It’s never been easier to grow plants indoors. You can now use LED grow lights to cultivate a vast range of plants any time of year. Here’s a guide to help you pick the right DIY LED grow light plans for your needs and how to put them up properly.
1. Open Shelf LED-Lighted Plant Stand
This plan will help you make any open shelf into a low-cost lighted-plant holder that matches the design of your home. You can have your LED lights level with the shelf, so you’ll have more space for seed trays.
You can use any shelf, but open shelves allow for more airflow. Mold isn’t a big concern, unlike closed shelves for plants that prefer humidity.
2. LED Tank Planting
This DIY project will teach you how to use LED lighting for tank gardening. The lighting system is simple to construct. It’s a great way to reuse an old aquarium or fish tank. Your main focus is on living plants, with fish serving as an accent to the overall effect.
You can cultivate fresh herbs as well as other tiny plants within. It’s also excellent for germinating seeds and propagating plants.
3. LED Grow Light Bar
This option is great if you want to use cheaper LED light bulbs that perform similarly or better than T5 or T8 fluorescent lights. It would only cost you approximately $23.
You can go with different LED colors such as red and blue to grow your plants.100% white would also work fine.
This plan was put to the test with onions, peppers, lettuce, romaine, and zucchini. They all thrived!
4. LED Hood Design Grow Light
You need a melamine sheet to make the unique hood design for this project. The hood should be filled with LED strips aligned edge to edge.
You would need 2 stretches of about two to three 5 meters of LED strips each for this project. Use the largest, warm white LEDs with a color temperature of 3500 – 5000K. They should stay flat and don’t have to be formed.
5. CPU Cooler Grow Light
You can use a CPU cooler as a heat sink in this grow lighting system. You just need to figure out where to mount it. The CPU cooler is excellent at dispersing heat and keeping the COBs cool. The heat sink becomes hot very rapidly without it.
You can disconnect the fan away to simplify the process. This will allow you to lay the fan flat to drill it quickly.
6. Cree Pie-Tin LED Grow Light
This plan can be simple or complex as you want it to be. Just remember that the power output should not exceed 1500 watts. You’ll need to install your Cree lights via the pie tin. Cree can release more heat to the environment.
Spend some money on lamp sockets instead of soldering if you can’t do so safely. It’s just about removing the diffuser from the lamps.
7. Hanging Grow Light Panel
This simple grow light project is simple enough for first-time DIYers to master. You can make this in any size you choose to match your space. It’s inexpensive to put together and also long-lasting.
You’ll need a board that will serve as the lamp’s base. You’ll also be using LED strips with a power supply. The power source should be hot glued on top of the board.
8. LED Grow Light Tent
This DIY LED grow light tent can accommodate several container plants. During the winter, you can grow greens and herbs in it. This is a larger version of the vanity grow lights in smaller grow tents.
The lighting system is made of a pine board and four vanity lights. You would need 16 bulbs with a total of 160 watts. For instance, you can use eight 11-watt and eight 9-watt LED bulbs.
9. Metal Panel Grow Light
You must have a basic understanding of wiring for this project. This might be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. On the panel, draw six 6 × 6 rectangles. So, you’ll have 36 squares for your LED lights.
Draw a dot on each rectangle to indicate where to place the LED lights. You’ll have 36 dots when you’re through. You can have the same setup or change it to suit your requirements.
10. Starting Seed Grow Light
This is probably the best setup for a home gardener or small-scale producer that wants to start seedlings indoors early. This is amazing because of the low cost of purchasing and low cost of operation by using LEDs.
It is an excellent technique to start seeds ahead of the planting season. But, it’s not the best setup for growing plants to flowering.
11. Zip-Tie Lamp
Be aware that this project requires working with dangerously high voltages. You need to be familiar with all of the safety precautions.
You will use zip ties, which provide a quick way to attach the complete ensemble. You can do this while rapidly replacing any defective parts.
You can use nylon zip ties. But if you want a more durable configuration, you may use stainless steel zip ties. However, things will be more challenging if you cut them by mistake.
12. Hydroponic Grow Light
This plan will teach you how to grow fresh plants without soil all year long. You can grow various plants like basil, lettuce, and other greens.
You will need a good lighting source for the plants. This project will provide you with this hydroponic lighting. Don’t worry because it is affordable and efficient.
The light modules are simple to set up, inexpensive to operate and effective in promoting plant growth.
13. LED Grow Light Tub
In this project, you can grow your plants in a tub using artificial lighting.
There are a few options to accomplish this. You can simply drill holes in a tub, glue your LED lights in place, then solder wire in between. You should have some knowledge of electronics.
You can also make 3×3 LED modules. Each module was then wired in parallel to the power supply once completed.
14. USB Powered Grow Light
This solar-powered lighting system is easy to make and use. It’s perfect for supplementing sunlight for your indoor plants during the gloomy winter months.
When the sun sets, this system offers additional light to your plants. You can also use it as a nightlight in the room.
It can also work as a night light for those night bathroom trips. It can also act as a lovely accent to a planter in the kitchen windowsill.
15. 100 Watt Grow Lamp
This grow light is cool to the touch and may be hung from the ceiling to keep it near plants. It is excellent for growing in tiny spaces or when only a few indoor plants are grown.
If you reside in a climate with low sunlight during the winter months, this is also a fantastic way to support healthy plant development. It’s also great to complement natural light for your plants.
16. Acrylic Grow Light
This project allows you to use an acrylic case instead of glass for minimal light loss. Acrylics are good with any wavelengths that pass through.
You’ll be using an acrylic solvent instead of glue. It works by liquifying the acrylic wherever you use it.
The liquified corners melt together when you push two pieces together. This results in a strong bond. So, ensure the corners are squeezed together tightly.
17. Recycled Seed Starting Grow Light Cabinet
This concept will inspire you to make your recycled seed starting cabinet.
With LED grow lights, this will serve as a sleek and secure seed-starting environment. If you don’t have space in your home to commit to growing seeds, you can try this one.
This allows you to use shelves and drawers to store seed containers and plant accessories. LED lighting is simple and inexpensive to install.
18. DIY Bright LED Grow Light
For this LED grow light, you can customize the thickness of aluminum you need for your huge plate. You need heat sinks if you’ll be running high-capacity LED cobs. Also, consider the spacers between the heatsink and the cover plate.
Place the mount where you want it. Mark the location for self-tapping screws. After that, insert the mounting in place and secure it with a hand screwdriver.
19. LED Room Lighting
This DIY LED room lighting is the perfect path to take if you want a room full of growing plants. This system will allow you to cultivate many plants at any moment of the year.
You need to consider beforehand how tall your plants will get and if your lights should be mobile or steady. It is easy to construct with overhead LED installation. Wiring is a simple process.
20. 12V LED Grow Light
This LED light installation requires the use of recycled materials. It’s low-cost and also quick to make. You need some 12 volts DC strip lights. Stick them into a reflector and power it with a 16 volts laptop charger.
Cut the LED light strips to the same length. Then, assemble them to form a fixture. This project requires soldering in between the strips. You’ll need a basic understanding of circuits.
21. Super Bright Grow Light
This LED grow light is what you need when you need a lot of light to grow plants indoors. This lighting system produces roughly 310 watts without a filter.
This is great when you grow plants in an interior place like a basement. It helps because no natural light can come inside through the windows.
Expect dazzling lights for roughly 50,000 hours. After that, the light intensity will begin to fade.
22. Plywood Planters with LED Grow Lights
This plan demonstrates how to construct a modular interior wall garden with white LED strips. You’ll need one piece of plywood to build the whole wall garden.
You’ll make modular planters out of plywood stacks. Also, you can turn them 90° for repositioning.
It’s a superb method to bring plants into places you couldn’t. It also offers flexibility in changing the setup. This way, you can have less or more storage.
23. Blue and Red Grow Lights
Plants can detect many distinct colors in natural light. So, this project will provide various colors for your plants’ optimal growth. It will teach you an easy way to make blue and red grow lights.
You can use this plan for small- or large-scale indoor gardening. It will make your plants grow and yield more. You’ll also learn how to make a pair of green lenses to see red and blue indoor illumination.
24. DIY Compact LED Grow Light
This project will show you how to build your own grow light in a compact size. The lamp produces intense lighting with only 16.5 watts of power. To dissipate heat, you’ll need a heat sink.
White LEDs have been shown to help grow plants with only a 50-watt LED. They grew, but not to their full potential. You can choose to go with a warm white instead.
25. Battery-Powered Grow Lights
You’ll need batteries to power your LED lights. It is where you get into the nitty-gritty of volts, resistors, and so on.
Know your power requirements before starting with this project. Figure out how much power you’ll require. You don’t want to waste your LEDs.
To power the device, you need three rechargeable 1.2 volts AAA batteries. Connect them in series to achieve a total voltage of 3.6 volts.
26. Elegant Indoor Garden With LED Grow Lights
This concept uses a simple, yet attractive copper and marble combination. It is also unique and original because of the matching. It necessitates the use of Lexel, which is ideal for water applications.
The plants will remain in their original containers. However, you will use thin marble pieces as planters and short aluminum angles to hold them.
To build the structure that will house the LED lights for your garden, you’ll need half-inch copper tubing.
Summary
Plants require light to thrive and flourish. However, indoor plants can get deprived of sunlight. So, LED lights are now used to provide plants with artificial lighting.
The 26 DIY LED grow light plans outlined above will help you in making an informed decision about how to grow your plants indoors.