What is LED Grow Light Distance Chart? What is the importance of the LED grow light distance chart? If you would like to find the answers, then read our article. Look what our experts at 420expertadviser have brought you to understand.
Growing cannabis plants indoors is a new revolution. The countries that have made marijuana legal see an exponential increase in the number of indoor cannabis growers. And so there is an increase in using of LED grow lights.
Because LED grow, lights are better than any traditional grow lights. But, do you know LED lights can be harmful too?
I am not joking! It’s right!
When you grow cannabis plants without knowing the proper distance of your LED grow lights from your plant canopy, all your efforts will be futile. You could harm your plants’ growth.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to be the good verse of the LED grow light distance chart.
LED Grow Light Distance Chart
There are innumerable LED grow lights in the market. Every light has different light intensity, PAR value, and wattage. All these lights should be placed at the best distance to provide the best light to the plants for their healthy growth.
Why is it necessary to know about the LED grow light distance chart?
We all know that LED lighting is suitable for plants. However, these lights give enough light to the plant canopy.
But, do you know the blessings of LED lights can turn into a disaster if you don’t know the ideal light distance chart?
Several reasons favor you should have proper knowledge of the height of the light from your plant ahead of using them-
- At an optimal distance, LED grow lights provide enough light to the plant canopy.
- Each plant is different, and so is the light. You must know that plant has different stages in their growth cycle. And for each stage, like the vegetative stage, flowering stage, and seedling stage, the light requirements are different.
- LED lights definitely help in having the maximum yields. But if you don’t use them properly, your plants will either stop growing in the lack of proper lighting or burn in case of too much light.
- This would directly hit your yields and the quality of the harvest.
When should you be alert about adjusting your light?
Your plants will say it all. But, of course, plants need intense light for faster growth and better yields. And LED light technology helps in getting high cannabis yields. But where lower power consumption can slow your plant growth, excess heat absorption can be the reason for heat stress and stunted growth in plants.
Eventually, if you see the following signs on your plants, then the time is Now!
- Cultivators should observe the leaf construction to decide whether there is a lot of light or insufficient while utilizing LED boards during the vegetative stage.
- If you see that your plants are loosening up or stretching out, it is a clear indication that they need more light. Hence you should consider lowering the distance from the plant canopy.
- When you start noticing that the leaves’ color becomes yellow, plants are receiving too much heat. Excess light burns plants and also affects their photosynthesis process, and plants may die.
- Therefore, you should always keep track of your plant’s growth. The plant indicates a high light intensity if you observe green stains on the stem.
How can you measure LED light intensity for your plants?
So, how do you measure your plant’s light intensity? There are the following ways to measure whether the heat coming from the light is good or too much,
1) Hand Method:
This is an easy and primary method; place the upper side of your hand directly under the light. If it feels bearable to your hand, plants grow under the light and get significant light levels.
Conversely, if you cannot bear the heat coming out of the LED grow light, it’s time to keep your plants farther away.
2) PAR and PPFD Method:
This is a very effective way to measure your grow light’s intensity. But for this, let me briefly tell you about PAR and PPFD.
PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation): depicts the piece of the apparent range of light, or you can say the visible spectrum of the light that plants use for photosynthesis. It usually ranges between 400nm-700nm.
PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density): PPFD implies how much light (PAR) a plant gets in its complete growth cycle. PPFD addresses the light intensity of the grow light that a plant would receive at a certain height. It is estimated in micromoles of photons per square meter per second.
Generally speaking, PPFD estimates how many photons (the light) the sun “pours” onto the plants after some time as the Grow lights replace the natural light indoors.
PPFD is a significant measure of knowing how much light is enough at each growth level of the plant canopy.
You can quickly determine whether the light height is good or too far or nearby knowing PPFD.
The LED Grow Light Distance Calculator:
There is a LED grow light distance calculator you will find on most of the LED grow lights manufacturers’ sites. It is straightforward to use.
Using it will quickly know the exact distance to hang your light from your indoor plants. This way, you can prevent your foliage from burning.
In general rule, you can calculate the light distance by following these steps:
Firstly, find out the distance between your plant canopy and your LED grow light. This is the X you will use in the grow light distance formula.
Next, find the distance between the plant top that is near the hood and the LED panel. This is the distance at which you should place your lights. The distance you will find is inches or centimeters.
If you use an LED panel with two bulbs, divide the amount you got in the previous step by two.
After that, Check your output with the LED Distance chart to determine whether it is near or far or is enough to promote faster growth of the indoor garden.
LED grow light distance chart
Here, I have mentioned an ideal distance of your light in both the vegetative and flowering phases.
Don’t forget to follow as you can position your LED light accordingly in every season. This way, you can avoid plant burn.
Wattage LED Distance (inches)
150 10-18
200 10-20
400 16-30
600 18-36
800 20-36
1000 20-42
Understanding the grow light distance chart
Growing indoor plants under LED grow lights is mesmerizing yet full of new challenges. LED grow light distance chart makes it easy for you to understand the best distance to get the light outputs optimum to get potent buds and healthy flowers.
To understand the grow light distance chart, we should first know the light requirements at each stage of the plants.
We all know that plants have three stages in their growth cycle. Seedling stage, vegetative stage, and flowering stage.
At each stage daily light requirement of your plant changes.
Let us understand the plant distance chart according to each stage:
Seedling stage:
Young seedlings do not need intense light. And here, many growers make mistakes by keeping their LED grow lights near and intense to promote faster growth. The soft and delicate seedlings get adverse effects and thus either die or do not grow as expected.
Therefore, I recommend you use a gentle approach for your plants at the seedling stage as they need less energy. Generally, 24-35 inches is the best distance considered at this stage.
However, when you see your seedlings are getting sprouted, you can reduce the distance between the light and your plant canopy.
Cloning Stage:
Cloning is a favorite practice of many cannabis growers. Though It is not a regular phase of a plant’s growth cycle, yet is essential. In this stage, growers use cuttings and clips of the mature plants to grow new plants in their indoor garden.
Clones need highly intense light to reach to next vegetative state. It is opposite to the seedling phase. Growing cannabis through cloning, you must hang your light somewhere around 14-36 inches above the plant canopy.
Vegetative Stage:
If you have been growing indoor plants for a long, you must be aware of the importance of the vegetative phase in the plant’s life. At this stage, plants need very high-intensity light to perform photosynthesis.
Also, plants grow faster to become mature, and high heat and light are essential to prepare their food and grow well. Enough light ensures getting the most potent buds and healthy growth with heavy yields.
We recommend keeping your LED grow light distance between 12-24 inches.
However, you must understand that you should keep your eye on the light here. Though plants need heavy light your awareness would avoid light burn.
Flowering stage:
The last phase of the growth cycle is the flowering stage. Flowering plants tend to create buds and attain height at this stage by stem development.
For getting taller plants, you should increase the height of the lighting setup. But, make sure that you gradually and slowly increase the distance by closely monitoring the progress.
If you want your plants to achieve a great stature, only increase the height at the last time of the growing cycle. Some growers love their plants to stay short, and those do not need to increase height. However, a height between 16-36 inches is good for the best growth at this stage.
Hopefully, you have understood the LED grow light distance chart concept now. For your queries, refer to our FAQs.
FAQs about LED grow light distance chart:
Q1. How much distance should I keep between LED grow lights?
Ans: There should be at least 6 inches gap between the two grow lights in a veg state. However, this distance can be 8-10 or even more in flowering plants as plants increase during this time.
Q2. Can you tell the distance between the light and the plant if we are using other lights than LED grow lights?
Ans: LED grow lights are the new resolution in indoor plant growing. Ahead of these other lights, High-Pressure Sodium (HPS), Fluorescent Grow lights, and HID lighting were used; these are cost-effective but throw too much light on plants.
Well, the distance from plants of these lights can be considered as follows:
CFL: At the seedling stage, 6-12 inches, while from veg to flowering stage, 12-16 inches is a good height.
HPS or Metal Halide lights: Well, in the case of these lights, you should observe their growth and check the heat regularly. Use the hand method, and if your hand can bear the heat of the light, then it’s okay. Else, consider increasing the distance between the plant canopy and the light.
Generally, if you are using an HID light of 1000W, keeping the distance between 19-26 inches from your plants is a good option.
Final Words on LED Distance Chart:
The ultimate goal of any grower is to have bountiful yields and potent buds. LED grow lights do well in supporting your plant’s growth. Yet, you must know and check every possible parameter. Ahead of growing, the height of your grow light is one of the most crucial factors affecting whole-plant growth.
I have tried my best to give a broader look at the LED grow light distance chart concept. Hopefully, you have enjoyed the article and got the inputs right. Have a wonderful growing!