Lux For Plants

How much lux do plants need? That’s one of the most frequently asked questions in indoor gardening.

But is lux a useful light measurement for plants? Let’s discover the answer together.

In this article, we’ll talk about lux for plants. We’ll also look at other essential light measurements in indoor gardening.

Let’s get started right away!

Lux For Plants: What Should You Know?

Lux is the measurement of lumens over a particular area. So, technically, it’s the number of lumens your plants receive from a light source in a specific period.

But lumen is the measurement of light that the human eye can perceive. Plants don’t see light the way we do.

A lamp with a very high lux rating can be useless for plants.

In other words, a light that dazzles your eyes might be too dim for your plants.

You can still use lux to measure your plants’ light requirements, but the results won’t be precisely accurate.

Using Lux To Measure Light For Plants

The lux requirements of plants vary depending on the type of light.

For instance, the quantity of lux that plants need from sunlight differs from the one they need from an HPS lamp. This has to do with the brightness, duration, and spectrum of light.

The sun is brighter than an HPS lamp. But the maximum number of hours of sunlight plants can get daily is about eight.

Whereas you can keep your grow lights on for around 14 to 20 hours per day.

Therefore, high-light full sun plants need at least 60,000 lux from the sun. But when the light comes from an HPS lamp, they need at least 40,000 to 50,000 lux.

Here’s a list of the plants’ lux requirements from different sources of light:

From sunlight (at least six hours a day):

• High-light or full-sun plants need at least 60,000 lux
• Medium-light or partial sun plants need at least 35,000 lux
• Low-light or partial shade plants need at least 15,000 lux
• Very low-light plants or heavy shade plants need around 1000 to 5000 lux or less

From an HPS lamp (at least 14 hours a day):

• High-light or full-sun plants need at least 40,000 lux
• Medium-light or partial sun plants need at least 20,000 lux
• Low-light or partial shade plants need at least 12,000 lux

From an MH lamp (at least 14 hours a day):

• High-light or full-sun plants need at least 35,000 lux
• Medium-light or partial sun plants need at least 17,500 lux
• Low-light or partial shade plants need at least 10,000 lux

From a fluorescent grow light (at least 14 hours a day):

• High-light or full-sun plants need at least 37,500 lux
• Medium-light or partial sun plants need at least 19,000 lux
• Low-light or partial shade plants need at least 11,000 lux

We didn’t mention LED grow lights in the above list because their light spectrums vary greatly.

As a result, we can’t establish one lux measurement for all LED lights.

How To Use The Above Lux List?

You can use the above list of lux requirements to determine if your plants are getting enough light during the day.

But you need a lux meter to determine the quantity of lux your plants receive.

Using a lux meter, measure the light intensity at the level of your plants’ leaves.

Remember to take several readings throughout the day. Once you get the readings, compare them to the values in the lux list.

If you find that your plants aren’t receiving enough light per day, you must get them a supplemental grow light.

You can also use the above list of plants’ lux requirements to compare and select grow lights.

Here’s the problem: Most grow light manufacturers don’t give the lux measurements of their devices.

Instead, they provide PPF and PPFD measurements. These are much more useful than lux and lumens.

PPF And PPFD

People use PPF and PPFD to measure the light that drives photosynthesis in plants. We know this as Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR).

PPF is the quantity of useful light (PAR) that a light source emits.

And PPFD is the measurement of PPF over a defined area and at a certain distance from the light source.

So, in some way, PPF is equal to lumen and PPFD is equal to lux. But PPFD is a much more accurate measurement of light for plants than lux.

The PPFD requirements of plants are the same for all types of grow lights (but different for sunlight).

The PPFD of sunlight is between 900 and 1500 μmol/m²/s.

Most grow lamps have PPFD measurements lower than 900 μmol/m²/s.

For that reason, high-light plants need at most eight hours of sunlight. But they need at least 12 hours of light from a grow lamp.

The lower the PPFD of a grow light, the longer you need to keep it on.

Here are the minimum PPFD requirements of plants (at least 14 hours a day of artificial light):

• High-light or full sun plants need at least 400 to 600 μmol/m²/s
• Medium-light or partial sun plants need at least 250 μmol/m²/s
• Low-light or partial shade plants need at least 150 μmol/m²/s

Using PPFD

You can use PPFD to choose the best grow lights for your plants.

Most grow light manufacturers give the PPFD measurements of their devices. Additionally, they provide information about their coverage area.

Now you are armed with that data. You can choose a grow lamp that suits your plants’ light needs and fits your growing area to a T.

Final Thoughts

Lux, lumens, foot candles, etc., are the most common light measurements. But they’re not the most accurate ones for plants.

Sometimes, you can still use these units to measure light for plants.

But in other instances, you need to use more precise light measurements.

Those are PPF and PPFD.

If you’re growing plants under lights, you must familiarize yourself with PPFD. Then, you must forget about lux, lumens, and other inaccurate measurements.

Enjoy growing your plants, and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Also, you can contact me if you have any questions!