For indoor plants, we need grow lights to mimic the sunlight. These lights have utmost importance as they are responsible for the growth of plants by providing the required spectrum of light. Thus, you need to purchase grow lights with care. While buying a grow light for indoor plants, the most important thing that comes to mind is the output of the light. A grow light is evaluated on the basis of its output.
You will see PAR, lumens, or both on the specification, and this is where beginners get confused. It is important to understand PAR and Lumens to determine whether the grow light is suitable for your plant or not.
Lumen is the SI unit of luminous flux. It is actually for humans because it is related to the light perceived by the human eye. Our eyes can only see the visible range of white light, which is 400-700 nm in wavelength. However, the white light also contains other radiations, including UV and IR. Lumen specifies the range of the light that humans can see. It does not tell what plants perceive.
For plants, there is a special unit, which is PAR. It is an acronym for Photosynthetic Active Radiation. It represents the light/radiations that plants use for photosynthesis. The spectrum of light that we see through the common eye is a bit different than what plants need. We see almost all radiations playing an equal role in the spectrum. In contrast, plants do not use all radiations in the spectrum equally. For instance, the least useful radiation for plants is yellow, while humans have a great impact of yellow radiation on eyes. Moreover, blue light is the most fruitful light for plants. It is clear that PAR and Lumens are different. PAR is for plants, and Lumens is for humans.
Thus, while selecting the grow lights for indoor plants, you need to consider the PAR value.
Usually, both values are mentioned in the specification, but PAR has more importance. You need to select the light that has a suitable PAR according to your indoor plants. PAR is mearsured in PPF (Photosynthetic Photon Flux) that quantifies the number of plant-usable photons emitted by a light source. Its unit is µmol/s (micromoles per second), and you will find this value in the specification of authentic grow lights. You might also encounter another metric, which is PPFD. It is a Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density that represents PPF per unit area. This also helps in understanding how much the PPF the grow light fixture can provide in a unit area. Its unit is µmol/s/m2 (micromoles per second per square meter).
Aokairuisi led grow lights can be customized and meet your requirements about all plants. Please feel free to contact our aokairuisi team!