Summer is officially over, along with its allotment of free sunlight. You might be sad about this, but your indoor plants might be even sadder. A good LED grow light can replicate sunlight with full-spectrum light and day/night cycles, keeping plants lush and thriving even in a dark, windowless corner or basement.
I have no fewer than 40 houseplants in my home at any given time, as well as a fair number of grow lights, and what I’ve found to be important for a general consumer (i.e., someone not doing that kind of indoor grow) isn’t necessarily certain colored light wavelengths but whether a grow light is easy to live with in your house.
Many grow lights are more or less going to serve the same purpose, so what you really need to know is this: Is the light so bright that it’s disruptive? Does it require complicated installation? Is it easy for kids or pets to knock over? The grow lights recommended below are ones that WIRED staffers have lived with for months, if not years, and have found them both effective and easy to integrate into our lives.
Also be sure to check out our guides to the Best Indoor Gardening Systems, Best Gifts for Plant Lovers, and Best Kitchen Composters.
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Best Grow Light for Small Plants and Seedlings
There are a lot of options out there for starting seeds and helping houseplants along in the winter, and many of them are bulky, fussy, or require elaborate hanging setups. This simple, 15-inch-long light from Vego sticks to its 3M adhesive mount with a magnet, so it’s easy to take on and off and use with existing racks or, as I do, under a kitchen cabinet. Up to four Vego lights can be daisy-chained together, and the five preprogrammed modes (Seeds, Leafy, Fruits, Herbs, Microgreens) have varying intensities and automatic built-in off periods to simulate nighttime. I have not found this light especially disruptive, especially since it’s easy to turn on and off with the button on the back.
WIRED commerce SEO director Stewart Savin used these lights to start her garden earlier this year and had 138 successful germinations across 144 seedling cells. (“The vast majority of those plants went on to have long lives in my garden after I hardened them off,” she says.) Note that because this light can only go beneath a rack, shelf, or cabinet, it’s not inherently adjustable, and therefore is best for small plants (like seedlings) that aren’t going to grow especially tall.
| PPFD at 18″ | 83 μmol/m²/s (in Fruits mode) |
| App control? | No |
| Timer? | Automatic |
| Dimmable? | Yes, via the different modes |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Most Versatile Grow Light
This do-anything light, with a broad 2 x 3-foot head, can hang from the ceiling or swivel on its included stand where you need it. (Up to 20 of these lights can be daisy-chained.) Note that while the stand is useful, the 1-inch-diameter pole and offset base aren’t the sturdiest, and it’s easy to knock over, so I’d recommend hanging it if you have pets and small kids. I learned this the hard way while trying to revive a corn plant in a dark corner at the top of my stairs.
While this light is quite bright and potentially disruptive, it’s easily dimmable via the remote, which hangs on a cord. At first I thought this was weird, but I found it extremely useful when the light was behind plants or in another hard-to-reach spot.
Also worth noting: While the stand height is supposed to be adjustable up to 72 inches, mine only goes up to about 64 inches, so it may not be the best option for extremely tall plants.
| Approx. PPFD at 18″ | 299 μmol/m²/s |
| App control? | Yes |
| Timer? | Yes |
| Dimmable? | Yes |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Best Grow Light for Serious Indoor Growers
Vivosun is a long-respected brand among indoor growers, and its LumaLight panels are sturdy and all business. In fact, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a higher-quality grow light for the price. This is not necessarily a light for casual houseplant parents—the 100-watt, 12 x 12-inch model weighs 4.4 pounds and needs to be attached to the ceiling or inside one of Vivosun’s grow tents using the included adjustable ropes and carabiners.
If you’re growing fruiting or flowering plants, though, this is the grow light you want—none of the other lights I tested even came close to its level of brightness. That said, you probably won’t want it in a main living area, though it is dimmable via a dial on top. The LumaLight is IP65-rated for water resistance, and up to seven units can be daisy-chained if you need.
| Approx. PPFD at 18″ | 480 μmol/m²/s (at 100%) |
| App control? | With the add-on GrowHub controller only |
| Timer? | With the add-on GrowHub controller only |
| Dimmable? | Yes |
| Warranty | 5 years |
Best Budget Grow Light
Former WIRED commerce director Martin Cizmar loved and recommended this grow light for his houseplants, which features three bendable heads on a clip you can attach to a table or shelf. It has a timer for three, nine, or twelve hours, plus a 10-foot cord if you need to place it away from an outlet. It also has warm and cool lighting options in addition to full spectrum, if you want to use it for ambiance (despite it looking, in my opinion, sort of like a creepy Freddy Krueger glove), plus 10 dimming modes. Right now, the base price on Amazon is for a two-pack.
| Approx. PPFD at 18″ | Not measured |
| App control? | No |
| Timer? | Yes |
| Dimmable? | Yes |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Alternatives to Traditional Grow Lights
If you don’t have the space or desire for a classic grow light, I’ve used all three options below for at least a year, and all resulted in happy plants.
This stylish structure is designed to fit Ferry-Morse seedling trays, but it could be limiting in many households given the square footage it requires (18 x 22 inches). I have, however, been using it for years to revive smaller houseplants and start seedlings for my indoor gardens.
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This stylish structure is designed to fit Ferry-Morse seedling trays, but it could be limiting in many households given the square footage it requires (18 x 22 inches). I have, however, been using it for years to revive smaller houseplants and start seedlings for my indoor gardens.
Other Grow Lights Tested
Sansi Pot Clip-On Plant Lights for $30: These Sansi grow lights came in handy when I was living in a dark basement with minimal light for plants and hardly any space to store them. They clip directly onto the pot, so you don’t need a dedicated stand or extra space, and they run on a three-, six-, or twelve-hour timer. The long cord (just over 6 feet) also helps in awkward or tight spaces. These lights helped my Monstera stay alive over winter with almost no natural light. Just be aware that the clips work best on thin pots, though you can also stick them on a chopstick or stake if needed, thanks to the adjustable gooseneck, depending on how tall your plant is. —Louryn Strampe
Ferry-Morse Indoor Grow Light Fixture for $40: This T5 fluorescent bulb is meant to sit in a fixture on little metal pole legs over a 10 x 20-inch seedling tray, but it seemed a bit rickety when I assembled it and set it up, and the light bulb wouldn’t turn on for me despite extensive troubleshooting.
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