

Some plants respond to infrared light by flowering and fruit production, including popular vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers. Plants use phytochromes to absorb red and infrared light, and these photoreceptors regulate the plant’s circadian cycles as well as the timing of seed germination, dormancy, and flowering. Infrared light – sometimes called “far red light,” plays a special role in plant development. These volatile oils also give culinary herb their distinctive flavor in cooking. It’s especially important for increasing the amount of volatile oils in plants intended for use in making essential oils, such as spearmint and peppermint. While overexposure to UV light in the shorter range of wavelengths can stress plants, UV closer to the visible spectrum can often increase the yield in many herbs, like sweet basil and Chinese licorice. While not as critical to development as blue and red light, plants do use green and yellow light for photosynthesis. Many indoor gardeners use blue light exclusively for starting seedlings, when they are in their early stages of root and stem growth. Along with stimulating photosynthesis, blue light is the best color spectrum for vegetative growth and developing strong roots. Blue light in the 430 to 450 nanometer range is the most important. Light in the blue part of the spectrum is the most critical color for your plants. Red light is also necessary for growing vegetables indoors. Indoor gardeners need to use light in the red band of the light spectrum if they want their plants to bloom. Red light stimulates the growth of stems and flowers and boosts fruit production. Red light has a wavelength that is longer than other colors, and for plants the most critical of these are from 640 to 680 nanometers. So, any grow light needs to supply adequate light in the red and blue wavelengths.

Plants absorb more light in the red and blue spectrum, reflecting more green and yellow light, which accounts for their lush green coloring. Plants respond to the visible spectrum - between 400 and 700 nanometers – because this range stimulates photosynthesis. These colors represent different wavelengths of the light - and each color in the visible spectrum has a different wavelength, from 700 nanometers to 400 nanometers. It even includes microwaves and radio waves.
GROW LIGHTS FOR VEGETABLE SEEDLINGS FULL
The full spectrum of light also includes non-visible light, like ultraviolet light (400 nanometers). Light is measured in terms of electromagnetic radiation. This range of colors is called the light spectrum, and the colors you see are those visible to the human eye. When you see a rainbow created by a rainstorm, the sun’s light is broken up into various colors. Sunlight contains the right spectrum - or colors - of light for healthy plants. Most importantly, you’ll need to understand how the color of your LED grow light affects your plants. And depending on the species and your gardening goals, you’ll need to know how many hours of light they’ll need. You’ll need to know which type of LED grow lights you need for different plant types.

But before you run out and buy some cheap LED bulbs, you need to understand how they work to nurture your plants.
