Growing herbs indoors is a fun and rewarding hobby, but to succeed, your plants need enough light. That’s where grow lights come in. The best LED grow lights for herbs will give your plants the right amount of light they need to grow and flourish.
Many of the popular culinary herbs like basil, oregano, rosemary, and thyme need six to eight hours of full sun. When herbs get the right amount of light, they are bushy, flavorful, and healthy.
But when you grow plants indoors, it’s hard to replicate mother nature without a little help. To supplement low light conditions in the home, you can add fluorescent lights for your plants.
LED grow lights contain red and blue spectrums that plants need for photosynthesis and chlorophyll absorption. Simply put, grow lights are the key to healthy, happy herbs.
With so many options to choose from, you may feel overwhelmed when comparing lights. We’re going to share our top picks for herb lights and what to look for when choosing one.
5 of The Best LED Grow Lights for Herbs
Here are our five favorite choices to make sure your indoor garden gets the right amount of light to grow herbs successfully.
1. Best for Single Herb Plants
GrowLED Umbrella Plant Herb Light
- Full Spectrum, 4000K cool white light
- Adjustable Height
- Automatic Timer
- 5Volts Low Safe Voltage
GrowLED’s Umbrella Grow Light is perfect for single herb plants. This full spectrum grow light offers height adjustability and the right light intensity to promote photosynthesis. The 4000K cool white also makes the lights more pleasant to look at.
The light has a built-in automatic smart timer, so it will run for 16 hours and shut off automatically for 8 hours. The automatic timer function ensures that your plants get all the light they need without you having to worry about turning the light on and off.
The Umbrella Grow Light is height-adjustable, so you can ensure that your plants get just the right amount of light. Just insert the light into your favorite plant pot, and you’re ready to start growing. The soil holds the light’s pole in place.
With its stylish design, this is more than just a grow light – it’s a great decoration for any home.
2. Best for Larger Indoor Gardens
EZORKAS 4-Arm Flexible Grow Light
- 9 dimmable modes: 20%-100%
- 3 lighting modes: All blue, all red, combo red and blue
- 3 cycle timing modes: 3 hours, 9 hours, or 12 hours
The EZORKAS grow light features four flexible arms, each with an LED grow light panel. With this grow light, you have more options when it comes to positioning, lighting modes, and dimmable levels.
A combination of red and blue LED lights gives plants what they need to grow and thrive. Each arm has a narrow panel of lights, and you can adjust the direction and position of each arm independently.
A simple adjustable clip allows you to clamp your lights onto any table, desk, shelf, or any other surface. Just use the control panel to adjust the light’s settings. These grow lights boast a lifetime of 50,000 hours.
The EZORKAS light is ideal for bigger indoor herb gardens because the flexible arms allow you to cover a bigger space
3. Best for Small Herb Gardens
GrowLED Indoor Herb Garden Light
- Plant drip tray with adjustable light
- Sized perfectly for 3 small pots
- Automatic Timer
GrowLED’s indoor herb garden light comes with a height-adjustable light and a stylish tray to sit your plants in. With dimensions of 18.7” x 17.72” x 7.48,” this grow light is ideal for smaller indoor herb gardens.
The automatic smart timer makes it easy to ensure that your plants get the right amount of light. The light stays on for 16 hours and off for 8 hours.
The light is easy to set up (all it takes is a few screws), and the sleek design will complement your home.
If you have a smaller herb garden (2-3 plants), this grow light is a great option because it won’t take up too much space in your home. Your plants will get just the right amount of light.
4. Best Clip On LED Grow Light – Great for Versatility –
GHodec Dual Head Grow Light
- 3 automatic timing options: 4 hours, 8 hours and 12 hours
- 5 brightness levels: 20%-100%
- 50W, full spectrum lighting
The GHodec dual head grow light has two flexible gooseneck arms that allow you to configure your indoor herb garden any way you please. These lights are compact, but they’re powerful and provide just the right amount of light for your plants.
But this light does more than just help your plants grow – you can also use it as a reading light.
The newly updated design of these grow lights features 5 red lights and 37 sunlight white LEDs. This design mimics sunlight at noon, and it’s ideal for all stages of indoor plant growth. These are 6000K lights that are flicker-free, so you can read comfortably if you’re using them for this purpose.
The clip at the base of the lights allows you to clamp the light onto any surface without having to drill holes or go through a complicated setup.
The timing setting can be adjusted independently for each arm, giving you freedom and flexibility in how you care for your growing herbs. Each arm moves 360 degrees, which makes it easy to use it for other purposes as well.
If you’re looking for a grow light that you can also use for other purposes, the GHodec is a great option.
5. Best for Custom Setups – Use It In Your Own Fixtures
GE Lighting BR30 LED Grow Lights
- Natural looking white light with a full spectrum, 9-Watt Grow Light Bulb
- 16 micromoles per second
- 25,000 hour life (about 3 yrs)
If you have a custom setup for your indoor herbs, the GE BR30 light makes it easy to keep your garden thriving. This LED grow light is a single bulb that looks just like any other lightbulb, which allows you to transform any lamp or light fixture into a grow light.
This 9W bulb offers a balanced spectrum to encourage growth in established herb plants, and it uses very little energy in the process.
GE’s light provides a pleasant, natural light temperature. The light appears white to the eye, but it does have the red and blue spectrum that plants need to grow.
One great thing about this bulb is that it offers the highest number of micromoles available. Photosynthesis Photon Flux (PPF) is an important thing to look at when choosing grow lights, and this is measured in micromoles. In this case, GE’s bulb ensures that your plants receive more than enough light for growth as well as photosynthesis.
How to Choose the Best LED Light for Growing Herbs Indoors
When choosing LED grow lights for your herbs, there are several things to consider. The right lights will give you healthy, thriving plants, while the wrong lights can stagnate your indoor herb garden plants.
Choose the Right Light Spectrum Output
One of the first and most important things to consider is the light spectrum output. When it comes to plant growth, there are two spectrums that really matter: blue and red.
- Blue light is ideal for photosynthesis and vegetative growth.
- Red light is ideal for stem growth, chlorophyll production and flowering.
Most LED indoor grow lights will have a combination of white, blue, and red lights to help ensure that your plants have the right type of light no matter what stage of growth they are in.
Make sure that any grow light you consider has the appropriate spectrum output for your herb garden.
Consider the Light Intensity Output
Along with the spectrum output, you also have to consider the intensity output. That’s what separates a grow light from a colored conventional light bulb.
You can’t just screw in blue and red LED lights and call it a day.
In nature, your herbs would get their light from the sun, which delivers intense light. With an indoor garden, your challenge is to mimic that sunlight to ensure that your plants get enough light for photosynthesis.
Intensity is generally measured in lumens. For herbs, optimal light would be 7,000-7,500 lumens per square foot of plants. For herbs that only require minimum lighting, 2,000 lumens will work. For mid-range lighting, go with 5,000 lumens per square foot.
Look at the PPF (Photosynthesis Photon Flux)
When growing herbs indoors with artificial light, it’s important to consider PPF, which is the amount of PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) photons emitted per second. This is measured in micromoles. PAR encompasses the visible range of light from 400-700nm, and this includes all wavelengths from blue to red.
PPF tells you the number of photons coming out of the light source each second. It gives you an overall picture of light intensity, so you can determine whether the LED will be sufficient for your herbs.
Consider Your Setup
How is your herb garden setup? Where is your garden located in your home? If you have a larger indoor garden, you need to consider how you will set up your lights. Will you need more than one? If so, grow lights with multiple gooseneck arms may allow you to give your plants the light they need without having to invest in several separate lights.
If you only have one or two plants, a single grow lamp or bulb may be all that you need.
Take the time to weigh your options and choose a grow light that will work best for your setup.
Are You Ready To Get Started?
With the right LED grow lights, your herb garden will be healthy, happy, and productive. Keep all of these points in mind when weighing your options. The good news is that modern LED grow lights are affordable and work really well for herbs.
