How to Choose the Best LED Horticulture Light

LED grow light is an artificial light source that uses LED (light emitting diode) as the luminous body to meet the lighting conditions required for plant photosynthesis. Classified by type, it belongs to the third generation of plant supplement light lamps.

In an environment lacking daylight, this lamp can act as daylight, enabling plants to grow and develop normally or better.

This kind of lamp has strong roots, promotes, regulates the flowering period and flower color, promotes fruit ripening and coloring, and enhances the taste and quality.

Brief introduction of LED grow lights

The light sources suitable for plant supplementary light include: high-pressure sodium lamps, metal halide lamps, ceramic metal halide lamps, microwave sulfur lamps, plasma lamps, fluorescent lamps, electrodeless lamps, tri-color rare earth fill light lamps, LED plant lamps, etc. The most commonly used are sodium lamps, metal halide lamps and LED growth lamps for plant lighting. Others are relatively niche, or very expensive.

High-pressure sodium lamps can be divided into ordinary sodium lamps, high-efficiency sodium lamps, and sodium lamps for plant lighting. Commonly used are 250w, 400w, 600w, and 1000w. The current trend is that the greater the power, the better, because it is very simple, a set of 1000w system is cheaper than two sets of 400w systems and the coverage is better.

Ordinary sodium lamps are inexpensive and have low luminous flux. As the name suggests, high-efficiency sodium lamps have a higher luminous flux, but these are not real sodium lamps for plant lighting, they are only used as street lamps.

Sodium lamps for plant supplement light must have the correct spectrum and high lumen output; while high-efficiency sodium lamps have high lumen output, the content of red and blue light in the spectrum is much lower than that of plant sodium lamps, and the useless green light is higher than plant sodium lamps 7 -9 times, it can only waste energy under the effect. That’s why some customers asked why the growth effect is not obvious because you used the wrong lamp.

To judge high-efficiency sodium lamps and plant sodium lamps, only spectral analysis can be used, and there is currently no way to judge with the naked eye. This is the reason why many factories are able to fool the vast number of growers unscrupulously and bring losses to consumers.

Metal halide lamps are rich in blue light, and even plant sodium lamps with spectral enhancements contain much less blue light than metal halide lamps. Sodium lamps and metal halide lamps are used together to achieve a very perfect effect, but considering the cost, sodium lamps are still used in the greenhouse. Beware of unscrupulous merchants when buying metal halide lamps. The inside of the shell of metal halide lamps is actually a mercury lamp, and the price is very low.

The production technology and products of trichromatic rare earth fill light were first introduced to the mainland from Taiwan. Its working principle is the same as that of a fluorescent lamp. After the lamp is energized, electrons are emitted and the mercury vapor in the lamp forms an internal circuit loop. The mercury atom in the tube discharges after colliding with the inert gas, which excites 253.7nm ultraviolet rays, which are absorbed by the trichromatic phosphors containing some rare earth elements and converted into visible light. The light quality combination of the tri-color rare earth fill light is relatively fixed and cannot be adjusted arbitrarily.

The photosynthetically active radiant energy in the light is relatively low. Therefore, it cannot meet the needs of different plants or plants for different light quality combinations (photosynthetic nutrition) in different periods , It cannot meet the demanding requirements of scientific research and experiment in the field of plant photosynthesis. Therefore, the scope of application is relatively small, and the comprehensive light supplement effect is general. In addition, the material and technology of this kind of lamp make it fragile, which is harmful to the environment of use.

The leakage of highly toxic mercury vapor will fall in the air and penetrate into the plant and human body, which is harmful to health, especially for pregnant women, infants and young children. , The elderly are extremely harmful. Therefore, this kind of fill light is not suitable for use in homes, offices and other environments with small spaces and many people. At present, the market of three-color rare earth fill light is too chaotic, with uneven quality and very few products with excellent effects. In addition, the procurement and subsequent use and maintenance costs are high (relatively high power, relatively short life), limited use, and poor results And other factors, so the current application range is very small.

LED plant light is a new high-tech product that has emerged with white LED lighting in the last 10 years or so. Many domestic research institutes have only started or completed experiments on “the effect of different LED light quality on plants” in recent years. The quality of LED plant light is determined by the chip, and the quality of the domestic chip used in the current plant light is not good enough, so we can only choose imported chip-encapsulated led lamp beads to produce led growth lights, which leads to high production costs for lamps.

However, because of its accurate light quality and artificial combination adjustment, high photosynthetic radiation per unit power consumption, good plant supplement light effect, low operating cost (super power saving) and many other advantages, it is well received by agricultural research institutes and intelligent Favored by chemical plants and factories. However, since 2012, some private workshops have joined the lighting manufacturing camp. These people don’t understand agricultural technology, and they don’t have product experimentation conditions. They don’t consider safety issues. They just purchase components to assemble at will, and the price of finished products is super cheap.

This inferior and ineffective so-called “LED growth lamp” is disrupting the originally difficult market environment. This problem is also the current situation facing the white light LED market. Therefore, when choosing LED plant lights, you must keep your eyes open. It is best to choose to build a factory before 2012. The products have quality assurance, brand names, and reasonably priced products. You should not be greedy for cheap and suffer huge economic losses and safety accidents.

How LED grow lights work

Light environment is one of the important physical environmental factors that are indispensable for plant growth and development. Controlling plant morphology through light quality adjustment is an important technology in the field of facility cultivation; plant growth lights are more environmentally friendly and energy-saving. LED plant lights give plants Provide photosynthesis, promote plant growth, shorten the time it takes for plants to bloom and bear.

Features of LED grow lights

The wavelength types are abundant, which coincides with the spectral range of plant photosynthesis and light morphology; the half-width of the spectral wave width is narrow, and the pure monochromatic light and the compound spectrum can be combined as needed; it can concentrate the light of a specific wavelength to irradiate the crop in a balanced manner; not only can be adjusted Crop flowering and fruiting, and can also control plant height and plant nutrients; the system generates less heat and occupies a small space, and can be used in a multi-layer cultivation three-dimensional combination system to achieve low heat load and miniaturization of production space.

The characteristics of led plant lights: rich wavelength types, just in line with the spectral range of plant photosynthesis and light morphology; narrow half-width of the spectrum wave width, can be combined as needed to obtain pure monochromatic light and compound spectrum; it can concentrate light of specific wavelengths and irradiate it in a balanced manner Crops; not only can regulate the flowering and fruiting of crops, but also control the plant height and nutrient content of the plants; the system generates less heat and occupies a small space, and can be used in a multi-layer cultivation three-dimensional combination system to achieve low heat load and miniaturization of production space.

Application of LED growth light

As the fourth-generation new lighting source, LED has many characteristics different from other electric light sources, which also makes it the first choice for energy-saving and environmentally-friendly light sources. The LED used in the field of plant cultivation also exhibits the following characteristics: rich wavelength types, just in line with the spectral range of plant photosynthesis and light morphology;

Measure the photosynthetic luminous flux density (PPFD) produced by plant growth lamps on plants

The spectrum has a narrow half-width and can be combined as needed to obtain pure monochromatic light and compound spectrum, and can concentrate light of a specific wavelength to irradiate crops in a balanced manner. It can not only regulate the flowering and fruiting of crops, but also control plant height and plant nutrients. The system generates less heat and occupies a small space. It can be used in a multi-layer cultivation three-dimensional combination system to achieve low heat load and miniaturization of production space. In addition, its exceptional durability also reduces operating costs. Because of these remarkable characteristics, LEDs are very suitable for plant cultivation in a controlled facility environment, such as plant tissue culture, facility gardening and factory seedlings, and aerospace ecological life support systems.

Uses of LED grow lights

Organic farming is a kind of production that does not use chemically synthesized fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, genetic engineering and ion radiation technology, but follows the laws of nature, and adopts agricultural, physical and biological methods to fertilize the soil. , Prevent and control diseases and insect pests in order to obtain safe biological and product agricultural production system.

In fact, organic planting does not completely use fertilizers, but organic fertilizers can be used: farmyard manure, mineral fertilizer, biological bacterial fertilizer, etc. after high-temperature fermentation and harmless treatment. Due to the limitation of this kind of fertilization, the growth cycle of plants is bound to be affected, and the current large demand in the market appears to be in short supply. Therefore, shortening the production cycle is one of the methods.

LED plant lights help shorten the growth cycle of plants, because the light source of this kind of light is mainly composed of red and blue light sources, using the most sensitive light band of plants, red wavelengths use 620-630nm and 640-660nm, blue wavelengths use 450-460nm and 460-470nm. These light sources are used to make plants produce the best photosynthesis, and the plants get the best growth state. Experiments and practical applications have shown that in addition to supplementing the light during the lack of light, they also promote the growth of plants during the growth process. The differentiation of side branches and buds accelerates the growth of roots, stems and leaves, accelerates the synthesis of plant carbohydrates and vitamins, and shortens the growth cycle.

With the rapid increase in global organic food demand, vigorously developing organic farming is an opportunity for more and more producers.

Research on LED grow lights

In the past ten years, the area of ​​facility gardening in China has developed rapidly, and the light environment control lighting technology for plant growth has attracted attention. Facilities horticulture lighting technology is mainly used in two aspects:

1. As supplementary lighting for plant photosynthesis when the amount of sunshine is small or the sunshine time is short;
2. As the induced lighting for plant photoperiod and light morphology.

2.1. Research on LED as supplementary lighting for plant photosynthesis. Traditional artificial light sources generate too much heat. If LED supplementary lighting and hydroponic systems are used, air can be recycled, excess heat and water can be removed, and electricity can be Efficiently transform into effective photosynthetic radiation, and finally into plant matter. Studies have shown that the use of LED lighting can increase the growth rate and photosynthesis rate of lettuce by more than 20%, and it is feasible to use LEDs in plant factories.

The study found that compared with fluorescent lamps, mixed-wavelength LED light sources can significantly promote the growth and development of spinach, radish and lettuce, and improve morphological indicators; it can maximize the bioaccumulation of sugar beet, and the most significant accumulation of betanin in hair roots, and is produced in hair roots The highest sugar and starch accumulation.

Compared with the metal halide lamp, the anatomical morphology of the stems and leaves of the pepper and perilla plants grown under the corresponding wavelength LED changes significantly, and as the optical density increases, the photosynthetic rate of the plants increases. LEDs with multiple wavelengths can increase the number of stomata in marigold and sage plants.

2.2. LED as the induced lighting for plant photoperiod and light morphology

LEDs of specific wavelengths can affect the flowering time, quality, and duration of flowering of plants. LEDs of certain wavelengths can increase the number of flower buds and flowering of plants; LEDs of certain wavelengths can reduce the flower formation response, regulate the stalk length and flowering period, and facilitate the production and marketing of cut flowers. This shows that LED regulation can regulate the flowering and subsequent growth of plants.

2.3 Research on LED application in aerospace ecological life support system

Establishing a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) is the fundamental way to solve the problem of long-term manned space life support. The cultivation of higher plants is an important element of CELSS, and one of the keys is light.

Based on the special requirements of the space environment, the light source used in the cultivation of higher space plants must have high luminous efficiency, output light waves suitable for plant photosynthesis and morphogenesis, small size, light weight, long life, high safety and reliability records and no environment Pollution and other characteristics. Compared with other light sources such as cool white fluorescent lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps and metal halide lamps, LEDs can more effectively convert light energy into photosynthetically effective radiation; in addition, it has the characteristics of long life, small size, light weight and solid state, so In recent years, it has received much attention in ground and space plant cultivation. research shows

The LED lighting system can provide lighting with uniform spectral energy distribution, and the efficiency of converting electrical energy into light required by plants is more than 520 times that of metal halide lamps.

Application case of LED grow light

With chrysanthemum as the test material, 120 stems of chrysanthemum with uniform growth and thick were selected and divided into 2 groups with 60 branches in each group. Cut the leaf-bearing branches with a length of about 12cm, and cut the base into a wedge-shaped surface.

Treat the base with 10PPM naphthalene acid for 12 hours, and then multiply the intelligent seedbed with natural light and the red seedbed with plant growth lights. , Observe and record the growth of the stem. The chlorophyll content is determined by extraction method. On the 3rd, 6th and 12th day of culture, evenly take 0.2g of the leaves of the same part of each treatment, cut them, soak in 1:1 acetone: absolute ethanol, and place in a 40 degree incubator After 24 hours of extraction, the OD value at the wavelength of 652nm was measured to calculate the chlorophyll content.

Soluble sugars were determined by the 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid method, and the nitrate reductase (NR) activity was determined by the sulfa colorimetric method. The following results were obtained:

1. After 30 days of cultivation, the stems under red light will take root earlier than those under natural light. The final number of roots will be more, and the rooting rate will be as high as 100%. The leaves are dark green, the stems are strong, and the seedlings are growing vigorously. During the whole cultivation process, the growth of the material under red light was obviously better than that under natural light, which showed that red light had the effect of promoting the rooting of the chrysanthemum.
2. During the growth of the stem, whether it is under natural light or red light, the chlorophyll content first decreases and then increases. However, the content of chlorophyll under red light is higher than that under natural light, indicating that red light has a significant promotion effect on the formation of chlorophyll, and this result becomes more obvious as the number of cultivation days increases. The better growth of plants under red light may be due to the higher chlorophyll content in the plant, stronger photosynthesis, and more carbohydrate synthesis, which provides sufficient material and energy for plant growth.
3. The soluble sugar content on the 9th day of culture was lower than that on the 15th day, and it decreased more under red light than under natural light. The stems under red light also took root earlier than under natural light. After 15 days, the soluble sugar content under red light is higher than that under natural light, which may be related to the higher chlorophyll content under red light and stronger photosynthesis.
4. The activity of NR in stem segments under red light was significantly greater than under natural light. It can be seen that red light can promote nitrogen metabolism in chrysanthemum stems.

In short, red light can promote rooting, chlorophyll formation, carbohydrate accumulation, absorption and utilization of chrysanthemum stems. In the process of rapid propagation, the use of red light plant growth lamps to supplement light has obvious effects on promoting the rapid rooting of various plants and improving the quality of seedlings.

Tachyon LED grow light simulates natural light to the maximum, providing a precise spectral range for the photosynthesis of plants. Plants rely on light energy for photosynthesis to grow, flower, and bear fruit. However, due to the ever-changing climatic changes and light changes in nature, plants cannot fully absorb the photosynthetic nutrients they need during different growth periods, which brings disadvantages to growth, especially in the seedling stage. In this regard, scientific and reasonable artificial spectrum creates good absorption and reflection conditions for plant growth. The energy values ​​in the blue light zone and the red light zone are very close to the efficiency curve of plant photosynthesis (the efficiency is even more significant for green plants), which is the best light source for plant growth.

Tachyon LED plant growth lights simulate natural light, and can also produce red and blue light mixed products according to customer needs, providing accurate spectral range for plant photosynthesis, suitable for all stages of plant growth, and suitable for any indoor garden Soilless cultivation or soil cultivation. At the same time, we can also provide customized plant growth lighting solutions according to customer needs. Please contact us for special needs.

Prospect analysis

Tachyon LED grow lights are attracting the attention of the world with their inherent advantages. Especially in the context of rising global energy shortage concerns, LED light sources have the characteristics of high luminous efficiency, long service life, safety and reliability, environmental protection and energy saving, so that the prospect of LED in the lighting market has attracted global attention.

In traditional agricultural production, ordinary electric light sources are generally used to supplement the light and the application of different covering materials and other agricultural technical measures, such as the use of monochromatic fluorescent lamps or colored plastic films, and changing the light environment to regulate the growth and development of plants in the facility cultivation environment.

However, these measures have different degrees of problems, such as lack of analysis of specific spectral components, resulting in impure light quality processing, inconsistent light intensity, close to or even lower than the light compensation point of plants, and low energy efficiency of the illumination light source. A large number of application research results of LEDs in plant facility cultivation environments show that LEDs can solve these problems and are particularly suitable for artificial light-controlled plant facility cultivation environments.