LED Grow Light for Plants [Review]

Growing plants is a science and art. Since we have gone away from gardening and farming as our primary jobs, we have lost a lot of working knowledge. Climates have changed. Weather patterns have changed. And, the soil has changed. You cannot just put seeds in the ground and have them grow. In our growing zone, starting seeds indoors (winter sowing) is recommended. An LED Grow Light is a great gardening accessory for seed starting, germination, cloning, growing herbs and growing leafy vegetables year round. Red and blue wave lengths create a soft purple glow to help seeds and plants grow.

GrowHobby LED Grow Light     
Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
Solid metal construction	Requires a bulb socket
Effective at helping seeds germinate and plants grow
Energy-efficient (uses 12 watts)
Does not require replacement bulbs

GrowHobby LED Grow Light is basically a big light bulb with small LED lights made from German imported osram chipsets. The body is made from solid (thick) oxidized aluminum casing. The casing design looks a lot like a fan blade on a jet engine and allows for better heat distribution so that the plants do not get burned and you do not have to use heat sinks or fans. The construction of the LED Grow Light is solid and high quality. My husband, who is a Mechanical Engineer, appreciated the high quality design.

The Grow Light is very energy-efficient, requiring only 12 watts to use with an 800 lumens output. The Grow Light does not need replacing. The company states that it should last for more than 50,000 hours. I did a little calculation: if you use the Grow Light for 12 hours a day, it should last for almost 12 years! That's a very long time and definitely worth the investment!

Benefits of a Grow Light

• Easily bring a dull plant back to life
• Perfect for seedlings, cuttings or cloning, and germinating
• Suitable for all phases of plant growth (not enough power for full fruiting)
• Fits nicely inside small spaces without damaging heat build up
• Smart LED technology means no mercury
• No need to replace burnt bulbs
• Perfect for herbs, indoor plants, leafy vegetables, small fruiting plants, orchids, terrariums, hydroponic systems, aquarium plants and the like

Usage: The LED Grow Light screws into any standard light socket or lamp (e26 base). I purchase the GrowHobby Hanging Light Socket, separately, to go along with the LED Grow Light. I keep my seedlings first on the bay window where they receive filtered natural light and then I move them into the breezeway once the temperatures begin to climb in the Spring. This setup required for me to order the hanging light socket.

In the breezeway, I placed the seedlings on the table and weaved the Grow Light in the hanging light socket around the hook that was installed in the wooden beam on the ceiling. The LED Grow Light does have some weight to it, but the small hook held up the Grow Light and the hanging light socket well. The LED Grow Light was on for about 6 hours a day on the days that were cloudy or rainy.

Results: I am glad that I ordered the hanging light socket separately because it has given me freedom to put the seedlings and the light exactly where I want. I can move the LED Grow Light to exactly where I need it. In the past, I have had limited success with winter sowing because the plants ends up getting too leggy and flop over. Using the LED Grow Light, I felt like they did not get as leggy and grew more leaves.

I also used the LED Grow Light for a Purple Passion plant that did not overwinter well on my bay window and was not doing much better in the sunny breezeway. The LED Grow Light seems to have helped it to start growing leaves again, so I look forward to it coming back stronger and fuller.

I recommend this product for a gardener of any level. Though the initial investment is significant, remember that this LED Grow Light should last you for a very long time.

Disclosure: I received some of the products to facilitate this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own and are honest.