Nothing spoils your indoor plants like bad light or bad odor. That’s why growers mount grow lights in grow tents. If you’re thinking about growing indoors, never miss this fundamental unit of grow tent.
Don’t worry-you can mount this light yourself even if you never tackled any electric project before. This article will guide you every aspect of grow- light fixture, height adjustment, and many more in detail.
Let’s read on how to hang grow lights to the ceiling of a grow tent? It’s super easy to hang grow lights right above the plant with the help of hangers and light hooks. Depending on your setup and plant size you can adjust the distance of the light from the top of the plant. The best installation site of grow light is vertically above the plant.
Manufacturers are preparing different Watts of lights according to different grow tent sizes. Before choosing a light for your setup always do proper research according to your tent size, plant type, and indoor electric wiring.
Table of Contents
Importance of Grow lights
Where is the sun for indoor plants? How will they do photosynthesis? Will they survive in artificial light or not?
Outdoor plants are fully dependent on nature for light supply. When you bring them inside, you need to do certain things for them. You have to arrange light for them artificially to start photosynthesis. This is perhaps the major difference between indoor and outdoor plants setup. Grow lights do the work of son for plants but not 100 percent sun. So, without these lights, your plant will never grow and die soon. We can say grow lights are the fundamental unit of indoor plants.
Here comes another benefit of these lights. They also provide heat to plants as light produces energy that increases the temperature. We get both light & heat for our plants from these lights to grow well.
How to Hang LED Grow Lights in four easy steps
Installing grow light for grow tent is a trouble-free process. So, do it yourself because it requires just a few minutes to get it done. You do need to be a certified electrician or expert to install it. We’ve broken down 5 easiest steps to guide you to start LED or any other light installation for your grow room.
Let’s have a look at the things we needed for this task with images:
| Supplies Needed | Images |
| Grow lights(LED,HPS.LEC or anyone) |  |
| Light hooks |  |
| Light plug |  |
| Light Cable with switch button |  |
| Grow light hanger Ranchers |  |
Step 1. Determine Grow Light Location for Grow Tent
Choosing an installation site is as important as selecting the light itself. The right position of light ensures the availability of more space for plantation in the tent as well as better light’s performance. As we know light does the work of the sun. So, it should hang upside down to throw as much as possible. So the best location will be to hang the light through the ceiling.
- Always hang light through the ceiling with studs.
- If you don’t have a light installation rod in your grow tent, then you can use a light stand as well.
- The middle of the ceiling is the best place to erect studs for light.
- Remember middle point should be measured carefully from all corners of grow tent
- The ideal position of the light is and right above the plant with some safe distance
Mark the location you find suitable for light installation on the ceiling
Step 2. Install Hook or Joist to the rod of grow tent or grow stand
Grow tent comes with fixing rods that sometimes pass through the ceiling to hang any object you like. If your tent lack this you can use the light stand and can attach joist or hook through it
Here are a few instructions to consider
- During seedling adjust the height of the growing stand close to the plant pots. In this way, lights will deliver the best performance with low leaks
- The hook should not be made up of plastic as it would not behold much weight
- Always buy stainless steel heavy-duty hooks to stand longer with heavy light panels
Step 3. Set up Light Hangers or Rope Ranchers to hang lights
Now we’re at the heart of the procedure!
Hooks are almost done with ceiling or grow stand if you don’t have a hanging rod on the ceiling. Now prepare the panel of light by attaching hangers on its back. These hangers come with a lightbox or you can buy them also. At least attach four rancher hangers at the points given under the light panel. Now insert ranchers according to the size of your light panel at every corner now atie the ropes with the rod on the ceiling and adjust them through rancher pulley. Lock the rancher’s clips when you adjust the height properly.
Step 4. Setup Grow Light and adjust the height
Now everything is done. The panel is ready to hang grow light. If your lights are already inserted in the panel you are the lucky one.If not you can buy an LED, LEC, or HPS lights and install them under the holder below the panel setup. Keep these lights on for 8 to 12 hours depending on the type and size of our plants. Also, adjust its height according to the size of the plant. To avoid light leaks zip the tent.
Where to Hang Grow Light in the Grow Tent?
How to hang the light in a grow- tent? What should be the right position of light? Should it upward , downward, or anywhere else? It’s important to consider the right location for light setup. In this way, more and more light could reach the plants. Consider the following points when you are about to hang your light:
- Always insert the bulbs straight above the plant to avoid light leaks
- Hanging from underside the roof position is the best for the position. Don’t insert lights on sidewalls
- Rays should make an angle of 90 degrees or above from the top of the plant
- Keep the cables short to avoid back and forth movement of lights as there is a fan also here
- Choose the middle point of the tent holding rods to hang the light. Don’t insert it at one side. Make sure it should be in the middle of the ceiling
Things you should know to hang grow light
Are you planning to hang lights in your grow tent? You can’t do it without a few accessories. Don’t worry all of these items are easy to buy and don’t cost too much. Let’s see the list of these handy items with their usage:
Grow light cables
To connect grow light to electricity, connections wires are a must thing. Here’s few safety instructions to know before plugin grow light cable
Let’s read on!
- Always buy grow lights with high-quality cables not worn out from anywhere.It can damage
- Fix grow light cables connected to the circuit breaker. In case of any mishap, the breaker would disconnect it automatically
- Don’t install grow lights with very long cables so that it may entangle with a fan. Always knt the extra cable
- During growing tent set up keep the cables at safe distance from the fan
Grow Light Stand
Depending on the size of light as well as space available to hang, you can build your own stand with wood. These stands help the bulb to shed as much light as it can on the plant. Also, they are adjustable. If you are shifting to some other place you can easily take these stands with them. You can build stand for your pots and can hang light with each shelf as shown in the picture.
If your grow tent is without light stand you can buy one from here. It’s good to buy one with iron rods rather than wooden stands
Grow Light Rope Ranchers
These are adjustable bodies attached with a hook from one side and rope from others. Most of the hangers have slide clip systems to adjust the height as the plant grows. These are made up of heavy-duty stainless steel and work as a pulley.
Before we move on to the next item, have a look at best grow light hangers with reviews here.
Grow Light Kits
Whether you are grower by profession or hobbyist, keep your knowledge up to date with the latest gardening inventions. Nowadays manufacturers are making tools that will make your gardening task easy. Similarly, for installing grow lights, the kit is available with all equipment necessary to fix almost all types of lights.
These kits include:
- LED light
- Cables to insert in switch
- Rope ranchers
- Grow light hangers
Before we move on, here is a grow light hanging kit that we recommend the best of all.
Grow Light Height Adjustment
Worried where to set the light in a grow tent? How high should it be above the plant? Is it adjustable when fixed? Here are the answers to your queries. The best place to set up the light in the grow room is to hang it over the inner side of the roof right above the plant. In this way, plants will get direct access to light for photosynthesis.
There are two factors that determine the height of the light:
- The wattage of Grow Light
- Type of Grow Light
If you are using high-pressure sodium lights for a grow room, it must be far away from your plant. It’s better to place it 24-26 inches away otherwise your plant will fade
For low-pressure normal lights, you can hang them 12-13 inches close to the plant. High wattage lights should also be kept away from plants. Here is a table to guide you more about the wattage factor.
Table of Types of light, Wattage, and distance from the plant:
| Type of light | Wattage | Distance from plants |
| LEC grow light | 315Watts630Watts | 18-20″ (45-51cm) or more24-26″ (60-66cm) or more |
| LED grow light | 1Watts Bulb3W or 5WattsHigh Wattage(300W+) | At least 12″ (30cm)At least 18”(45cm)Up to 30”(75cm or more) |
| High-Pressure Sodium LightHPS Lights | 150,250,400,600 and 1000 Watts | 8”-12”(30cm)10”-14(”35cm)12-19”(48cm)14”-25”(64cm)16”-31”(79cm) |
How High Should Be LED Grow Light in Grow Tent
LED lights are old friends of plants as they produce less heat as compared to others. Most growers love to install them in grow- tents as they last longer than any other type of lights. Generally, LED light should be 12-13inch high directly above the top of the plant. But when the plant grows up, you can adjust this height.
Growers use adjustable hangers to attach these lights that can be raised up and low as the plant grows. However, the wattage of LED is the deciding factor to determine the height. Light with high watts are hung usually at more distance from plants as they can burn leaves of upper branches. However, you can fix light with low watts at less height. Here is an informative table to guide you the height of the plan according to the wattage of LED
Table of Watts of LED with a height from plants:
| Watts | Height from top of the plant |
| 200-399W | 12-20” |
| 400-599W | 20-27” |
| 600-799W | 30-38” |
| 800-999W | 32-42” |
| 1000W+ | 36-46” |
Cheap and Easy Way to Raise and Lower Grow Lights
Growers often feel this problematic to raise and lower the height of lights as the plant grows. It becomes really difficult when you are growing multiple sets of plants in a grow tent or greenhouse. However, there is a very cheap solution to this problem. This solution in fact works like a pulley and helps you to fix the lights where you want easily.
Related Articles: What Size Carbon Filter For Grow Tent
You can do this up and down a job with cheap Ranchet hangers. These rancher hangers come with an 8inch line capable of holding 75 pounds per unit. These are durable, adjustable tools that will last forever. Attach one end of ratchet hanger to ceiling rod of grow tent
Attach another end to light itself.
To adjust the height you can pull the one end up and down easily as shown in the video below:
There are two clips along each hanger you can use them to clip lights anywhere easily.
List of Best LED Grow Lights For Grow Tent Plants
We found LED lights more effective and friendly for indoor plants. Because they produce less heat. With our experience,we’ve separated a list of top LED lights for you.YOu can choose any of them and read the reviews.
Here is a list of the top LED grow lights for veggies, marijuana, and cannibals. All of these are easy to install and come with a full kit of accessories needed to install them in a grow tent.
- Spider Farmer SF-4000 LED Grow Light.
- MARS HYDRO TS 3000W LED Grow Light.
- Electric Sky 300 V2 Wideband LED Grow Light.
- HLG 550 V2 Quantum Board LED Grow Light.
- MARS HYDRO SP 250 LED Grow Light.
- Spider Farmer SF-2000 LED Grow Light.
- MARS HYDRO Reflector 960W LED Grow Light.
Bottom Line
We are about to wrap up how to hang grow lights. It’s good to know that these lights are adjustable. They do the work of the sun for photosynthesis. Indoor plants need light to grow from 8- 12 hrs a day. If you choose to buy a full kit with a grow tent, read the menu before installation, and follow the instructions carefully.