For the normal development and growth of plants, it is necessary to provide a sufficient amount of light. Without it, the sprouts fade, turn pale, and the survivors stretch out. To make up for the lack of light, gardeners and gardeners use phytolamps for seedlings.
There is an opinion that if you put the seedling box on the windowsill on the south side, the plants will have enough light and they will grow healthy, powerful, without stretching. This is actually not the case. In natural conditions, it shines up to fifteen hours a day. In the early spring there is no such long day. In order for seedlings to get enough energy for full development, they need to be illuminated.
Types of lamps
There are several types of phytolamps for seedlings. These are luminescent, LED, sodium, halogen, ESL. Each type has its own characteristics: advantages and disadvantages. For example, LED consume little electricity, do not heat up and can work for a long time. Such options are able to shine in different ways. And for the plants to develop correctly, they need a very different light:
- Red glow lamps favorably affect the growth of plants, and also stimulate the formation of buds, ripening of fruits, flowering.
- Blue - have a positive effect on the development of the root system, prevents the extension of stem cells, but stimulates their active division. Thanks to the blue rays, the seedlings do not stretch, but grows squat, with a thick stem.
- Orange, yellow - they have practically no effect on plants.
- Green is useless.
In natural light, all of the above colors are present. At home, creating such lighting is not easy. However, there are many options for phytolamps for seedlings in which the glow is balanced and useful.
The advantages of using lamps
Chlorophyll A is better absorbed in plants when it is lighted, without which it is impossible to give flowers and seedlings energy. Also, all plants begin to grow better, their root system develops well, growth improves, metabolic processes accelerate, phytohormones begin to be produced that stimulate the protective properties of plants.
Fluorescent lamps
Phytolamps for seedlings of a luminescent type are the most common, since they are not expensive. However, such species do not have durability: with time, the luminous flux weakens.
Fluorescent lamps are often used to illuminate seedlings. Such species are often established not only by plant lovers, but also by aquarists, owners of greenhouses, in floriculture farms.
In this group, phytolamps for plant seedlings distinguish mercury models. They have high power. The cost of products depends on this indicator and the manufacturer. So, prices for phytolamps with an capacity of eighteen watts start at three hundred rubles.
Sodium lamps
Knowing how to choose a phytolamp for seedlings, you can get healthy, powerful plants. One of the popular types of lighting devices are sodium models. Most often they are used in greenhouses. Usually a hundred watts of lamp power is enough to illuminate a window sill a meter and a half long.
Sodium lamps are used for lighting winter gardens. They set a pleasant golden light.
The cost of lighting is an average of 1000 rubles per model 400 watts.
LED models
For illumination, LED phytolamps for seedlings are considered the best. They are economical, consume little electricity and are durable. Such models are able to shine in red or blue or in different light. The latter option is the most favorable and beneficial for plants, as it is able to make up for the lack of light. LED lamps produce only useful light. The lamps themselves can have a different shape:
- For window sills, lamp tubes are used. They help to clarify seedlings.
- Fitopanel type. It is a large square lamp designed to illuminate shelving.
- Single models. These are the best phytolamps for seedlings, designed for growing a small number of plants.
- Tapes. This type is ideal for those who know how to work with LED strip. By purchasing a red and blue model, you can make a lamp of any size, alternating the color of the glow.
- Spotlights. They capture a larger area than single models of fixtures and are able to illuminate from a greater distance.
When choosing any model, you should carefully study the instructions. It indicates what area and from what distance is illuminated.
Halogen models
Seedlings under a halogen-type phytolamp are grown less often. More often use other models, although these are cheaper. However, in this species, light output gradually decreases. Halogen lamps cost about one and a half thousand rubles.
Energy saving models
This type allows you to select the glow according to the growing season.
Cold light is used during seed germination and the period of active growth. During flowering, warm light is recommended.
The daily spectrum is used to illuminate seedlings at any time. Also, this type can be used as an independent light source for the entire plant cycle. Energy-saving models can last quite a long time - an average of fifteen thousand hours. They consume little electricity and their use is beneficial.
Daylight hours
Each type of plant needs a certain number of hours of light.
- Peppers - at least nine hours.
- Seedling tomato - up to sixteen hours.
- Cabbage - at least fifteen hours.
- Cucumbers - at least fourteen hours.
For most plants, an illuminance of 8,000 lux is sufficient. And in order for seedlings to form correctly, red and blue light is needed.
Reviews
When choosing phytolamps, it is important to consider not only their characteristics, but also public opinion. Gardeners, gardeners and lovers of indoor plants try a variety of models, highlighting the best. So, according to reviews, phytolamps for seedlings should be selected so that they can be placed at a height of at least half a meter from the seedlings. Otherwise, when the seedlings grow, she will run out of space and her leaves will burn. Many recommend growing seedlings precisely under fluorescent lamps.
Some people have replaced luminescent models with LED ones. Although they are more expensive, but, according to reviews, more effective. Under these species, plants grow actively, laying a large number of flower buds.
How to choose a lamp
So which phytolamps are better for seedlings, which plants to trust? First of all, you should decide on the budget and decide where the plants will be located.
When choosing a lamp of any type, you must consider:
- Ultraviolet and infrared radiation. These rays are dangerous for plants, especially for those grown in greenhouses.
- Be sure to take into account the heating of the lamp.
- With strong heating, the thermal regime of plant growth can be disrupted. The lamp should not affect the temperature balance, as it can burn leaflets of seedlings.
Lamp placement
Choosing a suitable lamp, it is important to place it correctly.
- Burns on the leaves of plants speak of the low placement of the lamp. If spots appear on at least one plant, raise the lamp as soon as possible.
- With elongated stems, the lamp is lowered below so that the seedlings receive the necessary amount of light.
- It should be located on top. If you place it on the side, then the plants will begin to reach for it. Ideally, the lamp is placed in the middle of the rack or so that the light falls on all the plants standing on the windowsill.
- If the seedlings are not placed on a window or stand on the north side, then you need to light up as many hours as the plant needs for normal development.
Conclusion
Each plant needs an individual approach, but at the stages of development, all seedlings are equally demanding in large quantities of bright light. It depends on what the adult plant will be: squat or stretched, how it will bear fruit and how the protective properties will be formed.
In order not to make a mistake with the choice, you should choose the right lamp. The ideal option is one that will positively affect the development of the aboveground and underground parts, and will also help reduce the formation time.
Using phytolamps helps seedlings to quickly ascend, actively and correctly develop. Moreover, the quality of planting material obtained under the lamp is several times higher than that obtained on the windowsills, and the percentage of weak and underdeveloped plants is minimal.