We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. What to Buy The 5 Best Grow Lights for a Year-Round Indoor Garden Grow lights are the secret to indoor gardening success. By Julia Skinner Julia Skinner Julia Skinner is a food historian, educator, and founder of Root, an Atlanta-based company focused on fermentation and bringing historic food to the modern world. She has published several books on food and food history, including Our Fermented Lives (2022) and Afternoon Tea (2021). Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 1, 2024 In This Article View All In This Article Our Top Picks Reviews Our Favorite How We Tested Grow Lights Factors to Consider FAQ Other Grow Lights We Tested What Didn't Make the List Our Expertise Photo: Food & Wine / Rachel Marek Growing herbs and vegetables can elevate your cooking, from salads with just-plucked lettuce leaves to cocktails with home-grown garnishes. But not all of us have an outdoor space available for gardening or the weather to garden year-round. If you're looking to scratch your gardening itch but are short on outdoor space, indoor gardens are the perfect solution. Whether you have pots and soil or a hydroponic system, your indoor garden can benefit from a grow light, especially where natural light is low. Grow lights help plants spring up quicker and stay healthy, regardless of the season. We’re here to help you choose the right light based on the size of your plants (and how large they'll grow), their light requirements, and your space. After testing 16 grow lights, these are our top picks. Our Top Picks Best Overall: SALE Soltech Solutions Aspect Grow Light at Amazon $200 $150 Jump to Review Best Value: SALE Leoter Grow Light for Indoor Plants at Amazon $31 $21 Jump to Review Best Under-Cabinet: Soltech Solutions LED Grow Light at Amazon $130 Jump to Review Best for Countertops: AeroGarden Trio Grow Light at Amazon $84 Jump to Review Best Light Bulb: GE BR30 LED Grow Light Bulb at Amazon $21 Jump to Review Best Overall Soltech Solutions Aspect Grow Light PHOTO: Bloomscape $200 $150 at Amazon View on Bloomscape.com View on Soltech.com Pros This grow light's elegant design and simple setup make it our top choice for indoor spaces. Cons The light has fewer features than some other options we tested. The Bloomscape excelled in our tests, and it's beautiful to boot. Setup was a breeze: Simply plug it in, no wiring required. We especially like that it comes with clear instructions (and clearly labeled hardware packets) for mounting the light on a variety of surfaces, like drywall and wood. Its performance impressed us, too. Our seedlings thrived under this light, and one experienced gardener who tested the light noted this would be a great way to grow starter plants in the winter and get ahead on your spring garden. While this light has fewer features than some others we tested (for example, no dimmer switch), it works so well, is so easy to use, and is so attractive that we had to name it our Best Overall. Size: 6 ½” (L) x 4” (D) | Bulb Type: LED | Wattage: 40 watts | Features: Outlet timer, adjustable height, mounting hardware included PHOTO: Food & Wine / Kseniya Ivnitskaya PHOTO: Food & Wine / Kseniya Ivnitskaya Best Value Leoter Grow Light for Indoor Plants PHOTO: Amazon $31 $21 at Amazon Pros This bendable, flexible light fits in small spaces and is easy to use. Cons The timer only extends to 12 hours, which may not be enough light for some plants. This grow light consists of four lights, meaning you can direct light at multiple plants at once. We liked that we could move and bend each one easily, adjusting them to our space and upwards as our plants grew. The brightness of the light can be adjusted, as can the wavelength. Pressing a button, you can choose white, red and blue, or full spectrum. While this light isn't unique (we found it nearly the same as others on the market), it's simple to use and the price is right. Size: 13.46 x 5.71 x 3.27 inches | Bulb Type: LED | Wattage: 40 watts | Features: Timer, dimmable, adjustable spectrum, adjustable height PHOTO: Food & Wine / Cara Milhaven PHOTO: Food & Wine / Cara Milhaven Best Under-Cabinet Soltech Solutions LED Grow Light PHOTO: Amazon $130 at Amazon View on Soltech.com Pros This lightweight, versatile light keeps your favorite plants healthy in small places. Cons Mounting it and keeping it mounted were more difficult than other models. The Soltech Grove is a great space saver in small homes and apartments but is still large enough for multiple plants to sit underneath. We noticed it made a big difference to the health of our plants, and the light is dimmable by touch, making it easy to turn up or down as you need. Plus, because the light isn't part of a complete home garden system, you can use whatever pots and plants you'd like instead of having to purchase replacement plants from a manufacturer. While we appreciated the minimal setup time, mounting it with the included stickers proved difficult, even though the unit is lightweight. Our light fell off the wall several times after mounting, and it even took the paint off another wall when we tried moving it elsewhere. We had better luck swapping out the included stickers with Command strips or, if you want a more permanent solution, use the included screws and mounting hardware instead.Size: 18 x 4 x 3.5 inches | Bulb Type: LED | Wattage: 11 watts | Features: Dimmable, adjustable, timer, multiple mounting options PHOTO: Food & Wine / Jenica Currie PHOTO: Food & Wine / Jenica Currie Best for Countertops AeroGarden Trio Grow Light PHOTO: Amazon $84 at Amazon View on Aerogarden.com Pros We like the minimal design and setup of this light. And if you’re looking for features, it has them. Cons It’s on the short side and may not work for taller, bulkier plants. It also tends to tip over if not positioned correctly. Ready to go nearly right out of the box, this light was easy to assemble and use. It has three separate arms, which means you can light multiple plants at once. We liked some of the functions of the app, too, like controlling how much light plants get each day and adjusting the bulbs' brightness to mimic sunrise and sunset. The app isn't mandatory; you can adjust everything on the light itself, as well. In our tests, the light worked best with smaller plants. While the arms can bend and adjust as needed, the unit isn’t tall enough to cover larger houseplants. But if you’re looking for a grow light for herbs on your kitchen counter or a few plants on your desk, it’s a great size. Size: 14.88 x 6.46 x 6.46 inches | Bulb Type: LED | Wattage: 5 watts per bulb (15 watts total) | Features: phone app, adjustable height, adjustable spectrum, timer, dimmable PHOTO: Food & Wine / Rachel Marek PHOTO: Food & Wine / Rachel Marek Best Light Bulb GE BR30 LED Grow Light Bulb PHOTO: Amazon $21 $19 at Amazon $27 at Walmart $16 at Lowe's Pros This light bulb is simple, effective, and affordable if you already have a fixture in place. Cons Since it doesn't come with a light fixture, features such as adjustability depend on what light fixture you choose. Back in the old days, grow lights tended to get pretty warm, and most LED lights filled a space with harsh, white light. Neither is the case with this bulb, which we found has a comfortable light color and temperature, and the bulb stays cool (and uses less energy) than its wattage-hungry predecessors. If you already have a fixture you want to use, this bulb is a great choice. We especially like that it comes with instructions, which suggest mounting heights for different types of plants based on their light needs. The one downside: we noticed a slight, high-pitched hum, but only when the room was very quiet. All in all, this bulb is great at doing what it's advertised to do, providing light to your plants in the correct spectrum to help them grow. Size: 4-3/4-inch diameter | Bulb Type: LED | Wattage: 9 watts | Features: Full spectrum light PHOTO: Food & Wine / Viveka Neveln PHOTO: Food & Wine / Viveka Neveln Our Favorite The Bloomscape Soltech Aspect Large Grow Light topped our tests for its durable construction, attractive design, and effectiveness. We loved how easy it was to install and use, and how healthy our plants were during growing. How We Tested Grow Lights To find the best grow lights for different needs, we planted basil, spinach, and tomato seeds in pots, placing them under each grow light as well as natural light. We kept the grow lights on between 14 and 16 hours each day for optimal growth, and we noted the amount of natural light the other plants got in a day. We also observed the brightness of the grow lights, how far the lights reached, the amount of space each system took up, and more. We provided plants under grow lights and under natural light with identical care, keeping them under the same temperatures and humidity, in addition to watering them at the same time with the same amount of water. We continued this routine for six weeks, measuring the height of the tallest sprout for each after three weeks and six weeks. Of course, we considered more than plant growth. Setup, user-friendliness, and design all factored into our overall ratings. We tested available features and settings, including color controls (red lights are great for the early stages of growth) and timers. We also tested apps and rated them based on our overall experience. Factors to Consider Light Color Just like with the stage of growth, different types of plants can do better with different light colors. Blue or white lights are best for vegetables and red lights are best for flowers, according to Valerie Thrasher, co-owner of Box of Rain Organic Garden Center. LED lights can help plants grow "if they are the right color spectrum and intensity," she says. Many modern grow lights are LED and are full-spectrum; some allow you to adjust the light spectrum for specific plants and growth periods, too. These are energy efficient, don't produce a ton of heat, and emit the ideal wavelengths for plants to grow. If you choose another type of bulb, check the watts and that it's full spectrum. “Nothing can substitute the full spectrum of the natural sun,” says Thrasher. “Any light has a score to compare it to the sun. It's called the CRI or Color Rendering Index. The closer to the sun the closer to 100." Wattage Our top picks range from 9 watts for one bulb to 40 watts for a larger fixture. The best wattage depends on the size of your indoor garden. Generally, you'll want between 30 to 40 watts per square foot. But also consider the size and light requirements of your plants. Grow lights with fewer watts (like the 15-watt Aerogarden we reviewed) can be a great option for a collection of smaller plants. Your Space Think about how many plants you want to sit under the light and the size of the space dedicated to your indoor garden. A hanging light is great for plants on the floor or at the edge of a room, while a tabletop light is perfect for plants that are, well, on a table. Under-cabinet lights are a great choice for tight spaces or those with low light. If you already have a fixture you love, maybe all you need is a bulb. More plants and more space mean more room for a larger light, of course, but if you just want to light a plant or two, you may prefer a smaller option. And because grow lights need to be on for up to 18 hours a day, keep your sleeping area in mind. If you live in a studio apartment, for example, look for a light you can position away from you or one with a covering that focuses light downward. Installation Our top picks were all simple to set up, but not all grow light fixtures are. Note whether your fixture requires assembly, includes mounting or other hardware, or if there are specific considerations for where and how to install it. For example, a heavy light can't just be mounted on a lightweight surface without additional hardware. Features Do you want your lights to adjust with the height of your plants as they grow? Do you care about apps or smart connectivity? Do you want a dimmable bulb? A few minutes of thinking ahead about how you might use the light in the future can help you pick the light that best fits your needs. Frequently Asked Questions How do grow lights work? There’s a science to light bulbs. "HID or high-intensity discharge lights work by using electricity to heat up different mixtures of chemicals to produce different wavelengths of light that we perceive as color spectrum,” says Thrasher. “This is measured in nanometers and Kelvin. They produce photosynthetically active radiation or PAR that plants use for photosynthesis. LEDs or light-emitting diodes are the new tech and can have a drastic effect on overall energy consumption while generating PAR for the plants.” How long should grow lights be on? "For vegetative growth, 18 hours on time and six hours of off time per 24 hours is preferred, and for blooming or flowering you would generally want 12 hours or less of daylight per 24-hour period,” says Thrasher. How far should grow lights be from plants? “That would depend on what type of light you were using and the total wattage of the fixture being used. LED lights can be placed much closer to the plants without creating hot spots or burning the plant as easily,” says Thrasher. Make sure your plants aren't getting burned, and look up the recommendations for your specific plants as you set up your new light. What color grow light is best? It depends on the stage of growth your plant is in, according to Thrasher. For seedlings and cuttings, she recommends about 6,400K (which some manufacturers refer to as blue or white light) and about 3,000K (which some manufacturers refer to as yellow or red) for flowering plants. Other Grow Lights We Tested Strong Contenders Dymond BoostGro LED Grow Light ($20 at Amazon)This light was easy to set up and worked well. We wish it had a timer, and that it was easier to position the lights so they didn't flood the whole room. Feit Electric LED Grow Light ($30 at Amazon)We found this light easy to set up, and it did seem to help the plants grow stronger. But in the end, it didn’t stand out to us. LBW Grow Light with Stand ($30 at Amazon)We liked many things about this light, including its accurate timer and easily adjustable height. While they offer other models with adjustable spectrum lights, we would have liked to see that as a standard feature on this model, too. Mars Hydro LED Grow Lights ($130 at Amazon)This dimmable, effective grow light is easy to set up and use. We just wish it came with a built-in timer so we didn't have to buy one separately. What Didn't Make the List Overall, we were impressed with the grow lights we tested, but some of them let us down in terms of quality, functionality, and value. We knocked the GooingTop LED Grow Light ($22 at Amazon) off our list because we didn't notice a marked difference between the health of the plants under this light versus those grown in natural light. Other grow lights made a difference in plant growth, including the Spider Farmer SF4000 LED Grow Light ($460 at Amazon). But we were surprised that such a pricey light setup didn't include a timer. While this light does its job well, the price and difficult setup make it an unlikely candidate for the casual home gardener. Our Expertise Julia Skinner, PhD, is a food writer and avid gardener, who educates the public on food waste reduction and fermentation through her business, Root. Valerie Thrasher co-owns Box of Rain Organic Garden Center in Montana with her husband. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit