I've written about grow lights before on my blog and my houseplant account, but I also use grow lights for growing out seeds or tubers, which are planted out in the (vegetable) garden later in the season. I mainly use grow lights out of lack of windowsill space, they give me the opportunity to grow out plants in places with little to no natural light. Another advantage is that the plants grow up much straighter, although it never hurts to turn them in time. I have a number of types/brands of lamps at home, which I already talked about in one of my very first articles, which you can read here. In this article I want to talk specifically about the lamps I use for the seedlings. STARTING AT THE BEGINNING - WHY ARE PLANTS GREEN?A light source such as the sun or a lamp emits wavelengths, when such a beam hits an object it is absorbed or reflected. White reflects just about all colors of light while black absorbs them. So when we see an object as green, it means that all light waves are absorbed except the green ones. So for plants the light waves that disappear into the leaf are important. IMPORTANCE OF LIGHT FOR PLANTSSmall piece of repetition from a previous article but useful to know, plants do not use light like us to perceive something like we do as humans. They rather use it as a kind of battery, they get energy from it. You can compare it to a solar panel. Our plants look mostly green, which means that all the light spectrums except the green ones are absorbed. If the plant absorbed all colors in the spectrum it would look black. Why our plants absorb red and blue better is not really known, one explanation is that these light waves are better in the process of turning water and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen. You can read more about light here. WHICH GROW LIGHTS DO I HAVE IN USEFor the seedlings last year I mainly used the Light garden from Elho , it is now occupied with cuttings so this year the grow lights from Hema and the plantspectrum from Mother will do the job. 1) PLANTSPECTRUMThe plantspectrum comes from Mother and comes in 2 sizes, the plantspectrum.32 and the plantspectrum.16. I'm not going to lie, currently these are truly my most favorite lamps in the house and I'll tell you why right away. The lamps are multi-functional in that they can be mounted and used both vertically and horizontally. For example, I use the plantspectrum.32 horizontally above my greenhouse with more special houseplants. The smaller model, the plantspectrum.16, I use in the winter months to light the houseplants and now that the sun is quietly doing that again, the lamps have been promoted to growing my seedlings for the (vegetable) garden. Also the color of the light makes me happy, it is a very bright white light. The light is too bright for cozy in your living room next to the TV, but it is ideal for working or even for taking pictures. Hahah as I said before, it is multifunctional ;) Now I have them horizontally in a rack with all the seedlings under it, the lamp has no timer but I easily solved that myself by putting a separate timer in the socket. Not unimportantly, it is more expensive to buy compared to the other models I mention here, but I personally think it is worth the money. The lamp is made of recycled aluminum and is designed to last a lifetime. The led strip has an expected life of 8 years and can easily be replaced yourself after that, allowing you to continue using the lamp itself. Apart from all this, I also find them handsome in design and therefore enjoy intigrating them into our interior. In addition to lamps, Mother also offers a rich assortment of microgreens, a must-try. It is even easier than vegetables for the garden, in less than 2 weeks you can already harvest and the vegetables are packed with vitamins. I definitely recommend you check out the site. 2) HEMA LAMPThe second lamp I have in use is one from Hema, I just saw that they are currently unavailable on the website so I'm not sure if they are temporarily sold out or if they are just not coming back. They were originally made to fit one of their greenhouses, super handy but I just enjoyed using them in my own way. What I liked most about the lamps when I bought them last year was their purchase price (€10/st.) I did not have a large budget so this was ideal, they have served a few months and then I decided to put them away. Now I have them back in use but more because I have too many seedlings than what the current lamps could handle. The only reason I prefer not to have them (visibly) in use is their color, it's a bright purple light. If this doesn't bother you it's ideal of course, however that is not the case with mine. I regularly take the plants out to check them in daylight, the purple light sometimes gives the impression that my plant does not look good but it is (or vice versa). Although for this price you really can't complain! They are oblong lamps that I have attached to an iron rack by means of a magnet, they have a long cord and just like the previous lamp I put them in a timer so I don't have to worry about when they go on or off. 3) LIGHT GARDENThe light garden is a product of Elho, for most of us I think a known brand. Elho stands for sustainability and recycling, their pots and many other products are made from recycled plastic. They use their own energy through a windmill in the company's garden and their products are made to last a lifetime. This lamp is horizontal and has a saucer at the bottom, you can put a lot of smaller plants under it. Ideal for cuttings, or germinating seeds, but also for keeping your herbs in the kitchen. The lamp is attached to two sides that you can slide it on, so you can move the lamp higher and lower as your plants grow. What I find really fascinating about this lamp is that it goes on and off in phases. So it gets stronger and stronger in light just like a sunrise, and when it goes out in the opposite direction. The light that it gives off is not completely white, there is a slight purple glow to it but not strong enough to be experienced as disturbing. This lamp has an on/off switch on top of the lamp, there are 2 touch buttons to turn the lamp on/off & one to set the duration of the lamp. The lamp burns for 15h here at my place and then 9h rest. Tip: Elho sells grow houses that fit perfectly under this lamp. Not unimportant, what if the lamp is at the end of its life? I inquired with Elho themselves to ask what happens when the lamp reaches the end of its life, do you replace the circuit board or does the whole lamp have to go in the trash? They told me that the inside consists of a circuit board because the frequency is not obtainable with a regular lamp, the board is set to give the right frequency and duration of light. So unfortunately, when the bulb stops working it cannot be fixed by replacing a bulb. The lamp has been thoroughly tested and has an extremely long life that lasts much longer than the light hours of a bulb. MORE LAMPS?In a previous article I cited all the lamps I have in my house https://greenplantmom.weebly.com/bloggreenplantmom/welke-groei-lamp-kies-ik In this article by Floor Korte there is a handy list of lamps that you can use https://www.floorsmoestuin.nl/post/planten-kweken-onder-een-groeilamp Did you like it? Please leave a 👍 below & follow my plant adventures on Instagram!
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AuthorCrazy plant lady who likes to inspire others! Everything I write here comes from my own experience, knowledge that I gained by reading books and on the internet. If I would literally copy someone's info, I would do my best to link it of course! Do you spot typos or do you have other concerns, let me know! Have fun reading! I've only just started writing English blogs since January 2021, that's why there are many Dutch blogs and not so many English ones.
I use DeepL to help me translate. ARCHIVES
Maart 2022
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