Lamps for highlighting seedlings - options, pros and cons

Many houseplants can be called martyrs, because they exist not only in a limited space, but also with a constant lack of light. This especially applies to seedlings, which grow at the time of the year, when the duration of daylight hours is almost minimal and only begins to increase.

Sunlight is essential for plants for the vital process of photosynthesis, which results in the production of starch, sugars and other substances necessary for the development of substances. If there is little light, then the plant develops sluggishly, becoming also significantly perceptible to diseases and pest damage. This can not suit the gardener, whose goal is to get a strong and viable seedling, capable of yielding a good harvest.

In order not to appear to the planting pore with the extended pale sprouts, it is important to think about the organization of the illumination system before sowing seeds. Fortunately, today's technologies and a variety of lamps for highlighting seedlings make it possible to implement this idea in several ways.

Features of lighting seedlings

Solar natural light, the most familiar for all life on the planet, combines light waves of different lengths. Part of the spectrum is visible to the human eye, part is not, but all this diversity is important for plants, and waves of different length play a different role in different segments of the life of seedlings.

• The blue and red part of the spectrum helps active production of chlorophyll, and the plant, getting such light, develops faster, which is important for seedlings.
• The orange portion of the spectrum is also necessary for growth in a room, and also contributes to fruit bearing.
• Green, like yellow light, is reflected from the foliage and can not greatly affect its growth, but, as part of natural light, it is necessary.
• Ultraviolet radiation entering the invisible part of the spectrum helps to fight the pathogens, fungi and other plant diseases, but in large quantities, ultraviolet radiation can do more harm than benefit.
• Infrared radiation is well perceived by seedlings, helps its growth and the formation of lush greenery, but gives no more light, and heat, so it does not always benefit.

Which lamps for seedlings are better?

Artificial lighting, given by lamps, can not exactly copy sunlight, but it is fully capable of providing proper conditions for the rapid growth of any kind of seedling.

Moreover, thanks to the lamps for the illumination of seedlings, it became possible to make the vegetation of many plants year-round, to receive several crops and grow plants where earlier it was simply impossible, for example, in the conditions of the polar night or in the premises without windows.

However, this effect can not give all sources of artificial light.

For example, the most common incandescent lamps are unsuitable for the reason that light in such lamps becomes only 5% of the energy consumed, the rest is converted to heat. Plants under such a lamp are not illuminated, but heated, which leads to thin, stretched sprouts, risking getting burns.

Specialized lamps for illuminating seedlings should provide their wards with a certain spectrum of radiation, allowing plants to quickly move into growth and in not the most comfortable conditions to reach a size sufficient for disembarkation in priming. In addition, these light sources are more economical and produce less heat.

Sodium lamps for highlighting seedlings

There are several varieties of such lamps. The most popular are those produced at the Russian reflux plant.

These discharge lamps give warm orange light that does not irritate the human eye, so it can be used not only in greenhouses, but also in living rooms. In addition to Reflax, there are other reliable manufacturers, for example, General Electric, no less famous OSRAM or Philips. The main consumer of these agrolamps for seedlings is large and small greenhouse farms. But for home conditions, there are samples with a power of up to 100 watts.

Lamps Reflax brand DNAS equipped with a factory mirror reflector and can be considered the best option among the analogs. The reflector intensifies the light flux and directs all light to the plants. And for a high-quality illumination on one and a half meter of the windowsill, one gas-discharge light source with a power of 70 W is enough.

Sodium agrolamps for seedlings DNaT do not have a mirror reflector, therefore 70W lamps will have to be placed one for each meter.

But the sources of the DRiZ brand are better combined with the lamps DNaZ and DnaT. This will make it possible to obtain the most natural light spectrum.

Advantages of domestic sodium lamps Reflax:

• Highest efficiency of illumination system;
• Long service life;
• Economical.

Disadvantages:

• High price of light sources;
• The large dimensions of the lamps themselves;
• The lack of waves in the blue part of the spectrum;
• Need to equip the system with a regulating device.

Phytoluminescent lamps

Today, you can find quite a few varieties of special fluorescent lamps for highlighting seedlings:

• The most famous are the phytolamps "Fluora" produced by Osram. For illumination per meter of shelf with seedlings, one or two 18 W lamps are sufficient.
• Russian phytolamps with the labeling of LFU-30 have a power of 30 W and can be applied one per meter of the sill.
• Enrich phytolamps with a mirror reflector and a power of 60 watts almost do not irritate the eyes, but produce a lot of heat and are short-lived.
• Phytolamps for seedling seedlings from Paulmann are different, from 40 to 100 W, the power is almost not heated and has a long working life.

Advantages of phytolamps:

• Economical;
• Small size;
• Durability;
• Security.

The lack of a Flora lamp for seedlings from Osram and other representatives of similar light sources is that all of them have unnatural for the human eye lilac-pink radiation. Therefore, they are best used only if there is a screen or reflector separating the room from the location of the seedling.

Fluorescent lamps

Household fluorescent white fluorescent lamps can also be used for lighting, however:

• They are not too powerful;
• In the illumination, the red part of the spectrum is not enough.

To obtain a sufficient flow of light, the distance from the luminaire to the tray with the seedlings should be from 15 to 35 cm, and on the window sill should be placed two lamps with a power of at least 40 W.

LED lamps for growing seedlings

For plants, this option is probably one of the best. Using a combination of LEDs that give white, red or blue light, you can get the highlight of maximum efficiency.

In this case, LED lamps for growing seedlings have high efficiency, are durable, and the spectrum of the entire system can be simply corrected, taking into account that the needs of seedlings as they grow significantly are changing.

• Before picking up the seedlings, the light emitted by the blue and red LEDs, set in a ratio of two to one, is better perceived. An abundant blue here activates the growth of the root system, but slightly slows down the stretching of the ground part. The stem turns out strong with frequent interstices.
• After picking, it is better for a few days to reduce the intensity of lighting to ensure a resting mode after a stressful transplant. Further, it is necessary to illuminate the seedlings with blue and red LEDs already in the ratio 1 to 1.

The only disadvantage of LED-lamps is the high cost of ready systems, which, when growing seedlings for personal needs, will pay off not earlier than in a couple of seasons.

Induction technology

Wondering which lamps for seedlings are better, we can consider the option that appeared recently - it's induction lamps.

The most perfect can be considered bispectral light sources that produce radiation in two, the most popular parts of the spectrum.

Features of lamps:

• High efficiency and economy;
• The universal spectrum;
• The lamp temperature does not exceed 75 degrees.

Unfortunately, none of the sources of artificial lighting completely replace the sun can not, however, phyto-lamps for seedling seedlings actually shorten the period of plant growth for planting in the ground. Their quality improves, and the share of rejected sprouts sharply decreases.

Placing of lamps for plants

To increase the effectiveness of lighting, it is important to consider and the features of placement of lamps:

• The higher the temperature of the operating lamp, the higher it should be located above the trays.
• At different stages of growth, plants require different illumination. For example, after sowing the trays should be illuminated around the clock, in some cases the color of the LEDs also changes.
• For the greatest effect, you should combine lamps with different characteristics.

To save electricity will allow reflectors, reflectors and light screens, which can be manufactured independently.

How to choose the right lamp for seedlings - video lesson

Video: How to choose a lamp for plants - Part 2