【Full Spectrum Plant Lights : Planting No Longer Dependent on Sunlight】Plant Growth Lights Become a New Trend in Agricultural Development
【Full Spectrum Plant Lights : Planting No Longer Dependent on Sunlight】Plant Growth Lights Become a New Trend in Agricultural Development
With the development of agriculture, the elements of plant growth – sunlight, water, air and soil – are now under human control. To make sunlight a controllable factor, an artificial light source – the full-spectrum plant growth lamp (plant lamp) – is one of the options.
Artificial lamps can provide a stable, year-round supply of photoelectromagnetic waves suitable for photosynthesis to stimulate plant growth, making it independent of season and weather, providing a more stable and longer-lasting source of light, and enabling popular crops to be grown all year round, greatly improving planting efficiency and the quality of crops.
What is “Full Spectrum Plant Light”?
The Full Spectrum Plant Grower is a light source for plant growth that mimics the solar spectrum. The white light contains light from seven colour spectrums – red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple, with wavelengths ranging from 380 nm for blue light to 780 nm for red light. The light wave curves also follow the shape of the solar spectrum, such as daylight at 10 a.m., which provides strong colour rendering, low colour temperature drift, high luminous efficacy and high luminous flux.
Therefore, “full spectrum” means that it can “mimic the full spectrum of the sun”, so that artificial light and sunlight become very close to each other.
Relationship between plant growing lights and light compensation points
The photocompensation point is the value of light level at which the photosynthetic and respiratory intensities of a plant reach equilibrium. When the light level is above the photocompensation point, photosynthesis is higher than respiration and the organic matter produced by photosynthesis can be accumulated. However, when the light level is below the light compensation point, the “respiration” of the plant is higher than the “photosynthesis”, and the organic substances not only cannot be accumulated, but also have to be used up in the plant.
If the plants stay below the light compensation point for a long time, they will slowly wither or even die. In addition, temperature also drives respiration and raises the compensation point. Therefore, on days with insufficient sunshine, greenhouse-grown crops should be protected from excessively high temperatures in order to lower the compensation point, which will help the accumulation of organic matter and plant growth.
The light compensation point of a group of plants is also higher than that of a single leaf because there are more leaves in the group and they cover each other. When the light level is low, the upper leaves can still photosynthesise, but the lower leaves absorb less light, so photosynthesis is weak but respiration is strong, thus causing the light compensation point of the whole group to rise.
Full Spectrum Plant Lamps Impact on Crops
Full Spectrum Plant Growing Lamp with reference to the plant growth pattern, it provides a full spectrum artificial light source from sunlight with a wide coverage of over 100 lumens per watt, which is suitable for the luminous flux requirement of plant growth.
When used in large-scale agricultural greenhouses, full-spectrum lamps can provide crops with extra light at any time of the day so that plants can photosynthesise efficiently. Even in winter when daylight hours are short, in summer when it rains, at dusk or at night, the use of full spectrum lamps can effectively extend the lighting time and provide the most suitable light source for growth without being affected by any environmental changes. In small greenhouses or plant laboratories, full spectrum lamps can be used to completely replace natural light to promote plant growth.
After years of testing and application, the wavelengths generated by full spectrum lamps have been proven to be very suitable for plant growth, flowering and fruiting. Adequate and suitable light not only promotes plant growth, but also provides better control of flowering time and improves the quality of plants and crops. Some large corporations place plants in their offices, but the light source often restricts the species and location of the plants and affects their growth. A small full-spectrum light can be used to supplement the light in this case. In addition to ensuring the healthy growth of plants, the enterprise can have more freedom to choose the species and location of the plants, and the plants will look brighter under the supplemental light.
| Spectral range | Implications |
| 280~315 nm (UV) | Inhibits the growth of animals, plants and even fungi. |
| 315-400 nm (far UV) | It is not harmful to the plant, but it does not help it positively. Less chlorophyll is absorbed into the plant, which affects the photoperiodic effect and prevents stem elongation. |
| 400 to 520 nm (blue light) | It helps plant root and stem development and has the greatest impact on chlorophyll and carotene absorption and photosynthesis. |
| 520~610 nm (green light) | This wavelength has a low absorption rate. |
| 610~720 nm (red light) | Poor chlorophyll uptake by plants has a significant effect on photosynthesis and plant growth rate. |
| 720-1000 nm (pan-infrared) | Low uptake into the plant, can directly stimulate cell growth and can affect flowering and seed germination. |
| > 1000nm | It is close to the wavelength of laser light and has been converted into heat. |
Benefits of using LED full spectrum plant lights
The use of full-spectrum lamps not only makes it possible to grow plants under unfavourable conditions, but also promotes healthy growth and shortens the growth cycle of crops, reduces the risk of plant diseases, pest infestation and the production of deformed fruits, and greatly increases the efficiency of agricultural production.
Full Spectrum Lamp imitates the full spectrum of light emitted by the sun, which includes all the light spectrum needed by plants and is very favourable to plant growth and fruiting. Full spectrum lights make plants look brighter and easier to monitor. Changes in plant growth such as leaf colour, diseases or pests can be detected and dealt with at an early stage.
Compared with other artificial light sources, full spectrum lamps are more energy-efficient with a more even distribution of luminous efficacy, and their luminous efficacy is two times higher than that of sodium lamps of the same wattage, and seven times higher than that of incandescent lamps.
Full-spectrum plant growth lights have become a new trend in agricultural development. Farms should consider installing related systems to improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural products, thereby increasing their profitability. As the environment and crops grown in each farm are different, the design of the plant lighting system should take into account the greenhouse environment and the plant requirements, species and growth cycle of the plants in order to tailor-make the most suitable full-spectrum lighting solution. To learn more about how to design the most suitable full spectrum lighting solution, please contact LED lighting expert ME Lite.
ME Lite – A Hong Kong brand, we develop and produce more than 300 high quality LED products in our own factory, and can provide the most suitable LED full spectrum lighting system setup proposal for large and small plantations, one-stop installation, maintenance and follow-up services.
The ME Lite team is professional and careful, and we will not be sloppy in doing our part for you and for the earth. Welcome to contact us through the following ways:
Offical Website：https://www.meproducts.com.hk/
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