Spring is a time of great labor. And not just for people. In the most favorable period allotted by nature for vegetation, plants also work. They germinate through the "shell" of the seed, make their way out from under the ground, throw out the first pair of leaves. And they grow, they grow tirelessly.
The main condition for the active development of all vegetation without exception is a sufficient amount of sunlight that directly affects the level of photosynthesis.
And since all gardeners and gardeners are in a hurry to plant crops and begin to grow seedlings in the winter months, the lack of natural sunlight is compensated by a lamp for seedlings.
Let there be light, or Physics is omnipresent
Usual for the visual perception of man and necessary for the life of all things, ordinary daylight, which is usually called white, has a wide color spectrum.
If you turn to physics and decompose the beam into its components, you can admire the waves of different colors and different lengths and at the same time not see anything unfamiliar. Everything, as in the well-known counting room: "Every hunter wants to know ..."
All the colors that make up the rainbow are always proportionally present in sunlight, and most of them are very necessary for plants for quality development and growth.
In the gloomy winter months, when daylight hours are too short and cannot provide the plants on the windowsill with the necessary amount of sun for them, caring owners buy or construct lamps with their own hand to illuminate the seedlings. Turned on - and in the mini-garden the day continues.
Offset towards red and blue. Biological need
Although vegetation needs light, not all spectral regions are perceived equally. After a lot of research, biologists came to the conclusion that most representatives of the garden flora need blue and red colors of the spectrum most of all.
Red light has a positive effect on seed germination. When the young stem only rises from the ground, it is in a bent position (almost like a child in the womb). And in order for the young plant to "understand" that it is already above, and not underground, and straighten, it needs red lighting, which can start the process of photosynthesis and growth.
The blue region of the spectrum is responsible for cell division, the emergence of new strong sprouts.
The plants practically do not react to yellow and green colors - they reflect useless elements of the spectrum from the surface of the leaves.
When installing a lamp to illuminate seedlings, it is necessary to take into account the spectral preferences of vegetation and choose those in which the spectrum shift is observed in favor of red and blue.
Room greenhouse needs a light bulb
Despite the small size of most modern apartments, an amateur gardener will always find a place to grow seedlings of his favorite crops. As a rule, this honorable role is assigned to the windowsill.
But even when the window sill is filled with light on short winter days (the time is right for germination), even when they are at the window, the plants do not receive the amount of sun that would ensure their active growth and development.
The lack of light has a very negative effect on the state of the shoots: they are weak, lethargic, exhausted, unnaturally long and all the time strive to lean down.
To avoid such a dull sight, it is necessary to provide the plants with a source of artificial light immediately after planting them in the ground.
A lamp for seedlings in the singular copes with its function only if the illuminated area is small. And if the conservatory occupies not the windowsill, but the whole room? Then there should be a lot of lighting. Although gardeners, gardeners complain that LED lamps for seedlings are a very expensive necessity, they have not yet come up with another optimal option for providing themselves with high-quality "tips and roots".
Seedling Lamps: Cheap and Useless
The natural desire of everyone who grows seedlings for themselves is to save. Therefore, kulibins for their own greenhouses come up with a variety of ways to ensure a minimum of costs (energy in the first place) during the growing period.
A do-it-yourself lamp for seedlings is the first of all known options. It is done in an elementary way: you need to screw any bulb, even an ordinary one, with a tungsten filament into the cartridge, highlight the seedlings and wait for the results.
But such a haste in decisions and actions will not yield positive results.
In order to correctly highlight seedlings, it is necessary to understand the laws of biology, which were discussed just above, and to understand which of the colors of the spectrum a plant needs for vegetation.
A seedling lamp cannot be simply purchased in the chandelier and lighting department. It is entrusted with a function more important than just shining; it should influence the growth processes.
Phytolamps: varieties, characteristics
With all the wealth of choice, only three types of phytolamps are recognized as the most optimal in providing strong seedlings, which means a high yield.
The most popular and popular lamps for growing seedlings:
- Luminescent. Attractive in terms of price, but consume too much electricity.
- Sodium. Lamps of the middle price segment, the percentage of energy consumption they have is lower than in fluorescent ones, but the uncomfortable bulkiness and the danger of explosion from moisture are the constraining factors when choosing.
- LED lamps for seedlings. The price of the light bulbs themselves is quite high, but subsequently they bring huge savings, since they are durable (their power lasts 6-12 years of continuous operation) and are not energy-intensive (they absorb electricity three times less than fluorescent ones), and the colors “favorite” by plants are concentrated in them radiation - blue and red.
When plants need extra light
Not only spectral color is important for the active development of plants, but also the intensity and duration of illumination. On gloomy days, lamps for lighting seedlings are not recommended to be turned off completely.
But one should not be too zealous, also amplifying daylight with a tube. On a fairly bright day, a seedling lamp is used as a kind of tester: it must be turned on to determine the need for illumination. If the illumination is significantly improved when turned on, the illumination should be continued. And if the light in the greenhouse does not increase and the difference before and after turning on the lamp remains unnoticed - you do not need to highlight it, it will turn out to be only energy consumption.
The distance between the germ and the light source
Everything is simple here: the greater the power of the lamp to illuminate the seedlings, the farther it should be from the plants.
Of course, you can measure the distance with a ruler. But not necessary. There is another way that allows the gardener, figuratively speaking, to visit the site of the plant.
You just need to put your hand under the light at the place where it is planned to place a pot with a sprout. If there is a sensation of heat - the lamp needs to be removed or raised. With a close proximity of the light source, the plant will feel uncomfortable.
If a phytolamp seems too expensive
Or it doesn’t even seem, and it is so: special lamps designed to illuminate the sprouts are really expensive, and not every average gardener can afford this luxury - take care of young seedlings in accordance with all the rules.
Sometimes, obeying the instability of the financial condition, one has to break the rules in search of an answer to the question: “What kind of lamps for seedlings can be used instead of special ones?” - find a number of alternative options.
One of them is the use of the most common, non-phyto-LEDs of a wide range. They are optimal for plants, because they have the red and blue areas necessary for vegetation, and for humans, too, because they are available in a price aspect.
Production of a budget lamp for flowers and seedlings
There is no gardener who would not like to bother with various devices to improve the vegetative functions of his darling vegetation.
Arrangement of artificial sun is one of the most important conditions for growth. Therefore, true lovers of the garden and garden devote this issue maximum time and attention.
The most primitive lamp for seedlings with their own hands is created within five minutes. You just need to screw the LED bulb into a regular cartridge. But this method is for the lazy. And the one who “was born a gardener” cannot be lazy, therefore, he is working on creating a lighting system a little longer and more seriously - for two whole hours.
For work you will need:
- 4 corners 20x20;
- flexible LED strip with 120 pcs. 20 wT \ m luminaires.
The assembly scheme will only require a tape with lamps to be glued to the corners. The budget is about 700 rubles.
Plants will be grateful
In principle, under the usual LEDs, all the vegetation feels great: it develops quickly and actively, throws out the notorious first two leaves in time.
White LED lamps perfectly contribute to the growth of seedlings of flowers and peppers, because they have a sufficient percentage of blue spectral color. And for tomatoes, it is better to choose lamps with red lighting. In a certain developmental phase, blue alone is not enough for them.
LEDs are an excellent outlet for those who contain greenhouses. In the autumn-winter period, due to the tiny light bulb, you can collect a pretty decent crop of vegetables and please yourself with a riot of spring flowers.
Plants from the winter garden also need additional lighting. Despite the fact that they are usually placed on the verandas and in the brightest rooms.