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  • Lighting/ color question for indoor garden

    Created by sknow on

    I’m trying my hand at growing some food indoors (strawberries, squash, tomatoes, okra) and I have 8 4ft T5 grow lights over them. I have 4 red spectrum bulbs waiting nearby. The question is, when do I use the red bulbs? And how? Do I go full red, or do a RBRBRBRB type configuration? I’m at a loss here, and I don’t want my plants to die or suffer.

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  • #185850

    Skootnasty
    Member

    You could grow the plants under a mix of Blue and Red spectrum. I would like 60% red, but 50/50 is fine. Also switching to all red when flowering starts also works. You really will not do wrong either way.

    Skoot

    #188105

    Plants need Quality of light according to the color or wavelength. When sunlight passes through a Prism or Raindrops, it splits into red, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet colors.
    Red and Blue are responsible for plant’s growth and flowering time. Green color light is not so effective but the color green is its reflection. Blue light responsible for primary vegetative leaf growth.
    Indoor growing condition of light quality:-
    -Starting time of seed white with high in blue range.
    -Spectrum fluorescent bulbs with more red colors helpful for Flowering plant.
    -Red & orange is incandescent light, but generally helpful in supplementing plant growth producing too much heat.

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