As a new hydroponics chilli hobbyist with a background in electronics engineering including radio & optics, this is exactly the level of depth and clarity I like to see in informational resources. I will now stop worrying about possible inadequacies of my white LED setup which costs 3x less per watt than commercial grow lights
Back when we had the spiral CFL lights before LED I did a 600 watt aided with a T5 red in a 4foot by 1 foot grow area for micro 100% organic and using red wiggler worm castings only, and the results were mind blowing... I believe I calculated the lumens delivered per square foot was between 7k and 6k depending on distance from the canopy, but those in the sweet spot changed my ideal to LST the canopy to a wire screen and not allow a top, and mind blown again... Let's say if you dial things in like these facts it's amazing how things react... I have been out the game almost 15years I could imagine how much crazier LEDs are...
Green light can even surpass red light in efficiency, though only in high light intensity setups. Not sure if that's generally true or just for certain species but I've had incredible results providing a very good spectrum including "dark red" light from below black body type cobs as baseline for a healthy start and comfortable "working conditions" and using low cri LEDs that pump out loads of green light as well and are more efficient photon wise for high intensity phases. If nothing else it's fun to play around with the photomorphogenetic reaction you can steer if you can vary your blue/red/deep red and/or red/"deep red" ratios - but it's also efficient as hell, stays astonishingly close to room temperature at the actual chip junction (and will therefore basically last my entire life without noticeable degradation if I'm not missing some very significant non temperature dependent mechanism of degradation and I'm most probably not) and merely cost a fraction of a "professional" grow light. With a background in electronics - ffs it's so easy you barely even need elementary school education - you should consider building the next one yourself if you ever need another. Some extruded finned profiles (or some square ones, a pc radiator and a bit of water), some cobs (or strips, but I don't like the choice of available cri/spectra/etc as far as I followed that new hype), a CC source and you're nearly all set. No idea what's the new hyped fancy sht these days but the smaller (19x19mm "038" or some such iirc) citiled cobs sure are treating me well. Under drive them rather more than less, more of a bit cheaper but still high quality chips are often more efficient than fewer of the new "King of efficiency" for $$$ people are aiming for in a ridiculous quest for efficiency that'll never pay out - and voilá, you're basically set for life. If one should ever fail just pop it off with a screw driver, apply a spare with new thermal adhesive as thin as humanly possible and you're most probably good to go for another 10-50 years. Anyways, I'm kind of rambling once again. Have a good one and a delicious spicy harvest!
I’m watching this 2y after you posted it😃I am SO GRATEFUL for your depth of knowledge and information 👏🏼 As more of a reference reader than novels this format was so helpful & absorbable! I subscribed instantly and look forward to exploring your content! 🎉Ty Ty Ty
This is incredibly helpful, I had never considered anything beyond "growth," but to break it down into specific response behaviors to various wavelengths is revelatory!
As an hydroponics beginner I ve learned so much about the relationship between plants and light in a great and not boring way 👍 I started with self built led lights for my well planted aquarium in times where no manufacturers had seddle on led and always used human eye friendly light and the plants grew well.
This is exactly the video I was looking for. Thank you very much. Had to skim 4-5 home-grower videos where different lights were tested on a single plants. I wish these home-growers had seen your video before they started to experiment themself.
Something nobody seems to address is using straight blue, red, or blurple lights, prevents you from seeing the plants true health. Leaf color is an important tool for determining the health of your plants, and I quickly learned if everything is glowing red or purple, you never see the actual leaf color, and deficiencies can go unnoticed.
Not sure what your saying here brother. The ability to troubleshoot and have much better visibility was the one of the first things to be labeled a benefit from the new , non blurple leds some years back now. I will say I grew some nice plants however under the the ole blurples.
You can use green lenses on your glasses and it cancels the blue red light out and looks totally natural. Making it easier to see discoloration and plant deficiencies.
Great video. I started using the grow LED lights for starting my children in winter and then throw them at the sun when it gets warmer but I quickly realized that white LEDs work just fine and are way better to work with. So that's my experience, simple, cheap white LEDs.
Honestly one of the most informative and well researched videos on what lights to use for growth, I learned about the far-red and green being used for plant hight which might be beneficial (or detrimental) on how much space you have and how big you want the plant to grow
Thanks!!! I'm glad the info is able to help people out! Lots of researchers devote their lives to studying plants and how they use light. But usually that information gets buried under videos of dancing cats. Hopefully this video can reach people who are interested in the topic. 😀
@@MrSuperG If plants are only grown in purely red light, they are likely to have abnormal growth characteristics. The combinations of both Red AND Blue photons activate the phytochromes that regulate natural shape and growth response.
This is absolutely THE BEST guide I've found for understanding light needs! Thank you so much!!! I'm subbed, and looking forward to watching your past videos (probably repeatedly 😂)
I used a few of those giant spiral florescent bulbs to grow plants in a small space and they worked fairly well. I did switch to the red white and blue led light though for the next crop and did see much better results. The led lights also create less heat which is a great added benefit.
Take into consideration the amount of photons from the led was much greater than the flouro. That spiral flouro at best was probably. 09 umol/j , while the led (depending on diode ) was probably 1.3 for an epistar. to 2+ with any better diode. So what you may be seeing is just better growth with light quantity. I have a general rule I use- Light quantity first and light quality secondary.
i’ve been binging these hort lighting articles the past few days and stumbled upon this video and your channel. You are excellent in your delivery summarizing the state of the research! Respect!
Ok, I've seen A LOT of cannabis videos and by far this has been the most informative and understandable of seen thus far. Thank you for taking the time and effort to explain this so well. I've had so many suspicions answered by this content. Whoa!
I got a purple grow light on sale and my orchids are doing MUCH better. I would like a normal sunlight lamp but weirdly enough THOSE are stupid expensive where I live. But I can definitely say that adding a lamp has dramatically improved my plant growth over the windowsill
I am very much a more casual gardener. This was a fascinating look into something that I would have never considered due to my more layman knowledge around this stuff
I have used LEDs since blurple lights came out over a decade ago. I bought two Mars Hyrdo FC3000 lights last year and they are impressive. Low heat, no noise and they grow solid nuggets. I have had colas that weigh over an ounce using these lights.
Thank you very much! Its been years since i went to agronomy and agriculture college, and i do remember well the red and blue spectrum wavelengths as noted by the algae chlorophyll, but i too always considered green a relative waste due to deflection, yet i never considered it in perspective of large tissue like leaves, which are bunch of watery cells or partial mirrors, which while they do deflect and reflect green, they also do so in every direction almost, due to geometry of the cell and the fact that the green part that does reflect green light is inside the cell, not on surface, like skin, which would pretty much block, but instead, here, the green light can enter, deflect in all angles and actually serve a very good role in stimulating photosyn. in deeper layers, where red is famous for its short penetration in anything but vacuum, compare to more powerful blue, which doth travel further... Damn nice work man, a good approach and explanation... Also, this will actually do me some good in practice, or not me, but my plants during winter, as i will now not shirk the green light for my population of citrus and other non winter loving plants...
I don't have a growlight yet but I am thinking of buying one just as extra support for light heavy plants during the these dark winter mornings and early evenings. I had no idea which ones to get since I saw so many different ones and I don't have a lot of knowledge about this. So RUclips recommendations gave me this video right on time
I've always been skeptical of certain grow light types and stuff, simply because the original glow light in the sky will always be better than a commercially produced one intended for profit. I use them indoors during colder weather and to help with the occasional pest control with bringing everything inside during the winter, but first opportunities I get everything goes back outside.
Nicely done. I recently found Bruce Bugbee on youtube, I see you referenced at least one of his papers. I agree on the ideal spectrum is the sun. I am experimenting with different colours of LEDs in addition to White Full Spectrum with promising results.
Thanks for watching Larry! Yes Dr Bugbee has been a pioneer in the industry and has often been an inspiration in the field of plant lighting. It will be interesting to hear how your experiments turn out!
Bruce is the man for our FAV plant, he's dispelled MANY urban legends that so many growers still incorporate. I fell under the spell of 36hrs darkness before chop for more Trich production til Bruce told me to try a solid 15hrs of light before chop.. This is the practice I've used since that day :)
I employ both a super high pressure sodium hid and a full spectrum (4000k) led lighting system for my indoor flowers, but I use the red, blue, uv and far red light bars with a 6400 k blue/white for my veg cycle.
I've been using LED shop lights for several years now, my pepper seedlings always have excellent short internodes and gain nice sized foliage before hardening off. My newest batch is just coming up for the year, 'Purple UFO' is the most unique.
Well done. I’m a lighting guy who’s used gels and diffusion on or in front of powerful lights. Diffusion is white so it doesn’t affect color temp of the light but makes the light “wrap around” things rather than being a hard light with hard shadows. I’m new to growing. This “wrap around” light would seem to reach down into the lower part of the plant better. Rather than creating shadows that cause the problem of light not reaching the lower part of the plant. Just a thought. Diffusion can be had from Rosco Gels or Lee Gels. It comes in many types of diffusion. Thicker, thinner or everything in between. I’m thinking Rosco 216. Or Half 216 would be better. It does knock down the brightness of the light a bit but with these powerful LED’s and being able to lower, or raise the light, it could be made up for whatever brightness is lost with gels, even colored gels, or diffusion. Can also get red or blue or amber or any other color gels and tweak to your heart’s content. Thanks for great info sir! 🤙🤙
You as well as I and many others …. From Mh to hps to conversion up to cfl high output t’s blurple and every combination inbetween , I can tell you from my years of talking to my plants more than people around me, light spectrum does in fact set the mood ( sort of speak ) 😉 I could tell you my spectrum preferences but they would differ in results than what others may see as acceptable results , however- just admiring that differential proves in fact the wave lengths do in fact play a difference . My biggest cry of all cries is when Phlizon stopped their 600w dimmable ……. Two of them in a 30x19 20 inches above my canopy area bottom was way more loveable than the other lights in my collection from spider farmer to kindled to electric sky and mars hydro to my mh and growant lights to give you an example 😉 but hey 🤷♂️ they all have an interesting result. 🤔 both good and bad 🍻 the effort you spent on compiling the format for this video is both appreciated and also exhausting imagining you throwing all this together. Well done ✌️ 🍻
Thanks for this crazy informative and fun to watch video. I watched the whole thing and learned so much new stuff even though i though i knew about lights. Good stuff.
Temperature also plays a huge role with auto's , and each strain like different temps. 10 degrees difference one way or the other can triple the size . And fluffy loose damp only soil for rapid veg .
Using my old fish tank leds for my vegetable starts. Has an individual led color assortment. Shows the curve in the app based off what you kelvin you choose. Also intensity is adjustable. 4600k ideal for algae lol. I think I went for 6700k and the plant vegetable starts love it. As long as you buy a full spectrum for for when they flower
For something cheap and reliable to overwinter my tropical plants indoors and away from windows I use hanging lamps with LED household bulbs, or anything that you can use to direct most of the output downward. They're efficient enough, and put out a healthy variety across the visible spectrum. Most I've seen use a phosphor over a blue diode, which produces IR as well as visible light. At a distance of around a meter, it takes three or five for a 1m² spot to be near as bright as direct sunlight, but many of my tropical plants survive the winter well enough with about one or two for that area, at least they arent dead. Another tip is that you get slightly better efficiency if you remove the fogged plastic over the end of these things, but that is dangerous. It can break it to try to remove the plastic, and they work well enough straight out the box.
PhD in horticulture here. Very good and well-researched video, although there are a few things I could add. Regarding the usefulness of greenlight, it would largely depend on your light intensity. The image at 4:17 explains it very well. Red and blue lights are very efficiently absorbed by the upper plant cell layer of the leaves (or, in whole plant term, the upper leaves), so they can't penetrate very far into the lower cell or leaf layers. While this seems an efficient harvesting of light energy, in high light intensity it's actually not. Since plant cells/leaves need CO2 to photosynthesize, concentrating too much absorbed light energy into a single cell/leaf layer will cause CO2 depletion in that layer, and all that absorbed light energy will not be fully utilized, and may even cause leaf burn from the excess energy. Green light can penetrate deeper into the leaf/canopy, therefore spreading that light energy out to more cells/leaves, reducing the concentration of light energy and local depletion of CO2. However, it is true that green light is absorbed less efficiently by leaves, with 20 - 30% reflected and wasted. When you have low light intensity that's not enough to cause severe local CO2 depletion (as in most cases of indoor growing with artificial light), red and blue lights are more efficient than green light. So, there's some truth to those purple growing light marketings. Of course, light color doesn't only affect photosynthesis, but plant morphology and other physiological aspects as well, and those effects may in turn affect photosynthesis (for example, blue light causes more compact plants, as you mentioned, which could cause more intra- and inter-canopy shading and reduce total light harvesting). But that's a whole other can of worms and would largely be on species-to-species basis. About far-red light and photosynthesis, the Emerson's enhancement effect is not something that proves you need far-red light. It simply proves that chloroplasts have two separated photosystems (I and II, with PSI having peak absorption at 700 nm and PSII at 680 nm), and photosynthesis works best when both photosystems are active. On the whole leaf basis though, that is indistinguishable, since light bouncing around inside the leaf will blur any boundary between those 20 nm, even if you could find single-nanometer monochromatic light to illuminate the leaves. For far-red light, while it is true that light up to 780 nm can still drive the photosystems, the amount is very small, and most energy would be wasted as heat, which is not ideal for indoor growing system. Far-red light has far more secondhanded impact on photosynthesis by affecting plant morphology and physiology (such as elongation, leaf angle, stomatal conductance) through phytochrome. But you only need a little bit, and from my experience, putting more than 5 - 10% of far-red light into your light may have adverse effects on plants. Most white and red lamps, including LEDs, do have some spillover light into the far-red range. Also, as light filters through your leaves, part of it will be converted to far-red light. Combined, they're more than enough for your plants to grow normally. So don't go putting too much additional far-red light into your system, you'll just waste energy and heat up your chambers.
Thanks for sharing those excellent insights! As far as red / blue vs green photons vs photosynthesis, it's understood that the red & blue LED packages have higher electrical efficiency than phosphor whites. But I've seen marketers try to completely negate large swaths of PAR photons when comparing their PPF output to other systems. One company showed a highly complicated pigment absorption graph with an "exclusion" region superimposed on top. Then they state: _"Typical PPF Claim = 1770 umol/s. Actual PPF when normalized to include only the key portions of the PAR spectrum most important to plant photosynthesis = 855 umol/s."_ They tried to negate 52% of competitor PPF values, wrongly inflating their own light's value, despite a significantly lower PPF output. Those types of misleading claims are the target of my criticisms. And from a subjective perspective, I've seen that plants grow exceptionally well under white lights which is why I do not recommend blurples to home gardeners. You make a good point that there is a limit on the useful fraction of far-red photons. It's also true that far-red can increase leaf area thus enhancing canopy photon capture. But recent work by Zhen & Bugbee have shown that "far-red photons were as efficient as red/blue and white photons" when it comes to canopy quantum yield. Their testing was with 15% FR. Looking at the results of their experiments, I'm fairly convinced at the usefulness of far-red. They make a compelling case for the newer ePAR standard. Their data does not support the conclusion that most FR energy would be wasted as heat and is not ideal for indoor growing systems. It might be worth reading more into their recent studies.
I would have loved to have gotten past the paywall for this study so I could read the entire thing: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.18375 But the summary states that _"Far-red photons (701 to 750 nm) in sunlight are used efficiently for photosynthesis. This is especially important for leaves in vegetation shade, where far-red photons can be > 50% of the total incident photons between 400 and 750 nm. Far-red photons accounted for 24-25% of leaf gross photosynthesis (Pgross) in a C3 and a C4 species when sunlight was filtered through a leaf, and 10-14% of leaf Pgross in a tree and an understory species in deep shade."_
Great informative video! Thanks for breaking down all of that. So I’m trying to find something, or the closest type of light that is as close to natural sunlight as it gets. Not for gardening. But for removing oxidation from shoe soles. Essentially to make the perfect ice box. (It’s what sneaker heads call it) lol Most I’ve seen have been using full spectrum UV lights. But I wonder if that’s even right? 🤔 Typically the best way for removing oxidation from shoe sol is coding them with a particular cream, wrapping them in saran wrap, and placing them out in the sunlight for the day. Which is impossible to do here on the East Coast right now. So any suggestions you have, would be so greatly appreciated. 🙏🏼 Thanks!!!!
Im a bit late but im curious if you also have topics about aquarium plants with these light bla2 things . Those penetrations i mean (no, not that one) very informational video thank you so much for sharing!
seen somewhere an article, that plants had some light power absorbation limit, and if it reached, not so important which spectrum it was. Except some species specificity, when some spectrum triggers methabolism issues. And thank you for explanation about blue diodes. Many ppls cries, that blue diodes are important, but they never seen spectrum of cold white diodes and how much blues in it.
guys put a lifetime content into 10 min vid, all the hardwork himself n the researcher mad content i love it just need specific buy suggestion, brand or sponsorship can't leave ;me haning in the purchase department man
I have been using burple led's for the past few years with tremendous results. I did find that the color of the leaves were unnatural, but with that in mind, I carefully monitored the nutrients and ph levels on a regular basis. My auto flowers produced remarkable THC levels and the amount of buds was very pleasing. I did finally relize, every grow is different and we all learn something new every grow...!!! Peace &Love to my fellow growers. M/F ✌👍🤘
It''s certainly interesting. Has any research been done on algae and what wavelengths do they thrive on? Perhaps there's a way to easily starve them out.
Here's an idea for you for another video, measuring the quality of light from a regular fire. I have wondered this in the idea that what if we have one of these volcanoes blow up and chokes out the sky for a few years and power sources and lighting becomes a problem. And so, what is the potential of building a fire based lighting source that maybe functions with mirrors or fiber optics or something, but the point is can the use of fire light in a survival situation be a usable substitute for lighting plants to grow without sunlight and the access to grow lights in a survival situation? I have contemplated this idea as to if the light from a fire is of a usable spectrum in the first place, or if some things like wood burn with a certain light production versus other energy sources. And then, maybe from there, how to construct a fire-to-light feeding system or something. Could be done either with multiple 'fire bases' positioned around a greenhouse or green room with flat white painted everywhere to scatter the light, or, to build a special "fire place" where the sides would have fiber optics feeding the light to the greenhouse/greenroom, allowing the smoke to rise past keeping things from getting soot on them and diminishing the light being transferred. Something?! A serious question that I believe you can answer!! Thanks for the videos and info! Very helpful and interesting!
If things came down to that, then perhaps an alternate method for acquiring food altogether? Perhaps cultures of bacteria? Or what about fungi? If these could produce calorie sources without needing photosynthesis, then we could still have a viable food source. Otherwise, the amount of carbon fuels burned to create any significant amount of light would be astronomical. Your closest analog would be to just try growing plants with incandescent lights. Experiment a little with that and see what they do! If you actually did try to burn carbon fuels to light up plants, why not just harness all of the heat to generate electricity and then drive LEDs? Basically, just have power plants and use artificial lights. In all seriousness though, if we lose all of our sunlight, we'll be in a world of trouble...
Thanks for sharing your feedback & suggestion! Currently, I'm working on a script dealing with light intensity, PPFD & DLI. I do have a video from a couple years ago talking about photoperiods: ruclips.net/video/dQlOJ1zvoPI/видео.html Perhaps I'll need to revisit the topic!
I use a full light spectrum on my aquarium where I grow at of underwater plants. I also grow houseplants from the aquarium. There's a sunrise, early morning, midday, evening, and sunset. Everyone is happy. My aquatic plants are happy. My house plants are happy. My fish are happy.
Thank you, for your time and research and most importantly transparency on this matter. I really hate when people without even thinking, get influenced on these blurble lights concept. If they look directly at the surface of our Earth, while the sun is up at high noon, it doesn't shines blurple lights. No, it's pure white light, derived from the mixture of other nanometer (315nm-850nm) wavelengths.
Is also depends what species of plants you want to grow. Because i've always learned that the general rule of thumb is: Blue light keeps the plant more compact and dense, and red light (Espescialy far-red light) will let the plant grow taller but lankier. But recently they (With 'they' I mean the growing company I work for + testing partners) found out that with 'Anthurium andreanum' (Laceleaf) it's actually the opposite. And on a different note, I live in a area with lots of greenhouses, they all used HPS lamps for the longest time, making the night sky look golden yellow. But nowadays with the amazing LED lights, the night sky is turning purple/pink, which is just very cool in my opinion :)
As a new hydroponics chilli hobbyist with a background in electronics engineering including radio & optics, this is exactly the level of depth and clarity I like to see in informational resources. I will now stop worrying about possible inadequacies of my white LED setup which costs 3x less per watt than commercial grow lights
I'm glad this info is able to help out. Thanks so much for watching! 😀
Back when we had the spiral CFL lights before LED I did a 600 watt aided with a T5 red in a 4foot by 1 foot grow area for micro 100% organic and using red wiggler worm castings only, and the results were mind blowing...
I believe I calculated the lumens delivered per square foot was between 7k and 6k depending on distance from the canopy, but those in the sweet spot changed my ideal to LST the canopy to a wire screen and not allow a top, and mind blown again...
Let's say if you dial things in like these facts it's amazing how things react... I have been out the game almost 15years I could imagine how much crazier LEDs are...
Commercial growers also use white light.
Green light can even surpass red light in efficiency, though only in high light intensity setups. Not sure if that's generally true or just for certain species but I've had incredible results providing a very good spectrum including "dark red" light from below black body type cobs as baseline for a healthy start and comfortable "working conditions" and using low cri LEDs that pump out loads of green light as well and are more efficient photon wise for high intensity phases.
If nothing else it's fun to play around with the photomorphogenetic reaction you can steer if you can vary your blue/red/deep red and/or red/"deep red" ratios - but it's also efficient as hell, stays astonishingly close to room temperature at the actual chip junction (and will therefore basically last my entire life without noticeable degradation if I'm not missing some very significant non temperature dependent mechanism of degradation and I'm most probably not) and merely cost a fraction of a "professional" grow light.
With a background in electronics - ffs it's so easy you barely even need elementary school education - you should consider building the next one yourself if you ever need another. Some extruded finned profiles (or some square ones, a pc radiator and a bit of water), some cobs (or strips, but I don't like the choice of available cri/spectra/etc as far as I followed that new hype), a CC source and you're nearly all set. No idea what's the new hyped fancy sht these days but the smaller (19x19mm "038" or some such iirc) citiled cobs sure are treating me well. Under drive them rather more than less, more of a bit cheaper but still high quality chips are often more efficient than fewer of the new "King of efficiency" for $$$ people are aiming for in a ridiculous quest for efficiency that'll never pay out - and voilá, you're basically set for life. If one should ever fail just pop it off with a screw driver, apply a spare with new thermal adhesive as thin as humanly possible and you're most probably good to go for another 10-50 years.
Anyways, I'm kind of rambling once again. Have a good one and a delicious spicy harvest!
Hey you know a bout radio waves and antennas ? What's your opinion on electroculture?
I’m watching this 2y after you posted it😃I am SO GRATEFUL for your depth of knowledge and information 👏🏼 As more of a reference reader than novels this format was so helpful & absorbable! I subscribed instantly and look forward to exploring your content! 🎉Ty Ty Ty
This is incredibly helpful, I had never considered anything beyond "growth," but to break it down into specific response behaviors to various wavelengths is revelatory!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad the info is able to help out. 😁
As an hydroponics beginner I ve learned so much about the relationship between plants and light in a great and not boring way 👍 I started with self built led lights for my well planted aquarium in times where no manufacturers had seddle on led and always used human eye friendly light and the plants grew well.
As an electrical engineer who is assigned to design such horticulture led grow lights, your video helped me so much. Can't thank you enough.👏
This is exactly the video I was looking for. Thank you very much. Had to skim 4-5 home-grower videos where different lights were tested on a single plants. I wish these home-growers had seen your video before they started to experiment themself.
I'm glad it was able to help out! Thanks for watching. Be sure to share the vid with people if you think they'll like it. 😀
Something nobody seems to address is using straight blue, red, or blurple lights, prevents you from seeing the plants true health. Leaf color is an important tool for determining the health of your plants, and I quickly learned if everything is glowing red or purple, you never see the actual leaf color, and deficiencies can go unnoticed.
Yes, that's a good point! I made sure to address that in the video. 🙂
Not sure what your saying here brother. The ability to troubleshoot and have much better visibility was the one of the first things to be labeled a benefit from the new , non blurple leds some years back now. I will say I grew some nice plants however under the the ole blurples.
@@TopsriteJust tunr it of a sec, verify, turn on again(?😗
Great point. I opt for a combination of red and blue lighting. Hopefully my pothos is getting the best of both of worlds.
You can use green lenses on your glasses and it cancels the blue red light out and looks totally natural. Making it easier to see discoloration and plant deficiencies.
Great video. I started using the grow LED lights for starting my children in winter and then throw them at the sun when it gets warmer but I quickly realized that white LEDs work just fine and are way better to work with. So that's my experience, simple, cheap white LEDs.
LEDs can make it really easy to grow healthy plants indoors. Thanks for sharing your experience!
@@Albopepper thank you for sharing your knowledge, keep it up!
Scouting your plants, examining them for pests and diseases is vastly easier with white lights.
your children????
Honestly one of the most informative and well researched videos on what lights to use for growth, I learned about the far-red and green being used for plant hight which might be beneficial (or detrimental) on how much space you have and how big you want the plant to grow
Thanks!!! I'm glad the info is able to help people out! Lots of researchers devote their lives to studying plants and how they use light. But usually that information gets buried under videos of dancing cats. Hopefully this video can reach people who are interested in the topic. 😀
red and blue light are responsible for plant shape
@@eggspanda2475 red you need not blue
@@MrSuperG If plants are only grown in purely red light, they are likely to have abnormal growth characteristics. The combinations of both Red AND Blue photons activate the phytochromes that regulate natural shape and growth response.
@@MrSuperG the morphological effects and necessity of red and blue light is well documented.
This was awesome. Your style of reporting is so intriguing. I hope you keeping giving us such great material to savor. Thanks a milli!
This is absolutely THE BEST guide I've found for understanding light needs! Thank you so much!!!
I'm subbed, and looking forward to watching your past videos (probably repeatedly 😂)
Perhaps the most useful video I have seen for understanding indoor grow lighting!
I used a few of those giant spiral florescent bulbs to grow plants in a small space and they worked fairly well. I did switch to the red white and blue led light though for the next crop and did see much better results. The led lights also create less heat which is a great added benefit.
Take into consideration the amount of photons from the led was much greater than the flouro. That spiral flouro at best was probably. 09 umol/j , while the led (depending on diode ) was probably 1.3 for an epistar. to 2+ with any better diode.
So what you may be seeing is just better growth with light quantity.
I have a general rule I use-
Light quantity first and light quality secondary.
i’ve been binging these hort lighting articles the past few days and stumbled upon this video and your channel. You are excellent in your delivery summarizing the state of the research! Respect!
I'm glad you like the info! Thanks so much for watching. 😀
Really worth all the waiting time for your videos. You nailed it, as usual, thank you.
Thanks for your support on my channel. I appreciate your feedback! 😀
At last, I understand the science behind light spectrum with regards to plant growth
Ok, I've seen A LOT of cannabis videos and by far this has been the most informative and understandable of seen thus far. Thank you for taking the time and effort to explain this so well. I've had so many suspicions answered by this content. Whoa!
I got a purple grow light on sale and my orchids are doing MUCH better.
I would like a normal sunlight lamp but weirdly enough THOSE are stupid expensive where I live.
But I can definitely say that adding a lamp has dramatically improved my plant growth over the windowsill
I have one and it burns my plants.
Expensive here too. For no reason either. There’s nothing inherently special or complex about them
I am very much a more casual gardener. This was a fascinating look into something that I would have never considered due to my more layman knowledge around this stuff
Wow this is so well done, thanks as always for your incredible work!
Thanks for watching! I really appreciate your feedback. 😃
Would you say on par?
I just started looking into this, cuz i have a bunch of rare succulents I want to preserve in the winter months, so this has been super helpful
that's the best video about light for plants in yt which I saw. Thank you!
Wow! That’s one of the most complete and condensed explanation of the subject matter. Thanks!
I'm glad you liked it! Thanks a bunch for watching. 😁
I have used LEDs since blurple lights came out over a decade ago. I bought two Mars Hyrdo FC3000 lights last year and they are impressive. Low heat, no noise and they grow solid nuggets. I have had colas that weigh over an ounce using these lights.
Thank you very much! Its been years since i went to agronomy and agriculture college, and i do remember well the red and blue spectrum wavelengths as noted by the algae chlorophyll, but i too always considered green a relative waste due to deflection, yet i never considered it in perspective of large tissue like leaves, which are bunch of watery cells or partial mirrors, which while they do deflect and reflect green, they also do so in every direction almost, due to geometry of the cell and the fact that the green part that does reflect green light is inside the cell, not on surface, like skin, which would pretty much block, but instead, here, the green light can enter, deflect in all angles and actually serve a very good role in stimulating photosyn. in deeper layers, where red is famous for its short penetration in anything but vacuum, compare to more powerful blue, which doth travel further... Damn nice work man, a good approach and explanation... Also, this will actually do me some good in practice, or not me, but my plants during winter, as i will now not shirk the green light for my population of citrus and other non winter loving plants...
Idk what is better, the video or your comment. Both are great and deep!
Man you content is so top shelf. Massive thanks to you
Informations from all sides and good visuals always gets a thumbs up from me.
Your support on my channel is greatly appreciated!!! 😁
Finally I found answer about white light. Thank you, good job!
I don't have a growlight yet but I am thinking of buying one just as extra support for light heavy plants during the these dark winter mornings and early evenings. I had no idea which ones to get since I saw so many different ones and I don't have a lot of knowledge about this. So RUclips recommendations gave me this video right on time
I'm glad this video was able to help a little! Thanks for watching. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this content! Extremely clear and with all the references
Wow. What an information dense video. Thanks a ton, dude!
I've always been skeptical of certain grow light types and stuff, simply because the original glow light in the sky will always be better than a commercially produced one intended for profit. I use them indoors during colder weather and to help with the occasional pest control with bringing everything inside during the winter, but first opportunities I get everything goes back outside.
Awesome explanation 👏 was searching for led lights for planted aquarium... now I can choose and make my own after watching this interesting video.
I'm just trying to keep one hibiscus alive in the winter, but this was a very enjoyable video.
Nicely done. I recently found Bruce Bugbee on youtube, I see you referenced at least one of his papers. I agree on the ideal spectrum is the sun. I am experimenting with different colours of LEDs in addition to White Full Spectrum with promising results.
Thanks for watching Larry! Yes Dr Bugbee has been a pioneer in the industry and has often been an inspiration in the field of plant lighting. It will be interesting to hear how your experiments turn out!
Bruce is the man for our FAV plant, he's dispelled MANY urban legends that so many growers still incorporate. I fell under the spell of 36hrs darkness before chop for more Trich production til Bruce told me to try a solid 15hrs of light before chop.. This is the practice I've used since that day :)
Give it time and this will be a million subscribers plus channel. You produce informative, quality videos. Thank you for the uploads.
That's very kind of you to say. Thanks for watching & supporting my channel! 😃
I employ both a super high pressure sodium hid and a full spectrum (4000k) led lighting system for my indoor flowers, but I use the red, blue, uv and far red light bars with a 6400 k blue/white for my veg cycle.
This is the greatest video ever I watched about light!
Thanks for all of the research and explaining this information so well.
Thanks for taking time to watch. I really appreciate your feedback! 😃
I've been using LED shop lights for several years now, my pepper seedlings always have excellent short internodes and gain nice sized foliage before hardening off. My newest batch is just coming up for the year, 'Purple UFO' is the most unique.
I got the lights at Ocean State job lot for$20 each and they work REALLY WELL.
Thank you AlboPepper for your quality of light info!
Thanks so much for watching! I really appreciate all of your support. 😃
Wonderful knowledge that I am expecting to get!! Thank you!
Thanks Albo Pepper guy.... I've bean waiting "many" months for you to drop another LED light video.
Thanks for all of your patience! I really appreciate your support on my channel. 😀
Well done. I’m a lighting guy who’s used gels and diffusion on or in front of powerful lights. Diffusion is white so it doesn’t affect color temp of the light but makes the light “wrap around” things rather than being a hard light with hard shadows. I’m new to growing. This “wrap around” light would seem to reach down into the lower part of the plant better. Rather than creating shadows that cause the problem of light not reaching the lower part of the plant. Just a thought. Diffusion can be had from Rosco Gels or Lee Gels. It comes in many types of diffusion. Thicker, thinner or everything in between. I’m thinking Rosco 216. Or Half 216 would be better. It does knock down the brightness of the light a bit but with these powerful LED’s and being able to lower, or raise the light, it could be made up for whatever brightness is lost with gels, even colored gels, or diffusion. Can also get red or blue or amber or any other color gels and tweak to your heart’s content. Thanks for great info sir! 🤙🤙
You as well as I and many others …. From Mh to hps to conversion up to cfl high output t’s blurple and every combination inbetween , I can tell you from my years of talking to my plants more than people around me, light spectrum does in fact set the mood ( sort of speak ) 😉 I could tell you my spectrum preferences but they would differ in results than what others may see as acceptable results , however- just admiring that differential proves in fact the wave lengths do in fact play a difference . My biggest cry of all cries is when Phlizon stopped their 600w dimmable ……. Two of them in a 30x19 20 inches above my canopy area bottom was way more loveable than the other lights in my collection from spider farmer to kindled to electric sky and mars hydro to my mh and growant lights to give you an example 😉 but hey 🤷♂️ they all have an interesting result. 🤔 both good and bad 🍻 the effort you spent on compiling the format for this video is both appreciated and also exhausting imagining you throwing all this together. Well done ✌️ 🍻
Thanks for this crazy informative and fun to watch video. I watched the whole thing and learned so much new stuff even though i though i knew about lights.
Good stuff.
I'm really glad you enjoyed watching! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback. 🙂
thank you so much for this video! I trust this much more because it sources research papers!
Wow, very nicely done. Interesting and engaging! Great job! Thank you!
Temperature also plays a huge role with auto's , and each strain like different temps. 10 degrees difference one way or the other can triple the size . And fluffy loose damp only soil for rapid veg .
High level education. Perfectly presented!
Using my old fish tank leds for my vegetable starts. Has an individual led color assortment. Shows the curve in the app based off what you kelvin you choose. Also intensity is adjustable. 4600k ideal for algae lol. I think I went for 6700k and the plant vegetable starts love it. As long as you buy a full spectrum for for when they flower
Really appreciate these videos man! Thanks!
Thanks for watching them and supporting my channel! 😁
For something cheap and reliable to overwinter my tropical plants indoors and away from windows I use hanging lamps with LED household bulbs, or anything that you can use to direct most of the output downward. They're efficient enough, and put out a healthy variety across the visible spectrum. Most I've seen use a phosphor over a blue diode, which produces IR as well as visible light. At a distance of around a meter, it takes three or five for a 1m² spot to be near as bright as direct sunlight, but many of my tropical plants survive the winter well enough with about one or two for that area, at least they arent dead.
Another tip is that you get slightly better efficiency if you remove the fogged plastic over the end of these things, but that is dangerous. It can break it to try to remove the plastic, and they work well enough straight out the box.
well, plants evolved for thousand of years exposed to the full spectrum light of the sun. tks for the explanation, amazing content!
Thanks for watching! 😀
Good sensible information as always, keep ‘em coming
WOW...a lot of good information in this one. Thank You!
Thanks for watching Uncle Dave!!! 😁
@@Albopepper It is easy to watch such complete, and, useful information.
Man, what an amazing video. Thank you!
Glad to see you back
Thanks! I know, it's been too long. It was a rough Autumn, but hopefully things will be better this year. 🙂
What an amazing content. Thank you.
PhD in horticulture here. Very good and well-researched video, although there are a few things I could add.
Regarding the usefulness of greenlight, it would largely depend on your light intensity. The image at 4:17 explains it very well. Red and blue lights are very efficiently absorbed by the upper plant cell layer of the leaves (or, in whole plant term, the upper leaves), so they can't penetrate very far into the lower cell or leaf layers. While this seems an efficient harvesting of light energy, in high light intensity it's actually not. Since plant cells/leaves need CO2 to photosynthesize, concentrating too much absorbed light energy into a single cell/leaf layer will cause CO2 depletion in that layer, and all that absorbed light energy will not be fully utilized, and may even cause leaf burn from the excess energy. Green light can penetrate deeper into the leaf/canopy, therefore spreading that light energy out to more cells/leaves, reducing the concentration of light energy and local depletion of CO2. However, it is true that green light is absorbed less efficiently by leaves, with 20 - 30% reflected and wasted. When you have low light intensity that's not enough to cause severe local CO2 depletion (as in most cases of indoor growing with artificial light), red and blue lights are more efficient than green light. So, there's some truth to those purple growing light marketings. Of course, light color doesn't only affect photosynthesis, but plant morphology and other physiological aspects as well, and those effects may in turn affect photosynthesis (for example, blue light causes more compact plants, as you mentioned, which could cause more intra- and inter-canopy shading and reduce total light harvesting). But that's a whole other can of worms and would largely be on species-to-species basis.
About far-red light and photosynthesis, the Emerson's enhancement effect is not something that proves you need far-red light. It simply proves that chloroplasts have two separated photosystems (I and II, with PSI having peak absorption at 700 nm and PSII at 680 nm), and photosynthesis works best when both photosystems are active. On the whole leaf basis though, that is indistinguishable, since light bouncing around inside the leaf will blur any boundary between those 20 nm, even if you could find single-nanometer monochromatic light to illuminate the leaves. For far-red light, while it is true that light up to 780 nm can still drive the photosystems, the amount is very small, and most energy would be wasted as heat, which is not ideal for indoor growing system. Far-red light has far more secondhanded impact on photosynthesis by affecting plant morphology and physiology (such as elongation, leaf angle, stomatal conductance) through phytochrome. But you only need a little bit, and from my experience, putting more than 5 - 10% of far-red light into your light may have adverse effects on plants. Most white and red lamps, including LEDs, do have some spillover light into the far-red range. Also, as light filters through your leaves, part of it will be converted to far-red light. Combined, they're more than enough for your plants to grow normally. So don't go putting too much additional far-red light into your system, you'll just waste energy and heat up your chambers.
Thanks for sharing those excellent insights! As far as red / blue vs green photons vs photosynthesis, it's understood that the red & blue LED packages have higher electrical efficiency than phosphor whites. But I've seen marketers try to completely negate large swaths of PAR photons when comparing their PPF output to other systems. One company showed a highly complicated pigment absorption graph with an "exclusion" region superimposed on top. Then they state: _"Typical PPF Claim = 1770 umol/s. Actual PPF when normalized to include only the key portions of the PAR spectrum most important to plant photosynthesis = 855 umol/s."_ They tried to negate 52% of competitor PPF values, wrongly inflating their own light's value, despite a significantly lower PPF output. Those types of misleading claims are the target of my criticisms. And from a subjective perspective, I've seen that plants grow exceptionally well under white lights which is why I do not recommend blurples to home gardeners.
You make a good point that there is a limit on the useful fraction of far-red photons. It's also true that far-red can increase leaf area thus enhancing canopy photon capture. But recent work by Zhen & Bugbee have shown that "far-red photons were as efficient as red/blue and white photons" when it comes to canopy quantum yield. Their testing was with 15% FR. Looking at the results of their experiments, I'm fairly convinced at the usefulness of far-red. They make a compelling case for the newer ePAR standard. Their data does not support the conclusion that most FR energy would be wasted as heat and is not ideal for indoor growing systems. It might be worth reading more into their recent studies.
I would have loved to have gotten past the paywall for this study so I could read the entire thing: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.18375 But the summary states that _"Far-red photons (701 to 750 nm) in sunlight are used efficiently for photosynthesis. This is especially important for leaves in vegetation shade, where far-red photons can be > 50% of the total incident photons between 400 and 750 nm. Far-red photons accounted for 24-25% of leaf gross photosynthesis (Pgross) in a C3 and a C4 species when sunlight was filtered through a leaf, and 10-14% of leaf Pgross in a tree and an understory species in deep shade."_
Most LED's on the market incorporate far red sparingly so it's not an issue..
Hello!I am Azerbaijani.this is wonderfull.thank you!
Beautiful specimens of Drosera Capensis you have there
Finally a video that answered all my questions!
Great informative video! Thanks for breaking down all of that. So I’m trying to find something, or the closest type of light that is as close to natural sunlight as it gets. Not for gardening. But for removing oxidation from shoe soles. Essentially to make the perfect ice box. (It’s what sneaker heads call it) lol Most I’ve seen have been using full spectrum UV lights. But I wonder if that’s even right? 🤔 Typically the best way for removing oxidation from shoe sol is coding them with a particular cream, wrapping them in saran wrap, and placing them out in the sunlight for the day. Which is impossible to do here on the East Coast right now. So any suggestions you have, would be so greatly appreciated. 🙏🏼 Thanks!!!!
its like you made the video just for my case, it's great. Thank you, my friend.
Im a bit late but im curious if you also have topics about aquarium plants with these light bla2 things . Those penetrations i mean (no, not that one) very informational video thank you so much for sharing!
Your chanel is definintely the best thank you for such class!
Nice break down of the more recent studies!
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching Matt! 😀
seen somewhere an article, that plants had some light power absorbation limit, and if it reached, not so important which spectrum it was. Except some species specificity, when some spectrum triggers methabolism issues. And thank you for explanation about blue diodes. Many ppls cries, that blue diodes are important, but they never seen spectrum of cold white diodes and how much blues in it.
BIG LIKE ☕💐😊
HELLOW HAPPY AND GLAD TO WATCH YOUR VIDEO Beautiful Sharing 🎉GOOD LUCK.❤️
That was a great video with concise explanations. Really made it easy to understand. Thank you!
Very informative, well done, thanks for sharing.
Very interesting video, thanks for sharing all the related papers too :)
This was a very well done and educational video
guys put a lifetime content into 10 min vid,
all the hardwork himself n the researcher
mad content i love it
just need specific buy suggestion, brand or sponsorship
can't leave ;me haning in the purchase department man
I love the research papers!
Thank you for this explanation 😁👍
Excellent information and
Excellent enjoyable video without any annoying idiotic sounds in background.
My respect. 💚
I use both white and colored led grow lights, I get good results doing it this way, mixed results when using only one type.
That's good to know. Thanks for sharing your personal results! 😃
I have been using burple led's for the past few years with tremendous results. I did find that the color of the leaves were unnatural, but with that in mind, I carefully monitored the nutrients and ph levels on a regular basis. My auto flowers produced remarkable THC levels and the amount of buds was very pleasing.
I did finally relize, every grow is different and we all learn something new every grow...!!!
Peace &Love to my fellow growers. M/F
✌👍🤘
😅p
I don't think anyone has ever explained it better.
Amazing content and effort! Thanks so much, this helped a lot! :)
Excellent video with good elaboration and sources.
It''s certainly interesting. Has any research been done on algae and what wavelengths do they thrive on? Perhaps there's a way to easily starve them out.
Great vid, very informative. Thanks man!
Many thanks for this valuable videos! I really appreciate the amount of research and expertise you put in your videos!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad that the videos are able to help people. 😀
Deserves a like and a subscription,👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Here's an idea for you for another video, measuring the quality of light from a regular fire. I have wondered this in the idea that what if we have one of these volcanoes blow up and chokes out the sky for a few years and power sources and lighting becomes a problem. And so, what is the potential of building a fire based lighting source that maybe functions with mirrors or fiber optics or something, but the point is can the use of fire light in a survival situation be a usable substitute for lighting plants to grow without sunlight and the access to grow lights in a survival situation? I have contemplated this idea as to if the light from a fire is of a usable spectrum in the first place, or if some things like wood burn with a certain light production versus other energy sources.
And then, maybe from there, how to construct a fire-to-light feeding system or something. Could be done either with multiple 'fire bases' positioned around a greenhouse or green room with flat white painted everywhere to scatter the light, or, to build a special "fire place" where the sides would have fiber optics feeding the light to the greenhouse/greenroom, allowing the smoke to rise past keeping things from getting soot on them and diminishing the light being transferred. Something?! A serious question that I believe you can answer!! Thanks for the videos and info! Very helpful and interesting!
If things came down to that, then perhaps an alternate method for acquiring food altogether? Perhaps cultures of bacteria? Or what about fungi? If these could produce calorie sources without needing photosynthesis, then we could still have a viable food source. Otherwise, the amount of carbon fuels burned to create any significant amount of light would be astronomical. Your closest analog would be to just try growing plants with incandescent lights. Experiment a little with that and see what they do!
If you actually did try to burn carbon fuels to light up plants, why not just harness all of the heat to generate electricity and then drive LEDs? Basically, just have power plants and use artificial lights.
In all seriousness though, if we lose all of our sunlight, we'll be in a world of trouble...
12k lumen 5k temp daylight garage lights. Those massive folding ones, those are stellar!!!
Incredibly informative. Thank you for all your work to put this together.
Really nice video Al!
Thanks for watching! I really appreciate your support. 😃
Ive been preaching 12 band Spectrum since ive had the lights huge difference
Very interesting for my Aquarium
Now that you did a WONDERFUL job on Light Spectrums, how about a nice discourse on the need to adjust the Photoperiods to trigger fruiting?
Thanks for sharing your feedback & suggestion! Currently, I'm working on a script dealing with light intensity, PPFD & DLI. I do have a video from a couple years ago talking about photoperiods: ruclips.net/video/dQlOJ1zvoPI/видео.html Perhaps I'll need to revisit the topic!
@@Albopepper Thank you! shall head there as soon as I'm done trolling my replies!
And thanking those who are helpful, like you!
this video is crazy well made. i love it
Amazing, thanks for sharing
I use a full light spectrum on my aquarium where I grow at of underwater plants. I also grow houseplants from the aquarium.
There's a sunrise, early morning, midday, evening, and sunset.
Everyone is happy. My aquatic plants are happy. My house plants are happy. My fish are happy.
Thank you, for your time and research and most importantly transparency on this matter.
I really hate when people without even thinking, get influenced on these blurble lights concept. If they look directly at the surface of our Earth, while the sun is up at high noon, it doesn't shines blurple lights.
No, it's pure white light, derived from the mixture of other nanometer (315nm-850nm) wavelengths.
Is also depends what species of plants you want to grow. Because i've always learned that the general rule of thumb is: Blue light keeps the plant more compact and dense, and red light (Espescialy far-red light) will let the plant grow taller but lankier. But recently they (With 'they' I mean the growing company I work for + testing partners) found out that with 'Anthurium andreanum' (Laceleaf) it's actually the opposite.
And on a different note, I live in a area with lots of greenhouses, they all used HPS lamps for the longest time, making the night sky look golden yellow. But nowadays with the amazing LED lights, the night sky is turning purple/pink, which is just very cool in my opinion :)
Looking good Al, hope all is good buddy 👍
Thanks for watching Jon! I appreciate man. 🙂