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Lighting plays an essential role in
hydroponics gardening. Adequate indoor lighting
is essential for plants to produce food and to
survive. Lighting is the first thing that is taken
into consideration when starting an indoor garden.
The amount of light that is naturally available or
that can be supplied by artificial means, determines
which plants are ideal for an indoor garden.
The amount of light entering any part of the house
would vary from one location to another. The
surroundings of the house such as trees, roof over
hangings affect the amount of light entering through
a window. A light meter that provides measures of
photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) should be
used to calculate the amount of light falling
through the window. Plants require 400 and 700
nanometers for photosynthesis and chlorophyll
production.
Artificial lights for plants can be provided by
using a variety of bulbs. These include incandescent
bulbs, halogen bulbs, fluorescent lamps, HID lamps
and plant growth lights. These bulbs are ideal for
plants that have limited natural light.
Incandescent and halogen light bulbs are known to
produce more red spectrum light. These bulbs should
be placed about one foot over the plant. This is not
a
grow light but is ideal for plants with low
light requirements. A normal incandescent bulb is
considered to be inefficient in terms of energy
consumed and the amount of light generated.
Halogen bulbs have a color temperature of 3000K
giving it a whitish light. These lights can be used
to supplement a lighting system that is deficient in
red spectrum light. Horticulturists should opt for
low voltage halogen bulbs to use in track lighting
systems. These are 12V bulbs which can complement a
fluorescent bulb setup.
Fluorescent bulbs are a cost effective solution
offering four times the light of an incandescent
bulb per unit of electricity. Though there are a
number of fluorescent bulbs available to the general
public only few of them are applicable to aiding
plant growth. These are plant growth, industrial,
daylight, full spectrum (which imitates natural
light), actinic, tri-phosphor, special purpose and
High Output / Very High Output bulbs. The ideal size
of bulb for plant growth is the T12 four foot length
tube. These bulbs fit the gap between cost and
quality.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) bulbs are another
solution for illuminating an indoor garden. These
bulbs are very large and draw a large amount of
energy. These bulbs require an additional fan to
cool down due to the large amount of heat that they
produce. These lights are ideal for flowering plants
as the light source mimics sunlight. These lights
require a ballast box to regulate the amount of
electricity going to the light.
If additional lighting is not possible, the best
choice for an indoor garden is plants with medium to
low light requirements. Plants such as Boston fern,
Philodendrons, etc are ideal. |
