Is all white light the same? Why not just use an ordinary light bulb?

This is the most common question we get. The short answer is that the white light produced by our lights is unique and is not at all comparable to the spectrum of any store bought light bulbs. This is due to our unique spectrum that was designed for both plant growth and general lighting. Our lights provide a significant amount of output that corresponds with photosynthetically active radiation, commonly known as PAR, which is the acceptable wavelength range for photosynthesis. Like most LED grow lights, we have peaks of light that correspond with Chlorophyll A and B, Chlorophyll Synthesis, Carotenoids, Carotene, and far-red Phytochromes.

First, it is important to know what basic white light is. White is a combination of the primary colors red, green, and blue. In the LED industry, companies use two methods to produce white light. These include mixing light from red, green, and blue LEDs or by using a yellow phosphorous coating over a blue LED. The latter is a more efficient and higher-quality solution for home lighting and is used by nearly every LED producer. This works because a large amount of yellow light stimulates both the green and red cones in our eyes, tricking us into seeing white. This method is great for lighting but provides too much green and yellow light while not providing any of the critical red light needed for plant growth.

We set out to solve this problem by first focusing on the spectrum required for photosynthesis, then adjusting that spectrum until we got a high-quality white light!