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Can You Use Any LED Lights to Grow Plants?
Growing indoor plants is no longer new, especially for those who want to keep their plants safe throughout the year. It seems that indoor gardening is the best solution to protect your plants from too much heat and cold outside.
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It’s also easier to prevent bugs and other pests from infesting your precious plants since they are not exposed outside. Now, this leaves you with the job to decide what kind of artificial lighting to use as a substitute for natural sunlight.
LED Technology
Of course, natural sunlight is still the best source of energy to make food. But since indoor plants’ access to natural sunlight is typically limited to none, it’s up to you to choose the best LED lights.
There are different types of LED lights and each type is designed with different levels of power. But one thing is for sure when it comes with LED lights; it’s the most energy-efficient light among other light bulbs. But the question now is, can you use any LED light to grow plants?
Technically, the answer to this question is yes. However, this doesn’t mean that your indoor plants will grow as healthy as other indoor and outdoor plants. This is due to the insufficient amount of light that indoor plants get from regular LED light bulbs.
LED lights are widely known for being energy-efficient and producing a lower level of heat compared with other light bulbs. But since LED technology is more customizable, each light bulb can be unique.
Light Wavelengths and Range of Colors
Thus, you can choose a customized LED light that produces the right mix of light colors including red and blue. Take note that not all light sources produce the same full spectrum of colors to help boost indoor plants’ growth.
We all know that photosynthesis plays a very important role in plants’ life cycle. This process generates the food and energy they need for their growth and cellular respiration. To perform this process, plants need light energy from the sun, carbon dioxide, and water.
For indoor plants, you need artificial lighting as an alternative to help with the process. The color red is the main wavelength that is needed by plants to undergo the process of photosynthesis.
This color is also responsible for the stem elongation inhibition of plants. It gives a signal to plants that there are no plants to interfere above it. Thus, they are free to have uninhibited development.
For the color blue wavelength, it is responsible for stimulating the opening of stomata and stem elongation inhibition. In addition, it’s also responsible for the stems’ curvature towards the light, leaf expansion, and photoperiodic flowering.
When combined, these two color wavelengths will trigger the plants’ growth from seed up to the vegetative stage. Eventually, this combination of wavelengths in a LED light bulb can also help plants up to the flowering stage.
Many manufacturers prefer producing LED lights with red and blue combinations because red and blue chips are the cheapest LED chips. So don’t be surprised when you realize that its final products are also available at cheaper prices.
But compared with LED lights designed for growing plants, light bulbs with red and blue wavelengths promote slower plant growth. This is because LED lights with continuous spectra contain more color wavelengths than red and blue.
These wavelengths include color green which can boost the expansion rate of plants and its stem elongation. Thus, this combination results in higher biomass or accumulation of yield. To make it more efficient, LED light manufacturers for growing plants also include UV wavelengths.
The accumulation of these compounds like phenolic can boost the overall growth of plants and their health benefits. However, weed plants have different requirements when it comes to ensuring their growth.
Grow Plants’ Lighting Requirements
Their nature of sustainability is different compared with other indoor plants. These plants don’t need “any” LED lights that you can buy anywhere. They need to be placed in a properly lighted grow space to maximize the effect of their LED lights.
If routine LED lights contain only some bands and colors of light like white and sometimes yellow, weed plants need more. As much as possible, it should be closer to natural sunlight which contains more light wavelengths and different range of colors.
These colors include green, orange, violet, purple, blue, red, and more. This kind of plants should get all bands of colors to ensure healthier growth. In this case, many weed growers invest in grow tents for indoor planting to promote healthier plants with faster growth.
Conclusion
If there’s one piece of device that you should never forget about indoor gardening, it’s the LED grow lights. LED grow lights are the best alternative to natural sunlight in spite of its upfront price.
But then again, this lighting solution is the most energy-efficient option that is available in the market. In the long run, it can help you save more on electricity especially if you invest in the best brands/models.
Instead of being intimidated by its upfront price, think of how much money you can save in the following years. Again, you can use any LED lights to grow plants but don’t expect it to give consistent positive results.
To make sure that your plants are growing healthy, we recommend heading straight to the shelves of LED grow lights. Most LED grow lights are designed with a balanced spectrum to help indoor plants throughout the vegetation and blooming stages.
About the Author Laura Bennett
Hello, I’m Laura Bennett. I love nature especially when it comes to flowers and different kinds of plants. I started a very small garden behind my house and I named it Humid Garden. So, I created this blog to provide aspiring and inspiring thoughts about gardening for gardeners and anyone who has the intention of keeping a garden.
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