How grow lights impact plant growth

If you live in an area with a short growing season, then you will likely want to get a jump start on the gardening year by starting seeds indoors, then growing the seedlings on under lights. All plants need three items to thrive: water, nutrition, and light. Of these three, inadequate indoor light is often the one that lays waste the best laid gardener's plans for strong and sturdy seedlings. Grow lights impact plant growth depending on the amount of light they give and the quality of the light they emit.

Indoors, under artificial conditions, you are trying to emulate the useful parts of natural sunlight as much as possible for optimal plant growth, all other necessary ingredients being present. Since sunlight is much brighter than light from a grow lamp, you will need to leave the lights on for 12-18 hours per day to compensate for the lesser brilliance of the light from artificial sources.

The quality of light also plays a part in plant growth. Plants grow using blue and red light, depending on the stage at which they are. They use blue light for energy, stem growth and chlorophyll production, whereas they use red light for reproduction, dormancy, as well as root and tuber development. Since plants absorb a very small amount of green and yellow light, but instead reflect it away, this is the reason why plants look green. What this also means is that the green and yellow light a bulb puts out is wasted on a plant. It is more efficient to select bulbs that have greater blue and red light output. Since the light cycle is so crucial, make sure to stay error-free with a

A long time indoor gardener, Susan Slobac has been using hydroponic gardening techniques and growing equipment to produce an abundance of food for her family. A respected expert, she features seasoned advice for all plant enthusiasts. Her theory is that indoor gardening should be easy and foolproof. Using a hydroponic digital ballast is one of the simple tips she offers to improve the productivity of your indoor hydroponic garden.