7 Best Grow Lights for Leafy Greens: Expert Picks
Last Updated: October 26, 2026
Quick Summary
The best grow lights for leafy greens are slim LED strips with cool white full-spectrum output in the 5000-6500 K range, and our top pick is the Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W at £150. Its 900 mm strip format spreads light evenly across a tray and dims from 25% to 100%.
- Choose strip or tube fixtures over panels, since leafy greens grow in narrow rows on shelves.
- The 60W Maxibright strip delivers 168 µmol/s at 2.8 µmol/J and carries an IP65 rating.
- For shelving longer than a metre, the 100W Maxibright strip costs £170 and outputs 280 µmol/s.
- Hang leafy-green LEDs 30-45 cm above the canopy and adjust as plants grow.
- A 60W light on a 14-hour schedule uses about 25 kWh a month, roughly £6 at 24.5p per kWh.
Table of Contents
- Quick Comparison: Best Grow Lights for Leafy Greens
- How We Chose the Best LED Grow Lights for Lettuce
- 1. Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W: Best Overall
- 2. Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 100W: Best for Larger Shelves
- 3. Garden HighPro LEDMAXPRO Tubes: Best for Microgreens and Seedlings
- 4. Secret Jardin Cosmorrow and Gorilla Propagation LEDs: Best Budget Options
- LED Grow Light Wattage for Leafy Greens: How Much Do You Need?
- Grow Light Distance for Lettuce and Other Greens
- Frequently Asked Questions
Quick Comparison: Best Grow Lights for Leafy Greens
Choosing the best grow lights for leafy greens comes down to matching spectrum, intensity and shape to your shelf, not chasing the biggest wattage. Cool white full-spectrum output in the 5000-6500 K range keeps lettuce, spinach and herbs compact, and a strip format beats a panel on narrow shelving. At The Growers Shop, we stock four options that cover everything from a single propagator to a full multi-tier rack.
Here is the shortlist. Every pick is a strip or tube, because that is what leafy greens actually want.
| Pick | Price | Best For | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W | £150.00 | Best overall | 900 mm strip |
| Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 100W | £170.00 | Larger shelves | 1120 mm strip |
| Garden HighPro LEDMAXPRO Tube | £39.99-£239.44 | Microgreens and seedlings | 550 mm / 1100 mm bars |
| Secret Jardin Cosmorrow / Gorilla Propagation | £19.99 | Budget and small spaces | 500 mm strip |
The pattern is deliberate. A 60W strip at £150 costs more than a 100W strip at £170 only if you ignore what you get per pound, which is identical at 2.8 µmol/J. You are paying for length and coverage, not efficiency.
How We Chose the Best LED Grow Lights for Lettuce
We ranked these lights on four things a leafy-green grower can actually measure: efficiency in µmol/J, spectrum suitability for leaf rather than flower, physical fit for a shelf, and cost per unit of light.
Spectrum came first. A peer-reviewed review of LED crop illumination found that green and far-red wavelengths can positively affect plant growth and development alongside other spectra, which supports broad white output over narrow single-colour rigs.
Second, we checked whether the fixture shape suits how greens are grown.
Third, we looked at build and safety. All four picks carry an IP rating of IP54 or better, which matters in a humid propagation cabinet.
What we did not do is claim a side-by-side yield trial. No verified product-to-product test data exists for these fixtures, and we will not invent one.
1. Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W: Best Overall
The 60W Daylight Pro Strip is our top pick for most leafy-green setups.
What makes it the best overall is the control. Manual dimming steps through 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, and remote dimming runs from 20% to 100% with a compatible controller.
The IP65 rating means it handles a damp propagation area without complaint. Weight is 2.1 kg, light enough for most shelf brackets.
Best for: growers running one or two shelves who want dimming and a full spectrum in a single fixture. Skip if: your shelving is longer than a metre and you would need two units.
Check the Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W price and specs
2. Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 100W: Best for Larger Shelves
Stretch the same design to 1120 mm and double the output and you get the 100W 3rd Gen: 280 µmol/s, still 2.8 µmol/J, still full spectrum, now in durable aluminium. If your shelving runs past a metre, this is the one to buy.
The dimming is identical to the 60W, with manual steps and remote control from 20% to 100% via the DAYLIGHT Lighting Controller. At £170 it costs £20 more than the 60W for 67% more light, which is the better value in the range if you have the space.
Best for: multi-tray racks and deeper shelves where a single long strip covers the whole run. Skip if: you are lighting a propagator, where 100W is far more than seedlings need.
View the Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 100W
3. Garden HighPro LEDMAXPRO Tubes: Best for Microgreens and Seedlings
Microgreens and seedlings want close, gentle light, not a high-output strip hung a metre up. The LEDMAXPRO range is built for exactly that: 10W or 20W bars in 550 mm and 1100 mm lengths, a 14,000 K colour temperature, and IP66 moisture resistance for propagation cabinets.
A microgreens grow light guide from Wind River Greens recommends 12-16 hours of daily light for most microgreens, and the low heat output of these bars makes long photoperiods safe close to the tray.
Maxibright Daylight LED Pro Strip 60W 2.8 μmol/J (0-10V Linkable) →
Best for: microgreen trays, cuttings and seedlings in a propagator or Probox cabinet. Skip if: you are growing lettuce to full head size, where you need more intensity.
Shop the Garden HighPro LEDMAXPRO tube range
4. Secret Jardin Cosmorrow and Gorilla Propagation LEDs: Best Budget Options
Not every setup needs a £150 fixture. Two budget picks cover the entry level, and both cost £19.99.
The Secret Jardin Cosmorrow COP 20W is a compact 24V strip with 2.85 µmol/J efficiency and full-spectrum output. It screws, clips or hangs using the fasteners in the separately sold Cosmorrow Power Supply, so factor that into the total.
The Gorilla Propagation LED 8W is the simpler buy: a 6500K cool white bar with 16 µmol/s output, supplied with a support bar and suction mount that sits directly above a propagator.
Best for: first-time growers testing a single tray, or anyone adding supplementary light to a windowsill setup. Skip if: you need to cover a full shelf, where a single Maxibright strip does the job in one unit.
See the Secret Jardin Cosmorrow COP LED
LED Grow Light Wattage for Leafy Greens: How Much Do You Need?
Leafy greens need less wattage than fruiting crops, and the number that actually matters is light delivered to the canopy, not watts on the label. The practical target is daily light integral (DLI), the total light a plant receives in a day, because a low-output strip run for 16 hours can beat a high-output panel run for 8.
To translate that into a fixture decision, work in PPFD (the intensity at the canopy) and multiply by the photoperiod in seconds. A common target for lettuce is 250-350 µmol/m²/s PPFD over a 14-16 hour photoperiod, which lands inside the DLI range above.
Wattage is really a running-cost figure. A 60W light on a 14-hour schedule uses 0.84 kWh a day, about 25 kWh a month. At a typical domestic electricity rate of around 24-25p per kWh, that is roughly £6 a month for one strip; the 100W unit on the same schedule is about £10 a month. Two 60W strips over a multi-tier rack push that toward £12 a month. Those are estimates, not quotes, check your own tariff, but they show why efficiency in µmol/J matters as much as sticker price over a two- or three-year lifespan.
| Fixture | Power | 14h/day monthly energy | Approx. monthly cost at 24.5p/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxibright 60W strip | 60W | ~25 kWh | ~£6 |
| Maxibright 100W strip | 100W | ~42 kWh | ~£10 |
| Two 60W strips | 120W | ~50 kWh | ~£12 |
| Garden HighPro 20W bar | 20W | ~8.4 kWh | ~£2 |
If you are working in a tight flat, our guide to grow lights for small apartments covers matching fixtures to limited floor space.
Grow Light Distance for Lettuce and Other Greens
Hang leafy-green LEDs 30-45 cm above the canopy to start, then adjust as plants grow. That range is a sensible starting point for the strips above, but distance is only half the equation, the other half is photoperiod and dimming, because a fixture hung close at full power can deliver more light than a seedling can use.
A practical schedule by crop, using the dimming steps on the Maxibright strips:
- Germination and newly sown trays: 20-30 cm above the surface, 25-50% output, 12-14 hours a day. Close and gentle beats far and strong; seedlings stretch toward light, so watch for pale, leggy stems and lower the fixture or raise the dimmer if they appear.
- Microgreens: 15-25 cm above the tray, full output on a 10-20W bar, 12-16 hours a day. Low heat output is what makes long photoperiods safe this close, check the leaf surface with the back of your hand; if it feels warm, raise the bar.
- Lettuce and spinach through vegetative growth: start at 30-45 cm and 50-75% output, stepping up to 100% as true leaves form and the canopy fills. Mature heads want more light, but they also shade their own lower leaves, so raise the fixture as the canopy rises rather than chasing a fixed height.
- Herbs and cut-and-come-again greens: 25-40 cm, 75-100% output, 14-16 hours a day.
Watch the plants, not the tape. Stretched, pale seedlings mean the light is too far or too dim; bleached or curled leaf edges mean it is too close or too strong. A cheap lux meter or a phone light-meter app gives a rough relative reading you can use to compare positions across a shelf, though it will not give you PPFD directly, treat it as a consistency tool, not a calibrated measurement.
Greens also want 12-16 hours of light a day, so a simple timer does most of the work. Set the photoperiod first, then use height and dimming to fine-tune intensity, and adjust both as the crop matures rather than leaving the fixture fixed for the whole cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of grow light is best for leafy greens?
Full-spectrum white LEDs are the most practical choice for leafy greens. Cool daylight tones around 5000-6500 K favour compact, stocky growth in lettuce, spinach and herbs, and blue wavelengths are linked with compact leaf development. LED strip and panel fixtures run cooler than older lamp types, so you can hang them close to the canopy without scorching leaves. For microgreens and seedlings, propagation-specific tubes with a cool white or blue-leaning spectrum work well.
How many hours of light do leafy greens need indoors?
Most leafy greens do well on 12-16 hours of light per day. Microgreens are commonly run at 12-16 hours, while lettuce and spinach sit comfortably at the lower end of that range. Use a plug-in timer so the dark period stays consistent, and avoid running lights 24 hours a day, because plants need darkness to grow properly. If leaves look pale or stretched, increase hours gradually rather than all at once.
How far should a grow light be from lettuce?
Hang LED grow lights roughly 30-45 cm above the canopy for lettuce and similar greens, then adjust as plants grow. Low-wattage strip lights can sit closer, while higher-output fixtures need more clearance. Watch the plants rather than the tape measure: stretched stems mean the light is too far away, and bleached or curled leaf edges mean it is too close. Raise fixtures as greens mature and the canopy fills out.
How many watts do I need to grow leafy greens indoors?
A useful starting point is 20-40 watts of LED per square metre of growing area for leafy greens, with more power for denser canopies. A 60W strip like the Maxibright Daylight covers a small to medium shelf well, while a 100W unit suits larger racks. Because modern LEDs deliver around 2.8 µmol/J, wattage alone is only part of the picture; check the PPF figure and hanging distance too.
Can you grow microgreens with a grow light?
Yes. Microgreens grow well under low-wattage LED tubes and strips, and a propagation-focused fixture is often all you need. Garden HighPro LEDMAXPRO tubes are designed for seedlings, small plants and microgreens, and run cool with minimal consumption. Keep the light close to the trays and run it for around 12-16 hours a day. A full-spectrum LED also works if you already own one.
