvesting. Click here for the best led lights for marijuana plants.

What Are The Marijuana Growth Stages?
And Why Should I Care?
Growing weed indoors with LED lights can be intimidating for newbies and for experienced cannabis growers that are switching from HID grow light, fluorescent grow lights or other types of older grow light technology to LED.

However, assuming you use a quality, full spectrum, light, switching to LED is easy once you learn a few basic principles concerning what you should do upon reaching the various stages of plant growth.
Plant Growth Stages
The different marijuana grow stages require require different LED light exposure (both time and type), fertilizer, and water amounts. Additionally, the various stages also will help you determine the best time to prune your plants and perform other tasks.

As a result, you need to be able to recognize the four stages of plant growth, which are seed germination, seedlings, vegetation, and flowering.
TIP-LED grow lights are designed to mimic the outdoors. So, your LED lights should never be on 24-7.

Seed Germination
(LED Lights On:18 Hours Of Light For Five to Ten Days)

Germination occurs when a seed’s shell opens up an grows a root. The root then pushes a seedling over the soil’s surface and forms the initial two leaves of a cannabis plant.

These first leaves don’t look like a typical marijuana plant. Upon reaching this stage your cannabis plant will then go into the seedling stage.
TIP-Choose cannabis seeds that are a light to dark brown color, hard and dry. Seeds that are not ready to be planted are mushy and either white or green.

Seedlings Growth Stage
(LED Lights On:18 Hours Light Daily For Two To Three Weeks)
Upon the first two cannabis leaves receiving light after popping out of the soil your marijuana plant will then begin to grow another group of leaves. This is when leaves will start looking like a typical cannabis leaf.
As the seedling grows additional leaves are grown and will appear near the plants stem. The marijuana stem, at this stage, may be quite weak; so, you may need to tie a small stake to the stem to make them stay upright.
Your Cannabis plants remain in the seedling growth stage until the leaves have the correct number of blades for a fully developed cannabis plant, which is
between four to eight leaves.
Don't be alarmed if some of the bottom leaves of your plants have fallen off as this is entirely normal. A proper, healthy, seedling should be a bright green.
Also, even though It may seem counter-intuitive, but you need to make sure that your cannabis plant is not given too much water during the seedling growth stage.
Precautions
Marijuana plants are susceptible to mold and disease at the seedling stage. So, be sure to keep your growing area clean and check for the proper humidity.

Vegetative Stage
(LED Lights On: 18 Hours Light Daily For Three to 16 weeks)
The veg stage is where you first start noticing the results of your efforts. Your cannabis plants will start to mature and grow more leaves. Also, the stems will start to get thicker. You’ve reached the end of the seedling stage when you are able to recognize your cannabis plant’s sex.
During the vegetation stage, you'll need to increase watering and apply the proper nutrients. Initially, you should water near the plants stalk, and one the roots grow outward, you should then start to water away from the plant stalk.

Flowering Stage
(12 Hours Of Light For Eight to 11 Weeks)
The flowering growth stage is the final grow stage and where you hopefully get the rewards of your labor-healthy buds. In nature, flowering occurs during the late day of summer and early fall. So, to best copy this, you’ll need to makes sure your flowering cannabis only receives around 12 hours of daily LED light exposure.
During the flowering stage, you will be able to determine whether a cannabis plant is male or female. Afterward, upon learning your marijuana plant's sex, you will then need to remove all male cannabis plants to stop the pollination of the female marijuana plants. If you fail to do this, your yield will be reduced significantly as pollinated female plants will have more seeds.
Also, you need to remember the following for the flowering stage:
Don’t prune your cannabis plants after three weeks into the flowering growth stage.
Start trellising your cannabis plants to ensure that your plant’s buds are supported when they get larger.
Start using various fertilizer and flowering nutrients for your plants. Potassium and phosphorous based fertilizer is preferred.