why do you have to have special lights for artificial plant growth?

[cameron marical]

why do you have to have special lights for artificial plant growth? is it that one just uses more energy and also puts forth more photons similiar to the suns amount to plants? why is it that flourescant{i know theres another one, thats better, tungteen or something, though thats the filament in light bulbs so i could be getting it mixed up} is so much better than just a normal light bulb? dont they produce the same thing and only that one thing?{photons}

[iNow]

why do you have to have special lights for artificial plant growth?

 

Artificial plants don't grow (unless, perhaps, you melt the rubber from which they're made).

[cameron marical]

i ment real plants in an artificial environment, where the light from these lights represents the sun, my bad.

[coke]

lol iNow...nice one

 

I think that plants might need waves of light such as ultraviolet or infrared, which come from the sun but maybe not from ordinary lamps..

 

i like your avatar picture by the way cameron...

and i'm guessing thats jujitsu on yours, iNow?

[cameron marical]

thanks man. due to google images.

[Klaynos]

They need UV.

 

A friend who has an office in a basement (the rumours about grad students being shut up in basements are true!) has a special mini greenhouse on his desk with a USB powered UV light...

[swansont]

Incandescent light filaments are much cooler than the sun which shifts their spectrum toward longer wavelengths. Fluorescent bulbs start with UV transitions and use the fluorescent material to shift some of the light to longer (visible) wavelengths, but there's still a lot of the UV left.

 

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_ideas/Phys_img039.jpg

[virgo]

I think plants can use wide spectrum of light, except the area near green. Thats why they reflect it (most of the living plants are green).

[swansont]

I think plants can use wide spectrum of light, except the area near green. Thats why they reflect it (most of the living plants are green).

 

That's true — they tend to absorb in the red and the blue parts of the visible spectrum. But incandescents tend to be yellowish light, because they don't have a lot of blue (or UV) in them. The absorption in the blue end extends into the UV

 

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/%7Egh19/b1510/pchlosp.jpg

[Mokele]

I've actually had excellent success just using regular coil fluorescent bulbs for indoor plants - they're always worked as well or better than the high-priced "plant bulbs"

[cameron marical]

why are we all pony wranglers?

[Lan(r)12]

April Fool's Day thing, i would suppose.

 

Along with the change to "pseudoscience forums"...

[iNow]

why are we all pony wranglers?

 

WTF does this question have to do with your thread on plant growth?

 

And, BTW... I'm "Chief" Pony Wrangler, and don't you forget it.

[Lan(r)12]

EVERYBODY is a chief pony wrangler today lol

 

I can see mine, but I cant see yours INow.

[Airbrush]

It sounds like somebody wants to grow something naughty indoors.

 

Ordinary flourescents work just fine especially at early stages of growth. If you want to get fancy there are metal halides and high pressure sodium.

[Mokele]

I actually prefer compact fluorescents to metal halides and sodium bulbs, mostly due to the heat issue. Back when I had my plants (they all died in the move, sadly), bulb heat was a big issue, because they were vines which could grow quite large, quite fast.

[Airbrush]

Yes, Metal Halides and HPS create a LOT of heat and therefore a a hazard for indoor growing. They can start a fire if you don't vent the heat properly with electric fans. Not for beginners. Flourescents remain cool to the touch even after hours of use.

 

I purchased a 250w MH and a 250w HPS many years ago and never actually used them because I've come to prefer the simplicity of good old-fashioned sunshine in my back yard.

[Mokele]

I've come to prefer the simplicity of good old-fashioned sunshine in my back yard.

 

True, but even I could grow the species I had outside, the neighbors might complain about my plants eating the local squirrels.