Plants require light for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is how plants make their energy from water together with other nutrients. Plants require light; it is an important nutrient. Most plants would starve and die if they were left totally without it. Without enough of it, they're not going to thrive, and may be hindered in their growth or may be more susceptible to disease. Plants require sufficient sunlight to be healthy. For this reason, growing plants in dark areas is challenging if not impossible. That said, the amount of sunlight plants receive can be replaced or augmented with the use of grow lights.
Artificial sources of light, grow lights are employed to help stimulate plant growth. They are designed to emit electromagnetic rays in the spectrum necessary for photosynthesis. Growing lights are utilized in industrial settings in horticulture, food production, indoor gardens, and aquatic plants. However, they are also utilized in home settings, specifically for indoor use. In areas where the amount of daylight in the wintertime may be very limited, like locations that are far north, they can be very useful. As a substitute for sunlight or to augment the hours of sunlight available in outdoor settings, plant lights are very useful.
Grow lights can be engineered to give off a particularly needed color of light for plants. For example, blue light speeds up vegetative growth in some plants, while red light appears to cause flowering in some plants. For consumer use, the most widely available lights generate a wide spectrum of light colors that are designed to most closely match the light radiated by the sun. Incandescent, fluorescent, and LED lights have all been utilized for this application. Other types of growing lights commonly used are metal halide lights, high pressure sodium lights, xenon arc lights, and a variety of other kinds of light sources.
Plant lights can make it possible to grow plants that usually grow only in specific locations to grow in a non-native climate. Suppose you have a plant that you want to grow and the temperature in the non-native environment is ideal for growth but the amount of light is not; using grow lights can be a simple solution because they can provide the extra light exposure that is required for growth. The plant can thrive with the grow light while staying outside. Grow lights are also helpful when temperatures and climate conditions change, making it necessary to bring plants indoors; they can supply the light needed which is specifically helpful when there is not adequate light coming in through the windows. In less than ideal outdoor climatic conditions, delicate, rare and valuable plants can be kept alive and the growing season can be lengthened.
Grow light assemblies range from simple to complex, and small to large. For consumer use, a lot of grow lights are simply a light fixture that is elevated above a planting container. Incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs that can be found at a discount store or hardware store are frequently used. Grow light systems could be created for more complex set ups that could be required for very specific plant species. Diverse colors of light emission, certain intensity or number of lumens or capacity to cover a very large growing area like an industrial-sized greenhouse are all specifications that can be designed in.
If you have plants that are struggling due to a lack of sunlight, or want to usher in the growing season early with indoor plant starts, consider providing more light for them with growing lights.
