Grow Light Setup at Sugar Moon Gardens

Grow Light Setup at Sugar Moon Gardens

At Sugar Moon Gardens, I start nearly everything from seed for both flowers and vegetables. This requires a complete grow light setup. Back in 2020, I did some research and found that you can use relatively inexpensive shop lights. However, I was concerned about the excess heat they produce. That's when I came across a research article from the Vegetable Academy: A Definitive Grow Light Study - and I was sold.

The article reviews test results from comparing different grow lights and highlights the best options. The author grows food in Canada—so if it works there, I knew it would work in Washington.

Finding the recommended Sunblaster lights in the US proved challenging. Fortunately, being close to Canada (especially Vancouver Island), I found a store there that ordered them for me and shipped them over. To my surprise, it was much less expensive, even with shipping—about 30% less. However, that has changed due to tarriffs, but Amazon now carries them!!

My grow light setup consists of three levels, each 4 feet long with 2 strips per level. Each level can light four 1020 trays, totaling 12 trays. I have two sets of the original LED model lights (4 strips total) and one set of the newer Prismatic LED (2 strips).

I must say, the new Prismatic LED lights are significantly brighter and less expensive than the original ones. If I were to start over, I’d opt for all Prismatic LED lights. These lights produce zero heat—you can touch them with your fingers.

Note, these are an investment, but they have been reliable for four straight growing seasons with zero incidents.