Plants & Ultra Violet Light
Ultraviolet light, the light that most people associate with the sun, is thought to be a major part of all of the life cycles on Earth. Plants require light as an energy source to grow, photosynthesize and usually to procreate. UV light itself is not essential, but light in general is required. Does this Spark an idea?
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Light
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Light is a form of energy called electromagnetic energy, or electromagnetic radiation, which travels in waves ranging in length from 0.00001 nanometer to 1,000 nanometers, with the shorter wavelengths having more energy. The whole spectrum of wavelengths is called the electromagnetic spectrum. The visible portion of the spectrum, light, ranges from 380 nm to 750 nm, encompassing violet light to red light.
UV Light
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Ultraviolet light, or UV light, is that which is most often associated with the sun. UV light is the cause of sunburns and---contrary to popular belief---is actually toxic or harmful to plant life.
Scientists have broken the UV light spectrum in to three sections, based on its wavelengths: the near ultraviolet, the far ultraviolet and the extreme ultraviolet. The near ultraviolet is the light closest to optical or visible light.
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Light and Plants
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Plants use light as an energy source during photosynthesis, a process that transforms water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. The amount of light that a plant needs and can use varies from plant to plant. Light is also a trigger for other processes within plants, such as flowering and germination.
Visible Light and Plants
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Plants respond positively only to light from the visible spectrum. The highest amount of absorption by chlorophyll takes place in the blue spectrum of light, from 400 to 520 nm. The blue spectrum of light is best for promoting vegetative growth in plants. The red spectrum of light, from about 610 to 720 nm, has the most significant influence on photosynthesis and promotes budding and flowering.
Application
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Knowing that UV light is actually harmful to plants---or is at best neither harmful nor beneficial to them---indicates that sunlight is actually not needed for plant growth. It is more efficient to grow plants indoors using a combination of red and blue lights, or a broad range "white light," which emits all colors of the visible light spectrum.
Plants have different light requirements, so knowing what you want to grow and determining its specific light needs will help in the selection of lights.
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References
- Photo Credit Sun image by KPICKS from Fotolia.com
