Each type of plant thrives under different lighting conditions, which is why it can be tricky to determine how long you should use your grow lights each day. To find the perfect duration of light exposure, many indoor growers start by following these guidelines:

• 4-6 hours for low-light plants
• 6-8 hours for medium-light plants
• 8-12 hours for high-light plants

As your plants grow, keep an eye out for signs of over- or under-exposure and adjust your time accordingly. With a little bit of experimentation, you will be able to establish a great daily routine that encourages plant health and vibrancy.

Quality LED grow lights have an extremely low risk of starting a fire. They hardly produce any heat and are less prone to breaking as a result of voltage fluctuations, which makes them safer to keep on for long periods of time than most other types of artificial light.

As your plants grow and enter different stages of their life cycles, their lighting requirements will change. To accommodate their shifting needs, we recommend altering your setup based on the plant life cycle. Though each species is different, most plants benefit from these slight adjustments:

• Seedlings are young and vulnerable to becoming damaged or dried out by strong lighting. For this reason, it is generally best to lower the intensity of your grow lights and place them a little farther away from the soil.
• Vegetative stage plants are growing rapidly and need enough light to support photosynthesis. During this point in the life cycle, most plants thrive when the lights are placed closer to the canopy.
• Flowering stage plants need the highest intensity of light to maintain their blooms and rapid stem growth. At this phase, consider lowering your LED lights toward the canopy to increase the light intensity.