Why limit yourself to an outdoor growing season? Life’s too short, and grocery store vegetables don’t cut it when you could be enjoying fresh vegetables throughout the year. Why not taste summer year round? Even if you live in a city where it’s winter five months out of the year, indoor gardening is always an option.

Indoor gardening is easy, productive and fun. It makes a great hobby that’s not only satisfying, but produces fresh food throughout the year. Any extra indoor space you have can be converted to a small vegetable garden. The laundry room, the closet, and the windowsill can be vegetable producing areas, growing fresh food even when it’s snowing outside.

To mimic the light of the outdoors, however, you need a quality grow light bulb. There are several options on the market, each with different cost advantages. Before purchasing grow lights, however, consider all factors. How many seasons will you grow? What are your electricity considerations? Do you have a large or small space? Considering the logistics of your indoor garden will help you decide which lights are best for you.

An LED light may seem like the more expensive grow light bulb on the market, but that all depends on how long you plan to use it. If you only plan to grow one season of vegetables just to give it a try, they probably aren’t for you. If your indoor gardening will probably last for more than a few seasons, however, they are worth investing in. While most fluorescent and HPS lights need to be thrown out and replaced every growing season, LED lights can be used for up to a decade and still provide plenty of energy for beautiful indoor gardens.

HPS lights are cheaper, but require more energy. They are ideal if you’re just looking to give indoor gardening a try and don’t want to invest a lot in the beginning. They require more energy than LED lights and need to be replaced every year, but they are reasonably priced and a great way to begin.

Fluorescent lights use less energy than HPS lights and should be replaced every year. They are ideal for growing starts and seedlings to give you a start on outdoor growing or to produce indoor plants from seed.

Whatever your grow light bulb needs, choose the light that suits your situation, budget and design. Keep in mind, however, that if you plan to grow for several seasons, the extra investment of higher priced lights will easily pay for themselves over time.

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