Light is one of the most important environmental factors for plant growth. It is one of the least controlled and most confusing aspects of CEA (controlled environment agriculture ). Light is what drives photosynthesis, photomorphogenesis, and photoperiodism. Photosynthesis is when light energy turns into chemical energy. Photomorphogenesis is when the plant grows differently because of light. Photoperiodism is when the plant knows how long the day is.
What we see as light is a small part of all the radiation in the world.
Plants are really good at absorbing light. You can think of a plant's leaves as nature's solar panels. It is better to know how much light is received by a plant over a 24-hour period. Taking an instantaneous measurement will not give you accurate enough results.The amount of light a plant receives changes over the course of a day. This is why it's important to measure light constantly over a 24-hr period. This information is valuable because it helps us understand how plants grow.
Things to consider when designing your indoor grow lighting system
The way we see light is different from plants. We humans tend to think of green as the brightest color and use blue or red less often, but they're still important for our survival! A Lumen measures how much natural sunlight something can take in per second - so if you want your plants healthy, then you will need to make sure to get the right combination of light that includes all three colors combined.
A person’s eye sees white (or near-white), yellowish brown during daylight hours when looking up at sky; these hues are called "light" because insects rely on them heavily while flying around trying not to get eaten by birds.
How much light is visible to the human eye depends on many factors including what type and color of pigment we're exposed to. This calculation takes into account that our sensitivity changes with wavelength, so a high lumen value doesn't necessarily mean anything if it comes from an inefficient source or has other detrimental effects such as being filtered heavily before release onto your garden's space.
There are many factors to consider when selecting the right lamps for your crops. You want them to not only provide light but also contain an adequate amount of photons that will help plants grow well and achieve their desired quality. Here are just a few to get you started:
Brightness and intensity
Color temperature ( warmth)
How much of the spectrum it covers (including UVA rays that fruits and vegetables need)
Spatial awareness (how close the modules need to be to its surroundings such as how close the walls are).
When growing plants indoors, it is essential to have the right lighting strategy. You don't want any dark spots or shadows on those precious plants! If there are several different types of sun exposure in an area (such as windows), try them all out first before deciding which works best for what type of plants that will grow best under each condition - just like how photographers test their lenses against different backgrounds so they can find one perfect match among many options available.
The greenhouse industry is all about getting the most out of your space, and that includes giving yourself enough light. The best way to do this? Artificial sources like lamps, but not just any old kind will work. They need artificial lights which are designed specifically for Greenhouses.
In a blog post by LED Magazine titled, “Fluence works with strawberries, too” David Hawley, Principal Scientist for Fluence states that the “Results from our collaboration with Delphy are showing that strawberries thrive under predominantly white spectra, creating opportunities for greenhouse growers to introduce new, efficient lighting strategies into their facilities,” said David “Strawberry cultivars grown under a broad spectrum with a fraction of far-red saw taller crops, wider canopies, higher overall yields, and increased Brix values.”
This is just one example of how SunLike LEDs can enable benefits across indoor spaces with proven health, productivity and horticulture advantages. Indoor growing, with the right lighting and system, can completely erase an “off season” for growing plants for our fruits and vegetables.
STUDY from Dutch horticultural research institute Delphy Improvement Center in Bleiswijk, Holland.
Study shows the results of strawberries grown indoors under 4 different types of light.
LED vs HPS in a Greenhouse
When it comes to lighting, HPS is not the best option. It's difficult and energy hungry with no control over how much light gets produced by each lamp or where in your garden or greenhouse you want them placed - which means that hot spots could develop if they're not properly installed (and this doesn't even take into account the many other problems associated).
LEDs are the new wave of lighting for plant cultivation. Not only do they have a wide range that can be custom tuned, but LED lights also last longer than HPS bulbs and emit less heat - making them more comfortable to work with during growth stages. With the right lighting, you can achieve your crop goals. LED lights are efficient and provide light where it is needed most to enhance plants with ease!
If you use LED, you can reduce how much power your greenhouse needs while still getting good yields. If you want to use the same amount of power, then using LED will make your crops grow better. Overall, there are many ways that you can customize how your LED lighting works in order to get the best results for your crops.You can use LED lighting with an intelligent control system to get the best results for your crops all year long. You can choose the depth of color, flavor, and shelf life that you want.
At GPA, we are teaming up with Green Amber Canada to supply you with top of the line grow lights. LED-ONE is designed for any indoor or greenhouse environment and is perfect for the modern green thumb. With its customizable light spectrum, you can fine-tune your plants' growth to get the most out of them. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, the LED-ONE has everything you need to get growing.
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LED-ONE GROW LIGHT
PAR
(Photosynthetically Active Radiation) is a region of the light spectrum (400 to 700 nm) that plants utilize for the process of photosynthesis. PAR is not a measurement or metric but defines the range of light needed to support photosynthesis.
PPF
(Photosynthetic Photon Flux) is a measure of the total amount of light within PAR that a light source emits each second. The unit used to express PPF is micromoles of photons per second (µmol/s). PPF is an important metric for calculating how efficient a lamp is at converting electrical energy into photons of PAR. Nonetheless, it is of essence to note that PPF does not tell you how much of the measured light actually arrives at the plant canopy. PPF measurements used to describe light sources should be done in specialized light laboratories using appropriate equipment such as light sensors connected to integrating spheres or goniometers. One recommended way is to use a light company that uses third-party testing.
PPFD
(Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density) measures the amount of light within PAR that actually falls on a given surface (the plant canopy area) each second. The unit used to express PPFD is micromoles of photons per square meter per second (µmol/m2/s). This measurement is done using a specialized instrument called PAR Light Meter or a properly calibrated spectrometer, which captures, and measures photons emitted by a light source.
It is important for growers using LED grow lights to use the right measurement instruments as there are some that are not truly compatible with LEDs and could give a false PAR range. This is because some sensors are calibrated to measure luminous power or do not capture the full red in LED light.
PPE
(Photosynthetic Photon Efficacy) is the PAR photon output of a light source (measured in micromoles per second or µmol/s) divided by the input power (Watt) to produce that light.
PPE does not include the photons outside the PAR range. Wavelengths outside of the PAR range like far-red (FR) have proven to have a positive effect on growth and steer morphological responses of plants. The efficacy of light containing FR is lower than the efficacy of light sources emitting only blue and red light when measured as PAR photons per wall-plug energy consumption, even if they may give better results in plant biomass production and healthy growth.