Artificial light source plant cultivation-need to use UVA ultraviolet light and far red light FR (IR)?

More and more studies have shown that when using artificial light sources to grow plants, appropriately increasing UVA light and IR (FR) light is more conducive to obtaining better quality and increasing harvest.

Benefits of using UVA light for plant cultivation

Medicinal plants: The use of UVA can increase the content of compounds, such as THC, CBD, terpenes, flavonoids, etc.

Leafy vegetables: UV-A radiation can improve the antioxidant properties of micro-green leafy plants. Low-light UVA (>15umol/m2/s) can make micro-green vegetables such as perilla, beet, basil and pakchoi increase the yield and increase The anthocyanin content enhances the flavor and mouthfeel, and improves the shape and color of plants.

Tomatoes: UV-A radiation stimulates the growth of tomato seedlings in indoor cultivation, which is manifested in the production of greater biomass, which is mainly due to the expansion of leaf area in favor of light capture. This stimulating effect shows a saturation response to the UV-A dose.

Disadvantages of using UVA for plant cultivation

Photosynthetic damage caused by high-level ultraviolet radiation makes plants bleach and reduces harvest

Benefits of IR (FR) 730nm light

Emerson effect is the increase in the rate of photosynthesis after chloroplasts are exposed to light of wavelength 680 nm (deep red spectrum) and more than 680 nm (far red spectrum). When simultaneously exposed to light of both wavelengths, the rate of photosynthesis is far higher than the sum of the red light and far red light photosynthesis rates.

For some plants, far-red light promotes flowering. When the natural days are short, low-intensity (photoperiodic) lighting is often delivered to promote flowering of long-day plants. For some long-day plants, flowering is accelerated most when photoperiodic lighting includes both red and far-red radiation. It is recommended that flowering plants such as tomatoes, peppers or rose flowers should be supplemented with far-red light during the flowering period.

Disadvantages of using far-red light FR (IR) for plant cultivation

Due to the far-red light FR (IR), shading and stretching of plant stems, plants may grow excessively and destroy the morphology of some plants

When is UVA ultraviolet light and far-red light FR (IR) used?

Turn on UVA and far-red light FR (IR) in full cycle? Or is it started at a certain growth stage of plant cultivation? We believe that the appropriate proportion of light should be turned on at the appropriate stage of plant growth.

such as

Far-red light FR (IR) 730nm is used for medicinal plants cultivation, and it is gradually increased from 10% illumination to 100% illumination within 7 days during the flowering preparation period. Can improve the quality and quantity of flowering.

Similarly, in order to increase the content of THC, CBD, terpenes, and flavonoids, UVA is gradually increased from 10% illuminance to 50% illuminance within 7 days during the flowering preparation period, and gradually increased or directly increased to 100% illuminance during the flowering period.

What kind of light is given at what kind of planting stage, including the right spectrum and the right illuminance; such plant growth lights are very few and the cost is relatively high.

At present, it is possible that only the Koray multi-channel LED plant light can have separately controlled UVA ultraviolet light and far red light FR (IR). In this way, you can adjust the spectrum and illuminance at any time. If you are interested, you can contact them.

Combined with the “Horti Guru” plant light control system, complex or simple precise luminosity control can be achieved.

Artificial light source plant cultivation-do I need to use UVA ultraviolet light and far red light FR (IR)?

The answer is yes, we need these lights to bring us a different taste, a different output, and a different happiness.

How to use these two kinds of light UVA ultraviolet light and far-red light FR (IR) requires the joint efforts of botanists, plant growers, and professional plant lamp R&D and manufacturers.

In the next issue, I want to discuss with you:

Flowering stage of Medicinal plants, Do you need an extra 30 minutes of far red 730nm light — How to use the Sunrise sunset of “Horti Guru”