If you’re like me, you started growing indoors without giving a second thought to getting eye protection. Sometimes I wore sunglasses, other times I just didn’t. I was only in there for 30-60 minutes a day, I didn’t think I needed grow room glasses.
Well, I was flat out wrong. The grow lights we use, even the cheap ones can do some serious damage to our eyes.
Grow room glasses are a must-have for indoor growers, even if you’re just getting started with a grow room. They protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays that can come from grow lights, and they also help to keep your eyes from getting too tired from looking at the plants for long periods of time.
I went on a search to find the best glasses for different lights and different kinds of people (pros vs the “me’s” of the world, and are the glasses you sometimes get with grow tent kits any good?), and here is what I found.
The Colors/Tints of Grow Light Glasses
Extremely bright light intensity, like those from grow lights, can permanently damage your eyes. To mitigate these negative effects, there are a few different types of grow room glasses on the market, some with colored lenses, and others with a gray tint to the lens – each ends up showing you the perfect color for that situation.
The tint or hue you want in your glasses will depend on what kind of lights you have in the grow room:
- Red/Blue/Purple light – Green lens
- Yellow or warm white light – Blue lens
- Full Spectrum light – Gray lens
The gray lens is also a great option if you’re outside in the garden for long periods of time under the sun. It will allow you to see the actual colors of the plants you’re looking at, instead of what the weird tints that regular and polarized sunglasses show you. They help show the full broad spectrum light.
The Best Grow Room Glasses
Because our eyes are important, you don’t want to pick up the “cheap” grow glasses you might find on Amazon or other online retailers. You only get one set of eyes, spend the extra tens of dollars and protect them properly.
Here is the list of the best grow room glasses on the market to help protect your eyes so you can grow plants well into old age. 🙂
1. Method Seven Grow Room Glasses
Method Seven is a company that puts tons of time and research into making the highest quality grow room glasses for their customers.
They are not one of those fly by night companies – they actually care about their customers, and it’s evident by the way they do business.
Not only do their glasses protect your eyes and your vision, but they also engineered them in a way to reduce distortion you might have otherwise noticed with different glasses.
Method Seven offers six types of glasses that are perfect for any situation you work in. If you’re a hobby gardener or home grower using full spectrum lights, you’ll want the “Full Spectrum LED” glasses. If you have pink or magenta grow lights, the “Blurple LED” glasses might be the better option.
These glasses have mineral glass lenses made from molten glass and minerals that was invented by their team of scientists and engineers.
They even have clip on options that can go over your prescription glasses if you wear them.
Best in class LED grow room glasses from a company that puts all its energy into making the best glasses on the market.
2. Vivosun Grow Room Glasses
Vivosun is another company that makes great products. While they aren’t only focused on creating amazing eyewear like Method Seven is, they do have quality glasses.
These are a fraction of the cost of the Method Seven ones, but they aren’t going to offer you daily protection.
These are more made for hobby growers, not commercial or professionals who are in the grow room every single day. These grow light glasses are lightweight, and wrap around your face so no extra light is getting in.
This also makes them look a little funny when they’re on, but you’re in a grow room, not trying to grab a date, so you might just have to get over it.
As with the other brands, they have different types to work under a specific light spectrum, so make sure you’re grabbing the right color for your workspace.
These glasses are great for home growers, and those just getting started growing indoors.
3. Happy Hydro LED Grow Glasses
The shades are made from plastic, but they offer a wrap around design to offer close to face protection.
The Happy Hydro glasses also reduce distortion as compared to the cheapest versions, but they don’t do as great of a job compared to the Method Seven glasses.
These are great for home growers and those who want to get rid of their migraines when working under grow lights. While they aren’t going to last forever (would you expect them to at $15?) they are a great intro into seeing just how big of a difference wearing eye protection when growing indoors can make.
The Benefits of Grow Room Glasses
There are a number of benefits to wearing grow room glasses, aside from saving your eyesight from complete disaster.
You’ll See the Right Colors
When you’re under grow lighting, a green plant might look a little purple. Or a plant under distress might not be as noticeable to you.
When you wear a pair of eye protection, you can see the true colors of the plants and diagnose issues before they get too bad. So, these actually help you be a better grower and do your job well.
Reduce Eye Strain and Fatigue
Grow room glasses can help reduce eye strain through blocking some of the UVA and UVB rays you might experience in grow rooms.
The lights in a grow room are super bright, and if you’re under them all day without the proper protection, you’re likely going to end up with a headache from your eyes trying to focus and block out the light.
Stop Seeing Spots
Have you ever looked at the light and started seeing spots when you looked away? Grow glasses can help reduce this from happening and increase the safety of your work.
No More Strobe Light Effect
When using high pressure sodium (HPS) lights or metal halide lights, you might notice a “strobe light effect” when working in the space.
This can be super damaging to your eyes, as well as cause you not to want to work as much because of the stress on your mental state. Grow room glasses can help eliminate this effect, and make your work much more enjoyable.
You Won’t Damage Your Eyes with Ultraviolet Radiation
A recent study showed that people working in grow houses and under grow lights for 8 hours a day received a potentially harmful amount of UV radiation.
Wearing grow glasses can help protect your eyes from some of these harmful effects.
Can I Just Wear Sunglasses in a Grow Room?
Of course you can, but they won’t offer much in terms of eye protection. Sunglasses offer some UV protection and darken the light we see, but grow room glasses use tinted lenses that show us only the necessary spectrum of light we need to see.
They are specifically designed for these instances and to help save our eyes from harmful rays…and they just happen to help keep migraines at bay.
If you want to save your eyes, just spend the extra money and grab a pair from Method Seven. The difference in price is like the cost of one eye vision appointment.
Best in class LED grow room glasses from a company that puts all its energy into making the best glasses on the market.
