Lighting in Hydroponic Gardening
Posted by admin | Gardening | Posted on February 23rd, 2009
The amount of light entering any part of the house vary from place to place. The area around the house such as trees, roof over hanging cover the amount of light entering through a window. A light meter that measures photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) should be used to calculate the amount of light through the window. Plants require 400 to 700 nanometers in RAP for photosynthesis and chlorophyll production.
Artificial light for plants can be provided using a variety of sources. These include incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps, HID lamps, light and plant growth. These bulbs are ideal for plants that have limited natural light.
Incandescent and halogen bulbs are known to produce more of the red light spectrum, compared with other sources. These bulbs should be placed on one foot on the floor. This is not a light, but is ideal for growing plants with low light requirements. A normal incandescent light bulb is seen as inefficient in terms of energy consumed and the amount of light generated.
Fluorescent bulbs are a cost effective solution that offers four times the light of an incandescent bulb per unit of electricity. Although there are a number of fluorescent bulbs available to the general public just a few of them are applicable to assist plant growth. These are the growth of plants, the light of day, the whole spectrum (which mimics the natural light), actinic, tri-phosphor, special effects and output high / very high output bulbs. The ideal size of the bulb to plant growth is the T12 four foot length of the tube. However, the length T5 lamps meet all lighting requirements for indoor plants and are therefore more popular. These bulbs fit the gap between cost and quality.
High intensity discharge (HID) lamps are another solution to light up a garden. These bulbs are very large and draw a lot of energy. These bulbs require a fan to cool due to the large amount of heat they produce. These lights are ideal for flowering plants as the source of light mimics sunlight. These lights require a ballast box to regulate the amount of electricity going into the light. Vegetative growth, metal halide (MH) lamps provide maximum energy for indoor plants. For flowering and fruiting, high pressure sodium (HPS) is the best option. Mixed model lamps are available to meet this demand, allowing one to switch between MH and HPS features.