However more lumens will generally be better. Lumens measures the amount of yellow light that humans see and it not a good measure to determine lights for plants. A lumen reading will be present on the fluorescent tube set up.Red light color temperatures range from 1000k- 5000k. Seedlings need at least 65000k, which is more of a cool blue light color temperature. Another unit of measure you may see is the color temperature which is measured in Kelvins.Several models of grow lights now come with a button that switches from vegetative growth to fruiting/flowering. Remember seedlings will require more blue light. Pay attention to the amount of blue light and red light that the grow lights emit.If your plants are grown inside until they are ready for flowering, the lights will need to be between 300- 600 μmol/m2/s. When choosing grow lights look for μmol/m2/s.Shade loving plants require in the range of 4-10 mol/m2/d. Most plants will require between 12-20 mol/m2/d. Notice the d instead of s.ģ00μmol/m2/ over a 12 hour period is equal to 12.96 mol/m2/d. The unit of measure is micro moles per square meter per day or mol/m2/d. So far, we have determined that we can measure the amount of light a plant is receiving per second (μmol/m2/s), but in order to calculate how much light a plant is receiving in a day, we use Day Light Integral (DLI). There’s one more term we need to understand here. For most types of LED of grow lights, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Therefore seedlings will need to be closer or further from the lights in order to get this required amount of light. There are two important factors here, distance from the light source and hours of light.ĭepending on the light source, plants may receive less PPFD (less intensity of light), but we now know that seedlings need 300-600 μmol/m2/s in order to grow well. This brings us to the next really important question: how much light does a plant need each day? If you want to skip to tips to remember followed by recommendations on specific lights (with some detail on why), click here. If you want to really understand the “why”, keep reading. There are a lot of details on how light works in this post, but bear with me, it will all make sense once you get to the ‘Things to Remember’ section.įriendly Warning: There is a lot of nerdy detail on light and measuring light ahead. This guide is designed to help gardeners understand how light affects plants, which in turn helps us to choose to grow lights that work. It stands to reason if you are investing money in seeds, then you should invest in lights that will result in great seedlings. The correct light source is one of those immensely important factors that could mean seedling success or money down the drain. Starting seeds can be intimidating if you are new and there are several things that can prevent success. As a home gardener, one of the most important things to own is a set of good grow lights.
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