When you’re up and shopping for the right kind of LED grow light for your plants, there are a certain number of aspects you should consider. One of the most important ones is the color spectrum of your grow lights. No matter how much money you spend on your grow lights, your plants will not grow well if you don’t have the right one.
LED lights are more energy-efficient than other grow lights, and this is why you should consider them when you are thinking of purchasing grow lights for your plants. In addition to this, they are good for the environment, so it’s a plus if you use them.
Selecting the right LED for you is not easy. There are so many products in the market, and it gets worse when manufacturers pit their products against each other. It gets confusing to choose one that’s suitable for you. Here’s some information to consider if you’re looking to purchase a suitable LED.
Color Spectrum
Plants naturally need sunlight to grow. Sunlight is referred to as yellowish-white or white light. The light appears white because it has all colors from the rainbow, and when combined, the result is a white color.
In essence, a color spectrum represents all these colors in the light. When grow lights use fluorescent bulbs, the bulb’s color contains more blue but is referred to as cool white.
Colors Used By Plants
Plants need light to photosynthesize. There are chemicals in the leaves, such as Chlorophyll A and B, that are needed for photosynthesis. Contrary to popular belief, plants do not only need blue and red light even though when you look through the absorption spectrum, but you may also see no light in the green area.
Plants use a wider and more complex range of color wavelengths.
It is true that blue and red are important and represent most of the light used by plants. Still, other colors, including green and yellow, are also used for photosynthesis.
The Best Color Spectrum
As the plants grow, they are bound to go through different cycles and will use different color spectrums at different stages. As such, using a suitable LED grow light that will be beneficial for these stages is essential.
It is important to know the kind of plants you will grow before you choose an LED light. If you’re using LED lights to grow plants for home use, this may not be as vital as it is for farmers who grow commercially and need maximum yields.
The Difference between LED Bulbs and Lights
Many people refer to LED grow lights as bulbs. But, there’s a big difference between the two. An LED light refers to the whole fixture. Inside it, you may find many bulbs and, in some instances, only one.
The bulb is responsible for making the light and has different wavelengths of light. It has different color spectra such as yellow, blue, and red. Many of the lights that you find on the market will offer you red and blue bulbs.
Making White Light With LED
Even though the bulbs available on the market have different wavelengths, there aren’t any that give off the white spectrum as the sun will. The best way to attain the white light is to have many different bulbs with various colors into one light fixture. Therefore, you are likely to find fixtures with a green and yellow bulb in addition to the basic red and blue.
One fixture can be programmed to give off varying amounts of different colors. When many different colors are combined, you have the white light.
