Can You Use Any Blue and Red LED Lights to Grow Plants?
You’ve done your research on color spectrum for plant cultivation. You know blue light is essential for growth and development. You know red light promotes flowering. You know you need indoor grow lights in your grow room. You know LED grow lights are most efficient. Now as you look at your options, you wonder: “Can I just use blue and red LED lights? Do I need all this extra research.”
The short answer: No, you can’t, and yes, you do. While the color spectrum is essential for expert cultivation, it is not the only factor that can make or break your operation.
Effects of Red and Blue Light on Plants
What we perceive as white light from the sun is actually made up of all the colors of the rainbow. The three major colors of light are red, blue, and green.
We can tell that plants don’t absorb much green light because it reflects off of them and into our eyes, making them appear green. The fact that leaves don’t usually appear blue or red means that they absorb those parts of the light spectrum and use them to grow.
The effect of blue light on plants is directly related to chlorophyll production. Plants that receive plenty of blue light will have strong, healthy stems and leaves.
Red light is responsible for making plants flower and produce fruit. It’s also essential to a plant’s early life for seed germination, root growth, and bulb development.
The Benefits of Full-Spectrum LED Lights
Blue and red light are so essential that they’re almost all you hear about when you’re new to cultivation. The problem is that these are not the only colors your plants use within the PAR range.
While your plants get the most use out of red and blue, colors in the middle of the PAR range also serve a purpose. Green light, for example, penetrates the canopy better than the rest of the color spectrum.
The best LED grow lights provide the exact spectrum your plants require . . . and only that spectrum. This ensures your crop gets everything it needs and no light goes to waste.
Serious growers may even want to kick their game up a notch with variable spectrum LED lights. A variable spectrum LED allows you to adjust color levels.
There are countless benefits to having that kind of control. By manipulating the spectrum, you can usher your indoor plants through the grow cycle at a faster rate. You can make nuanced adjustments to your light recipes in real time, depending on how your plant responds.
You also don’t have to choose between strictly blue or red LED lights. Instead, you can create a more natural ratio of red to blue LED light, promoting higher yields and a more flavorful harvest.The more LED technology evolves, the greater your options become.
Intensity is Also Important
So far we have focused on the color spectrum which is very important, but light intensity is also important. For years the go-to grow light for greenhouses has been a high intensity sodium lamp. I have used it for years and it works great for both seedlings which need lower levels of light and flowering orchids which need high light. It is a very yellow light with only a small amount of blue, but at 400 watts it has a very high intensity. The high intensity means that even though blue is a minor component of the light there is still enough to grow plants.
Where to Find the Best Blue and Red LED Lights
Even once you’ve decided to bank on the benefits of full-spectrum LED lights, you still face the challenge of choosing the best LED grow light for your setup. We recommend starting with Eco Farm which provides full-spectrum lamps that are both high powered and hobbyist-friendly. And they are also easy to use.
UV light for indoor plants
1. Samsung LM301H 6500K+3500K with OSRAM white+660nm led source, the lighting is most suitable to the indoor or greenhouse planting growth. With 2pcs UV& IR supplemental lighting bar.
2. Top grade driver-Inventronics driver be certificated by authority, providing the stable and long time protection to the lights.
3. Slim frame and light weight designed, flexible and simple to use, plug and play.
4. Good heatsink by multi-tier finned aluminum, during strict temperature test, no harmful no noisy, longer life span.
5. Inside hook design, fast installation and a plug and play, 100% safety for hanging.
6.Whole light is designed with IP65 waterproof, aoviding all usage risk.
ECO Farm SAMSUNG LM301H UV IR Dimmable Quantum Board
Improper use of UV IR may have a negative effect on your plant.Proper use of UV IR containing luminaires to ensure your plants grow better and get more trichome density and THC content.
The role of UV: Increasing the THC content of plants ,only be used in the last two weeks of flowering stage, and if be used at other times in the plants,may have a negative effect on plants.
The role of IR: Increasing the number of flowers , only be used in the early flowering period and stopped once buds begin to appear. This requires the IR and UV must be individually controlled.
- High efficiency white light Quantum Boards
- White Light Full Spectrum for better results
- Reliable passive cooled design, 10mm thickness plate
- Better canopy light penetration with diffused light
- Perfect performance for veg and bloom
- Dimmable
- IR is independently controlled
- UV is independently controlled
- Back wiring is waterproof
