Selecting the Right Kind of Grow Light
July 8th, 2010
Natural lighting is not the only source of illumination in hydroponic gardens because some gardens use a mix of natural and synthetic light and some even use artificial lighting completely. Plants utilize different parts of the light spectrum at different stages of growth. The lights used in hydroponics are called “grow lights“, properly named because they are designed to produce light that make plants grow! Because artificial lights cannot cover the full spectrum that natural sunlight can, it’s important to use the right kind of grow light for the kinds of plants you’re raising, and it’s important that the correct lighting be used at the right period of growth. In order to make it easier for you to choose the right type of grow lights, here are some useful details.
For crops that are on the early stages of growth along with leafy plants, the ideal grow lights are those lights that fall within the blue-white color spectrum. To supply this kind of ligth for your crops then you might want to try and utilize the Metal Halide or MH bulbs. These bulbs can burn hot but doesn’t require close proximity to the plants in order to provide adequate ligthing, these bulbs are otherwise known as High Intensity Dishcharge bulb or HID. Plants that are subjected to the MH bulbs have the tendency to grow thick, leafy, and small. MH bulbs are used as the primary lighting supply in numerous gardens.
During the blooming stage, plants draw more from the orange-red side of the spectrum. High Pressure Sodium bulbs (HPS), a different kind of HID grow light, are very good at this stage of plant growth. HPS bulbs are not a fine choice as a main light source because of their limited spectrum, but these bulbs are perfect as additional lights to other types of lighting source. Without supplemental lighting your crops may develop unnaturally long and thin.
If you are mainly growing seedlings (or if you have a separate area for the seedling stage of plants), a fantastic choice is standard fluorescent lighting, positioned close to the seedlings. Standard fluorescents cover a decent part of the light spectrum while giving out a low intensity-a near perfect condition for seedlings. You do not have to worry about burning the seedlings because these lights emit low heat. Nevertheless, in different conditions the use of low intensity standard fluorescent bulbs may not be beneficial and may not help in the growth of the plants.
A blend of different grow lights are often used in different hydroponic gardens, but if money is an issue then you can usually use a high-output fluorescent lights as grow lights. In contrast to standard fluorescent grow lights, the high-output bulbs offer a more intense light with low heat, and can be arrayed to cover almost the entire spectrum of natural light. These bulbs may not be as intense as HID bulbs but these high-output bulbs are more affordable and because it produces little or low heat you can place these bulbs close to the plants and make up for the low intensity and the results are still excellent.
Choosing the right kind of grow light for your hydroponic garden can be intimidating, but knowing how different types of light help your plants grow will help you pick the right grow lights for your garden.
Tags: advanced nutrients, grow light, hydroponic gardening, hydroponic supplies, Hydroponics
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