Ever drive by a greenhouse during the winter months and see lights shining late into the night?
Growers give plants extra light to insure that their plants develop properly in a timely manner.
Without the extra light plants would grow slower with thinner stems and less leaves.
Home gardeners that start their own plants early in the season use artificial lights to achieve the best results by mimicking nature.
Light is divided into the colors of the rainbow, the color spectrum.
Plants need a balance of red and blue light to thrive. Take away either color and poor plants will be produced.
Incandescent bulbs fit into any light socket which makes them handy.
Unfortunately these bulbs give off mainly blue light with only a small amount of red.
The bulbs also produce excessive amounts of heat which encourage the plants to produce weak growth.
Common, cool white, florescent lights provide a wider spectrum of light; more red light as well as some orange and yellow.
These bulbs give off a minimal amount of heat.
“Grow Bulbs” in the form of florescent lights are also available.
They are designed to for growing plants and produce more red light than the cool white bulbs, creating a balanced light for plants.
Grow bulbs are more expensive and some people argue that they can’t tell the difference between growing with grow bulbs or with cool white bulbs.
Florescent bulbs have evolved in the last number of years into a smaller diameter tube.
The newer design gives off more light while using less energy.
Professional LED grow lights are also available. They produce a good crop but it comes at a cost.
High Intensity lamps are found in greenhouses.
The bulbs contain sodium and metal-halides producing light in the color range utilized by plants.
Set up cost for this system can be expensive.
Setting up a grow system should take into account the amount of light and heat produced by the lights.
The higher the light the more area it will cover.
As the light becomes further away the rays become weaker.
Tit takes time, experience and often trial and error to insure that the light is at the optimum height for the crop being grown.
If the light is too far away plant stem cells elongate making the plant thin and weak. Less plants can be grown if the light is too close.
Lights that are close to the plant will encourage plants to produce shorter stems unless the plants become too hot.
High temperatures encourage stems to become thin and weak.
The type of crop makes a difference in how much light is needed.
Artificial light does not have the intensity of natural light.
To achieve the same results, plants need longer hours of artificial light as opposed to sunlight.
When artificial light is to sole light source they should be on between 14 and 16 hours a day.
Be sure to turn the lights off for a period of time each day as plants need a period of dark to complete photosynthesis.
The easiest way to accomplish this is to put the lights on a timer.
Light can be the difference between a good crop and failure.
Plan ahead to be successful.
Linda Tomlinson is a horticulturalist that lives near Rocky Mountain House. She can be reached at www.igardencanada.com or your_garden@hotmail.com