Horticulture LED Lighting - Color Light for Plant Growth | TCP Lighting (2024)

FAQs

What Colour LED lights help plants grow? ›

Blue light generally stimulates growth, while red light is important for growth and flower production. T5 HO tubes are available that produce colour values based on the Kelvin scale (K).

Blue light is essential during a plant's germination phase. Stronger concentrations of blue light will encourage sprouting and development of strong roots.

Typically, if you are in a greenhouse, you should be using LED luminaires with an optimized red/blue spectrum, since they are most efficient at converting electricity into useable light for plants.

Conclusion. In conclusion, the answer to the question, "Can plants grow in LED light?" is a resounding yes. LED grow lights offer a highly efficient and customizable solution for providing the essential light spectrum that plants need for photosynthesis and growth.

Horticulture lighting primarily focuses on red and blue wavelengths. These are the two most important colors on the visible light spectrum for promoting plant growth. That is why products on the horticulture lighting market often give off a purple glow—it is from the combination of red and blue light.

Blue light, which falls in the range of approximately 400 to 500 nanometers, is a crucial player in the growth of plants.

610-700 nm is considered the optimum wavelength for chlorophyll absorption, germination and flower or bud development. This wavelength is perfect for flowering and for photoperiodism. This light, when balanced with blue and green light, can translate into perfect plant growth and optimised yield.

HIDs shower plants with every wavelength possible, but purple LED lights isolate the specific blue and red wavelengths of light that benefit your plant. This is great for plants because it provides exactly what the plants need to grow and thrive, and it avoids giving them excess light that they'll waste.

Plants require mostly blue and red light for photosynthesis, but for flowering, infrared light is also needed. Incandescent lights produce mostly red and some infrared light, but very little blue light. Fluorescent lights vary according to the amount of phosphorus used by the manufacturer.

The spectrum characteristics of full spectrum LED grow lights typically include a mix of cool and warm white LEDs, as well as specific wavelengths of blue, red, green, and sometimes UV and far-red light.

Is too much blue light bad for plants? ›

Generally, blue light suppresses extension growth; plants grown with blue light are usually shorter and have smaller, thicker and darker green leaves compared to plants grown without blue light (Figure 1).

The most common type of grow-light bulb is the T5 & T8 LED Tube Light. The bulb is most often found in (more or less) 6,500 Kelvin, which is the color temperature of the light we see at daylight. Traditionally, blue lights would be used to provide plants with this necessary wavelength.

Plants can experience light burn or stress when they receive too much light or when the light source is too close to the canopy. Symptoms of light burn include leaf curling, bleaching, or brown spots on leaves. To prevent this, maintain a safe distance between the LED grow lights and the plant canopy.

LEDs by contrast only emit light at very narrow peaks, and normal plant growth often needs a wider spectrum. At a push plants can get by on red LEDs emitting at 690nm with some supplementary light in the blue around 450nm, which can be supplied by some white LEDs. Many white LEDs emit in the approx.

Lights that provide a full spectrum are the ideal choice for your growing space. This is where LED lights come in handy. Most LED growing lights offer both types of color spectrum lighting, so you can get all the benefits. TIP: Violet-blue light promotes plant growth and red light promotes plant budding.

For vegetative growth you should choose a 'cool white' lamp. This is also acceptable for flowering, but a 'warm white' light will be better as it is stronger in the red end of the spectrum which is more suitable for flowering.

Without a doubt, white LEDs look good and are easy on the eyes, but when used as grow lights they are not as energy-efficient as blue-and-red LEDs. They are, however, more effective at growing and flowering plants than pink or purple LED fixtures.

The primary reasons why LED fixtures emit a lot of red are 1) red LEDs are among the most efficient at converting electricity into photosynthetic photons, 2) chlorophyll strongly absorbs red light, thus it is effective at photosynthesis, and 3) red LEDs are relatively inexpensive.