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

FAQs

What is the best color for your horticulture lighting? ›

Red LEDS are the most efficient and red wavelengths drive photosynthesis. However plants grow best with some blue light present. It is recommended to have LED modules that emit at least 10% in the blue spectrum. If people are working under LEDs, include some white light too.

Blue: This is the most important light for plant growth. It is easy for chlorophyll to absorb and convert into energy. Red: As the second most important wavelength, red light is incredibly potent for plants when combined with blue light. Orange: Similar to red light, but less effective.

The more blue light, the wider they open their stomas, so accelerating their metabolism. High levels of blue light will therefore promote increased metabolism, and by extension accelerate plant growth and development. Blue light is also responsible for directing leaves and growth points toward the light.

While blue and red light have been recognized as particularly significant to plant growth and the photosynthesis process, it's essential to know that the entire PAR spectrum (including green and yellow light) is important to supporting balanced, healthy plant growth.

Green light is the least effective for plants because they are themselves green due to the pigment Chlorophyll. Different colored lights help plants achieve different goals. Blue light, for example, helps encourage vegetative leaf growth. Red light, when combined with blue, allows plants to flower.

Typically, plants use more blue and blue-green light when they are seedlings, and more red light later on in their life cycles when they begin to flower and produce seeds.

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.

12. Short answer: plant absorbs mostly "blue" and "red" light. They rarely absorb green for its mostly reflected by plant, that makes them green! Long answer : Photosynthesis is the ability of plants to absorb the energy of light, and convert it into energy for the plant.

Green light is least effective (plants appear green because the other wavelengths are more absorbed/used by the plants, leaving green to bounce back to our eyes). Light quality is a major consideration for indoor growing.

And natural sunlight is in the range of 2,700 to 7,000 Kelvin. So, as a general rule of thumb, if you're looking to promote vegetative growth, pick lights ranging between 5,000 and 7,000 Kelvin. To promote fruiting and flowering, opt for lights in the 3,500 to 4,500 Kelvin range.

Is red light or blue light better for plants? ›

Blue promotes root development and strong, stocky plant growth. When you blast your young plants with blue, you prepare them to sustain a ton of buds in the future. Red light, on the other hand, does its best work in the flowering phase. A higher intensity of red promotes a higher yield.

Red and blue light are also perceived as the “optimal” wavebands for plant growth because: 1) in the lab, chlorophylls mainly absorb red and blue light, but not green light; and 2) the McCree curve shows high quantum efficiency of photosynthesis (on an instantaneous basis) under red and blue light.

Thus with light sources rich in IR, an air temp of 78F is functionally 83F-85F to the plants metabolism. LED's emit no IR, so to achieve similar metabolic rates found in HID or greenhouse conditions at 78F air temp,LED growers need to run the room air temp at 83F-85F.

Blue light or mixed light bulbs are suitable for starting seeds and leafy greens, as well as non-flowering house plants. Red light or mixed light bulbs are suitable for promoting bud formation in flowering plants as well as keeping the plants shorter.

Warm white lights that seem yellow on the Kelvin scale, 2700k or 3000k, work well in your entertaining areas. Natural cool white lights, 4000k, will light your pathways and driveway well for clear sight in the dark. They also work well as a light source in security lighting.

So the first thing to understand is how each color influences your plants. In the most basic terms: Red light promotes flowering.

Blue promotes root development and strong, stocky plant growth. When you blast your young plants with blue, you prepare them to sustain a ton of buds in the future. Red light, on the other hand, does its best work in the flowering phase. A higher intensity of red promotes a higher yield.