Lamps for plant growth: how to choose, features of different types of lighting, lighting schemes at home

Light has a great effect on the growth of any plant. It is thanks to him that photosynthesis occurs. As a rule, natural sunlight is enough for home flowers, but this is not always the case. If the flower is not feeling well, you can choose a plant lamp that will stimulate growth and maintain a favorable atmosphere.

The best lighting for plants

Of course, sunlight in its homeland suits any flower best. However, indoor plants are often grown in conditions far from their native ones. Therefore, they are not adapted to the local daylight hours, temperature, changing seasons. Especially a lot of troubles arise in winter., because many of the flowers are from tropical countries.

With a lack of illumination, all metabolic processes in plants slow down, photosynthesis proceeds slowly. This leads to "hibernation" and even death of the flower.

A couple of decades ago, there were only two options for solving this problem:

• fluorescent lamps;
• incandescent lamps.

There were simply no other ways of lighting. At the same time, ordinary incandescent lamps are not very suitable for growing plants, since their light differs significantly from the sun's rays. In addition, they emit much more heat than light: up to 95% of the energy is spent on heating.

Fluorescent lamps, whose illumination spectrum is close to the sun, do much better with this task. For this reason, they are called fluorescent lamps. In addition, they allow you to save energy, since their lighting power is much higher, and the cost of heat is lower. Thanks to this, the plant will receive more light from each consumed kilowatt.

Modern technology is able to make life easier for home flora and even affect some of the characteristics of growth and flowering. The plant will bloom earlier and in greater volume, if the right lighting is chosen. But the choice is much wider than at the beginning of the century, so this is not easy to do.

A feature present in all plant growth lamps (phytolamps) is specially selected radiation spectrumthat has a beneficial effect on the flower. Science has proven that the rays of the red spectrum bring the onset of flowering closer and allow you to harvest the fruits earlier, and the blue rays accelerate growth. Moreover, such lamps do not emit infrared or ultraviolet rays that are harmful to plants.

Most often, these two types of radiation can be found in one device, but they can also be found separately. Red phyto-lamps can be perceived by the human eye as pink, they are best used during flowering and fruit formation. Blue ones can be used at any stage of development.

Types of additional lighting

On sale you can find light bulbs for plants for every taste. The main thing is not to get confused in the variety of their models. To do this, you need to know the main features of each variety. Based on them, it will be easier to choose the appropriate option.

Incandescent lamps

Until relatively recently, they were the only available method of lighting, but today this option is far from the best. Lamps are attractive in price, but they have no other advantages. They will not last long, and as a result, the savings will be ghostly. And due to the fact that they emit much more light than heat, they will be of particular benefit, and may even be harmful - if you place them too close to the foliage, it can cause a burn. In addition, they do not contain the blue spectrum of light waves, which is important for plants.

Nevertheless, they have their own, very narrow field of application. If desired, they can be used during the cold season in conservatories and greenhouses for additional illumination in the evenings. This method is suitable only for southern latitudes, where daylight hours in winter are already quite long (up to 12 hours), but towards evening it starts to get dark.

Among the plants that are suitable for this type of lighting are vines with long stems or plants with a short stem and long leaves.

Incandescent lamps are best combined with cold glow lamps. This will dilute their red spectrum and provide the required radiation range for seedlings.

Luminescent and energy saving

Fluorescent lamps differ from their predecessors by an excellent balance of energy consumption and light output. They barely heat up, and most of the electricity consumed is used to generate light. Thanks to this, they are much more economical than incandescent lamps.

They are best suited for illuminating large areas occupied by plants, as they are large. They cannot be installed on the windowsill - they will take up too much space, but in a home greenhouse - it is quite possible. There are also special designs with already designated places for installing pots and a lamp on top.

However, conventional fluorescent bulbs are not suitable for growing flowers. They are not designed to produce specific wave spectra and therefore hardly transmit red radiation. Therefore, it is better to choose special lamps for growing plants. at home. They are covered with a special composition that restrains harmful rays and lets those that seedlings need in the required proportions.

Energy saving bulbs are a type of fluorescent, but much more compact. They look like ordinary incandescent lamps, so they can be screwed into a regular socket, unlike fluorescent ones, which require a special choke. In addition, their energy consumption is much lower than that of incandescent and fluorescent lamps, and they last much longer - up to fifteen thousand hours.

This type of lamp is suitable for local lighting anywhere: they are compact and can be placed directly above the pot, even in narrow spaces. They are best suited for plants that do not bloom because they have a lot of blue and much less red in their spectrum. But this applies only to ordinary "household" energy-saving light bulbs. Phytolamps of this type are of various types:

1. "Cold" - emit mainly the rays of the blue part of the spectrum and are suitable for illumination during the period of active growth. Accelerate seed germination and further development of plants.
2. "Warm" - lean towards the red end of the spectrum and are suitable for backlighting during flowering and fruit formation.
3. "Daytime" - combine both types of rays and can be used at any stage of plant development. Suitable as a main or additional source of illumination.

Gas discharge (mercury, sodium, metal halide)

As in the previous cases, not all of them are suitable for plant illumination. So, it is better not to use mercury ones at all, since their light contains a significant part of the rays of the red spectrum and almost does not give out blue radiation. In addition, they consume more energy than fluorescent ones.

Sodium lamps are used to illuminate home plantings much more often. This is one of the best options out there. They will last a long time (they have up to twenty thousand operating hours), are efficient (one lamp can illuminate a space one and a half meters long), and are economical in terms of energy consumption. They emit mainly red and orange light, but if you choose a model with enough blue waves, it will be ideal for lighting.

Most often they are used in conservatories as the main source of lighting. Even one sodium lamp on the ceiling can cover a large area. Under the light of these bulbs, the seedlings can appear somewhat pale and painful, so remember that this is just a visual effect.

The lamps are best suited for illuminating plants at the reproductive stage of development. Of course, you can apply them at earlier stages, but this will have a certain effect on the flowers: they will grow quickly, but their foliage will be much more spreading.

Sodium bulbs also have their drawbacks. They take up a lot of space, their cost is quite high, and they also require special disposal, since they contain vapors of sodium, xenon and mercury.

Metal halide lamps are the most efficient and closest to natural light. This feature is provided by the white light that they emit. The spectrum of rays can be changed, so you can choose the most suitable device for a particular plant. Such bulbs cost a lot, but they are very durable and allow you to create conditions close to natural.

Recommendations for use

Not every flower needs additional illumination, and if it is required, then each has its own. Before purchasing equipment, you should find information about specific plants: whether natural lighting in this region suits them or not to do without phytolamps. In addition, it is worth paying attention to what kind of light spectrum this flower needs. However, there are still some general recommendations:

1. Light is directed to all plants in nature in a natural way - from top to bottom, so the artificial light source must be positioned in the same way.
2. The distance from the lamp to the foliage also deserves attention. For shade-tolerant specimens, it should be at least half a meter, for light-loving specimens, it can decrease to 15 centimeters, but better than 25-40.
3. It is better to place the lamp at a right angle, preferably vertically at the top. Of course, you can put it in the corner, but it is worth remembering that plants are drawn to the light and will grow in a given direction. If the necessary conditions are not created, after a while they will all bend.
4. Particular attention should be paid to the backlighting in winter, when the daylight hours are short. For many plants that are used to living in more southern regions, you need to extend the day by 4-5 hours using the backlight.
5. When growing seedlings at home, it is worth remembering: when it sprouts, the first three to four days it will need round-the-clock lighting. After the end of this period, you can gradually reduce the backlight to 16, and then to 14 hours a day.
6. If you need to illuminate 1 square meter of a home greenhouse, you will need a phytolamp with a power of at least 70 watts.
7. If there are no lamps with the required parameters on sale, you can combine several others in order to end up with suitable lighting. For example, add fluorescent lamps to phytolamps.

After installing the devices, you need to monitor the reaction of colors to additional illumination. An overabundance of lighting is as destructive for them as a lack. It is easy to understand that the lamp needs to be removed or the intensity of its glow should be reduced if the leaves look drooping and faded, curl, wither and die off. In addition, gray or brown burn spots may appear on them.

Application schemes

There are several basic schemes for using supplemental lighting for plants. You will have to follow the lamps after purchase - turn them on and off at the right time:

• you can turn on phytolamps during daylight hours if there is not enough sunlight and you need to increase the light intensity so that the plant's metabolism proceeds faster;
• if the lamps were purchased to increase daylight hours (for example, in winter), they can be turned on only in the evening or in the morning and turn off when natural light becomes quite bright or when daylight comes to an end;
• in rare cases, artificial light completely replaces natural light and the plant owner daily adjusts the light with it.

The latter option is not so common - for this, not only lighting, but also other climate parameters should be controlled in the room.

If you follow all the recommendations and select the right lamps for a particular plant, you can not worry that the daylight hours in the region do not correspond to the natural growing conditions. Thanks to additional lighting systems, even the most exotic flower can be cultivated at home.