In a private house      06/13/2019

How to make lighting for seedlings. Sodium lamps for greenhouses. Dependence of illumination on the distance between the source and the illuminated surface

Growing seedlings at home is a troublesome task. The main difficulty is the lack of light and space on the window sills. Faced with this problem, Sergei Golovkov made a special “incubator” for seedlings, in which replaced natural lighting with artificial lighting.

The light intensity in the house is usually not sufficient for growing seedlings.

Even on a southern windowsill in clear weather, the light is within normal limits only in direct sun, but in winter the daylight hours are short, clear weather does not happen every day, and the sun, as it moves, illuminates even the sides of the window sill differently. The obvious conclusion arises: artificial lighting is required.

Most often, fluorescent lamps are used for this. I started with them too - I bought a new lamp with a power of 36 W of the white spectrum and increased brightness. But, having measured the brightness of the heated lamp at a distance of 5 cm, I was convinced that its light was also small. The sensor showed a normal value only if I moved it close to the lamp. By using a shiny reflector, I improved the readings a little, but not enough to be satisfied.

What kind of light do seedlings (and plants in general) need?

Photosynthesis, of course, requires almost the entire spectrum of visible light, but most of it in very small quantities. The only exception is light in the blue and red parts of the spectrum. In these ranges, absorption can account for up to 80-90% of light radiation. Therefore, for illumination, the source must produce light in the ranges of 440-447, 445-450 and 655-660 nm, and the rest of the spectrum will be provided by light from the window.

It must be said that special fluorescent phytolamps have been on sale for a long time. They shine in a purple-pink color, and many users have rated them positively. This is, of course, better than conventional lamps, but ensure desired length they can wave very approximately.

Another lighting option is the use of sodium phytolamps, but they emit a significant amount of heat and therefore require a separate room or greenhouse. Installing such a lamp on a windowsill is problematic.

LEDs for seedlings

Another lighting option is LED. This is not a very cheap option, but LEDs have high efficiency and low power consumption. The biggest advantage is the ability of an LED to produce a light wave of a given length in a very narrow range. At the same time, it has directional radiation, which allows you to use its light to the maximum.

As the main ones, I used so-called three-watt LEDs of two types: red, with a wavelength of 650-660 nm and blue - 440-450 nm. I found the optimal ratio of LED colors: 1 blue to 2-3 red.

As a radiator, I used a profile aluminum pipe with a cross section of 40 x 20 mm. I attached LEDs to the pipe through a special board with an aluminum base. When installing both the LEDs themselves and the boards to the radiator, I used thermally conductive paste, since overheating of the LED can cause both a decrease in the brightness of the glow and complete failure.

I used a powerful soldering iron. The fact is that boards for LEDs are mainly made of aluminum with traces applied - and a weaker soldering iron immediately cools down upon contact with the board, and prolonged heating will lead to overheating of the LED more quickly than a short-term touch with a powerful soldering iron. The distance between the LEDs was approximately 8 cm. This is enough to place 12 LEDs on profile pipe 1 m long, and the structure will heat up slightly.

The LEDs were connected in series. For installation I used insulated wire with a cross section of 0.25 mm. The second solid wire can be passed inside the pipe. The operating voltage in the lamps is up to 48 V at a current of 700 mA.

Feeding lighting for seedlings

The LEDs are powered through a special unit. Unlike conventional LED strips, where the power is supplied by a stabilized voltage, in our case the current is stabilized - and for these LEDs it is 700 mA. Moreover, the voltage can vary over a fairly wide range. The fact is that the supply voltage for LEDs is different. So, for red ones the operating voltage is 2.2-2.6 V, and for blue ones - 3.4-3.6 V. Thus, when selecting a line of LEDs, you need to count their total voltage (since the connection is serial), and the current will be constant. With a line of 12 LEDs, we have 8 red and 4 blue. We get: 8 * 2.6 + 4×3.6 = 20.8+ 14.4 = 35.2 (V).

When choosing a power supply, you need to take this total voltage of the luminaire into account. I bought power supplies ready for different voltage ranges.

As the plants grow, the lighting should be raised. A very small distance between LEDs and leaves can cause plant burns.

To make it easier to lift the lamp, I made adjustable stands that rise along the pin when the homemade lamb is rotated. To automate turning the backlight on and off, I installed a programmable timer.

LED backlighting has one big drawback - it emits a bright crimson light. Staying in the same room for a long time with such lighting is unpleasant, and it must be covered. My seedlings are located in the basement, so the lamps do not create such problems, but when watering, I have to turn off the lighting.

Lighting seedlings: results and conclusions

The first thing I encountered with LED lighting is that the seeds germinate quickly and then seem to not grow. On the windowsill, the plants have already stretched 5-7 centimeters, and under the lamps - by 2-3 cm. But this turned out to be not scary, since the seedlings under the LEDs have a powerful root system, so when planted in the ground, they very quickly overtake the lanky seedlings from the windowsill .

A plant that grew under LEDs cannot be taken out to the windowsill before planting in the ground. Otherwise, due to the lack of light, it immediately stretches out and even more than if it were constantly growing on the window.

Effect of LED backlight I think it's very good. In the spring, I don’t have to occupy the window sills with glasses of seedlings, since the entire “plantation” is collected in the basement on comfortable tables, and the light from the backlight does not interfere with life.

Also now there is no smell of damp earth in the rooms. Many of my friends have conducted their own experiments with LEDs and now grow seedlings only using this technology!

Do-it-yourself lighting for seedlings at home: work progress

1. For my first experiments with lighting, I used a fluorescent lamp with a power of 36 W and a luminous flux of 3,350 lm, which is on average higher than that of an incandescent lamp of 200 W. This type of lamp is considered the brightest of its kind.

2-3. For self-installation LEDs will require aluminum skewer boards, thermal conductive grease KPT and solder paste.

4. The boards were attached to the profile pipe of the radiator using rivets. The gap between the board and the pipe was coated with thermally conductive grease.

5. Assembled “garlands” of LEDs. The top one used a 90 cm solid board. The middle one consists of boards for 3 LEDs. The bottom one is made up of separate boards.

6. Power supply for LED backlight.

7. Ready installation for two lamps.

8. The height of the lamps is adjusted by turning the wooden knob.

9. Backlight in action. The shadow of the central glass with plants shows the approximate radius of illumination by one LED. Blue LEDs are brighter, so the circle is more noticeable.

10. My main “plantation” of seedlings is 8 in the basement immediately after germination. The dimensions of the nursery are 0.7 x 3 m. The LED backlight emits a very bright crimson light, which is unpleasant to the eyes. When watering, the backlight has to be turned off.

11. Judging by the leaves and shape of the plants, it seems that the species are different. But these are plants of the same variety, grown on a southern windowsill without lighting (left) and in a dark basement under LED lighting (right).

Rice. 1. Graph of light energy absorption by chlorophyll depending on wavelength.

Artificial lighting and backlightingand do-it-yourself seedlings - photo

Lighting for seedlings how and what to choose
Energy saving
Luminescent
Phytolamps
Light reflectors
Lighting for seedlings lamps and lamps

What kind of lamps for illuminating seedlings?

With each arrival of spring, there comes a time for summer residents and gardeners when the issue of planting seedlings comes to the fore. Of course, there is a simpler option: buy it on the market and no problems. But for Lately distrust of this only increases. Every gardener wants to grow it with his own hands.

Growing your own seedlings is, of course, a noble and pleasant thing. When you watch how, thanks to your efforts, a plant is born. However, it is also troublesome, because it is not easy to sow it and wait until it sprouts and grows. In order for the seedlings to grow well and be healthy, in addition to the care itself, it, of course, plays the most important role. You also need lighting for seedlings at home. From school years, everyone knows that with a lack of light, plants will become frail and die.

Why is there not enough daylight for seedlings, why do they need backlight lamps? The fact is that in spring, everything living on earth comes to life and reaches for the light, especially young sprouts of seedlings. In order for them to grow healthy and green, they need to be exposed to light for at least 16 hours a day. Especially daylight in early spring lacks. The sun rises late and goes to bed early.

How to highlight seedlings at home, on the windowsill

That is why, in order to compensate for this shortcoming, it is required lighting for seedlings Houses. You can buy additional lighting ready-made, or you can make it yourself. There is a huge difference between them. What exactly does it consist of? Purchased supplementary lighting lamps may not always meet the requirements for seedlings. The ones that are being made with my own hands and if a person is also competent in what kind of lighting is needed for his sprouts, he will make just such a lamp.

Lighting for seedlings how and what to choose

What are the requirements for lighting lamps?

1. Red and blue beam lamps are considered the best and most favorable lighting lamps for seedlings.

2. The lamp should illuminate the plant, not heat it.

3. It should not shine annoyingly.

4. The illumination plane must be uniform.

Energy saving

This lamp has two main properties for its use as lights for seedlings First, it is energy saving, this fact plays a big role in saving money. Second, it is powerful, its light can compensate for the lack of daylight. It is similar in properties to him. The light from this lamp does not burn plants like incandescent lamps.

Luminescent

Tubular lamps with such lamps are also not a bad option. Lighting for seedlings with the help of these lamps it is possible to place them at a low height above the seedlings. They do not heat, but provide light, which is what they need for normal growth. In addition, the sizes of such lamps are compact and can easily be mounted on apartment window sills and have different lighting colors.

Phyto lamps

This type of lamp is perfect for illumination of seedlings Houses. Its luminescence spectrum is calculated correctly, it illuminates a large area and does not harm the plants. The quality of this lighting is very similar to daylight. Therefore, the sprouts feel quite comfortable. It is with this lamp that the process of photosynthesis is accelerated, which accelerates the growth of future seedlings.

Phyto lamps are manufactured in four varieties:

tubular fluorescent;

incandescent mirror lamps;

metal halide;

The cost of these lamps also varies; to supplement the illumination of seedlings, be guided by approximately the following selection criteria:

lamp dimensions;

power;

specifications;

ease of use.

Don’t forget that light for seedlings is far from the last priority, so try to choose the right light and figure out which lamps to choose lights for seedlings Houses. You take care of her now, she will reward you with a bountiful harvest.

What you need to know about lighting for seedlings

People who grow seedlings at home will be able to answer this question themselves. And many beginning gardeners or summer residents do not quite understand why this is needed at all. They are sure that daylight is enough for them and do not use backlighting at all. This is the most common error in their judgment.

Let's take a closer look at the nuances of supplementary lighting for plants and try to understand how important it is. As mentioned in this article above. Plants need light for 14x16 hours. This time is not enough in early spring; it gets light late, gets dark early. So the plants cannot be in daylight for the specified amount of time. To compensate for it, professionals use lighting for seedlings energy saving lamps.

It is especially necessary to provide lighting to seedlings with LED lamps in the morning and evening hours. The second question that interests many. Why illuminate the sprouts during the daytime if it is light outside? The answer is simple: those people who have houseplants, you probably noticed that flowers that stand on the south side of a house or apartment grow slower than on the north side for comparison, almost five times.

Another. Everyone, and this was undoubtedly seen, standing on the windowsill, indoor flower bends, reaches towards the light towards the glass, you turn it over, but it still reaches out. Now imagine not just one sprout growing in a box on the windowsill, but several dozen. And everyone reaches out to the window. The first ones, which are closer, they get a lot of light. And what about the last rows?

Even if you start to twist the container, the middle ones still suffer. With additional lighting from lamps and lamps, each plant receives its own portion of light without disturbing the others.

Light reflectors

In addition to lamps, you can increase the amount of lighting for sprouts using light reflectors. The simplest material that can be used as a reflector is the most common Whatman paper; by installing it, you yourself will see changes in the growth of your seedlings. Whatman paper needs to be installed behind the plants themselves. Although in principle the best reflectors will be with mirror surfaces, for example, foil or something like that.

Lighting for seedlings lamps and lamps

The method of adding lighting for seedlings described above is good for those who grow them on a windowsill. But if there are too many seedlings or it is not possible to keep them on the windowsill, then you need to think about additional lighting using a lamp or lamp to supplement the seedlings.

Illuminating the sprouts with a regular incandescent lamp is strictly prohibited. Not only will it not provide the correct lighting, it will also heat up and give off heat. Therefore, you will simply burn the seedlings using such a lamp.

Use only special lamps for illumination of seedlings and choose the right type of lamp based on the characteristics that were described above in this article. I wish you good seedlings and a fruitful harvest

Smile



Illumination of seedlings is one of the most important issues that both novice gardeners and gardeners, as well as experienced business executives, puzzle over every year. Additional light largely determines the success of the development of healthy and strong plants.

The advantages of additional lighting are:

  • extending daylight hours, which is especially important when growing seedlings early;
  • additional light provides comprehensive illumination of plants, thereby preventing plants from stretching and becoming deformed;
  • Providing plants with the necessary spectrum guarantees their gradual development to adult crops.

Practice confirms the need and importance of supplementary lighting of seedlings of all crops. The better way to highlight seedlings is a more complex and multifaceted question.


Plants that are regularly illuminated grow hardier, stronger, stronger and more resistant to pathogens of various infections, and the yield per plant also increases.

The peculiarity of the backlight is the maximum proximity of lighting to the natural spectrum sunlight.

The most important spectra in the beam are red light, responsible for plant growth and development, and blue light, which ensures proper cell development. Taking this into account, it is recommended to select light elements in these two spectra.

In this graph we see that in the red spectrum photomorphogenesis (fruit formation) is maximum! It’s also worth taking this into account when designing lamps for seedlings! Pay more attention to the red spectrum!

Basic methods of illuminating seedlings at home

Among the currently presented options for organizing lighting, the following methods are distinguished:


  • lighting for seedlings on the windowsill without lamps;
  • additional lighting for seedlings various types lamps

Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, which largely determine the scope of application of a particular lighting option.

Illumination without lamps

To organize lighting on the windowsill, they are often used simple design from a cardboard box. The top and side of the box are removed, leaving small sides. This entire structure is covered with foil and installed behind the plants. Sunlight, entering through the window, falls on the foil and is reflected on the plants, providing comprehensive illumination of the crop.

This method is accessible and economical, but at the same time quite effective. However, a significant drawback does not allow the use of this technique for large plantings– in cloudy weather or on the north side of the house there is not enough light and the foil will not be able to compensate for the darkening. In such cases, it is impossible to do without lamps.

Lamps

Making lighting for seedlings with your own hands is not difficult. For this it is enough:

  • organize space - free up, arrange tables in the room, build shelving;
  • provide mounts for lamps - various hooks, homemade “ears”;
  • stretch the wire from the stationary electrical network or generator set.

The most important process in arranging lighting is the selection of suitable lamps. Gardeners use in their experiments:

  • Sodium lamps high pressure . Provide stable warm light, which has a beneficial effect on seedlings, but the lamps require additional equipment (power regulators), and also have an excessively high price, which is incommensurate with the yield of the average gardener.
  • Phytolamps. An excellent solution for lighting - the violet-pink spectrum of lamps is ideal for plants, but very harmful for humans, so it is recommended that such lamps be equipped with a special reflector.
  • Sodium metal halide elements. Also quite affordable and effective method additional lighting of the premises, but still there is very little blue color in the spectrum, and therefore the plants have difficulty developing and hatching.
  • Fluorescent lamps. These fluorescent lamps are good in many ways, but their light is still too cold and therefore poor in the red spectrum.
  • Classic incandescent lamps. They are one of the most useless for additional lighting. Light bulbs are more suitable for heating a room rather than illuminating it.
  • LED lights. These types of lamps are among the most promising, affordable and have whole line features that are worth discussing separately.

Advantages of LED lighting for seedlings

Illuminating seedlings with LED lamps gives the gardener and plants a number of undeniable advantages that are worth mentioning:

  • when creating a lamp, you can combine the two most important spectra - blue and red - and create an ideal lamp for seedlings;
  • LEDs are quite affordable, and their low cost quickly pays off;
  • LED lamps consume minimal amount electricity, but produce a sufficient amount of light - up to 6000 lux required for normal plant development;
  • ease of installation and ease of operation have won the love of millions of gardeners.

LEDs are modern materials, which are actively used in everyday life and in production. It is quite effective to use LED lamps on racks for seedlings - they illuminate the area well and do not heat up the air.

To make an LED lamp you do not need to have special skills or special knowledge.

To create an LED strip light you will need:

  • red and blue LEDs;
  • thermal paste, it can be replaced with hot glue, but it is more expensive;
  • base - a piece of aluminum, a profile from furniture, any available material up to an old ruler;
  • driver or power supply - it ensures current stability and the required voltage;
  • cord and plug.

They are connected to each other by soldering and output to the driver, which is respectively connected to the switch and plug. The tape is attached using bolts, double tape or rivets to the prepared surface. After this, it is assembled into a single circuit with a driver, cord, switch and plug.

Seedling rack with lighting

Building a rack will not take you much time, but it will allow you to significantly save on space for seedlings by placing containers with soil and seedlings in several tiers.

The design is extremely simple - shelves with hollow compartments for drawers. The length and width of the rack directly depends on the size of the seedling boxes. It is recommended to install no more than 3 rows in height. Each row is illuminated by its own lamp, attached to the bottom of the upper seedling box.

What better with lamps Each gardener decides for himself to highlight the seedlings. Some people prefer fluorescent lamps, while others consider LED bulbs to be the best. Conduct experiments and watch your pets, find a comfortable way for yourself to grow seedlings. After all, gardening is, first and foremost, fun!

Video: advantages of LED lamps for seedlings

In this video experienced gardener Valery Medvedev conducts an experiment with seedlings and proves that LED lamps for seedlings are the best choice!

Video: DIY assembly of a simple LED lamp


Seedlings of any plants require additional lighting. Lamps that emit ultraviolet light help out. They come in induction, halogen, sodium, and LED. In shape they are pipes, ribbons, spotlights. Read how to choose the right backlight.

Rules for choosing a lamp with ultraviolet radiation

Natural sunlight is important for plant growth and development. Without it, future seedlings become pale, lethargic, susceptible to illnesses and pests. To get a strong healthy seedlings, you need to make up for the lighting deficit in time by choosing the appropriate lamp. Their range is large, and before buying a suitable device, it is worth considering:

  • needs of young shoots;
  • ergonomics of the lamp at home;
  • savings opportunity and energy efficiency.

Supplemental lighting is very important for seedlings and young plants

It is impossible to completely replace the sun with artificial lighting. The gardener’s task in this case is to select a color spectrum as close as possible to natural radiation. In nature, the following sequence of colors is distinguished:

  • infrared, invisible to humans - has bactericidal properties, promotes the development of lush green mass;
  • red – optimizes chlorophyll production, stimulates germination, flowering, foliage development;
  • orange – accelerates the process of fruit ripening;
  • yellow and green - important as components of lighting, reflected from foliage;
  • blue and dark blue - affect photosynthesis, root development, thanks to them the shoots do not stretch;
  • ultraviolet, invisible to the human eye, helps fight diseases and promotes the development of the above-ground part of seedlings.

Each of visible to humans flowers correspond to their own temperature, which increases in ascending order. The minimum is for red, 1500 K, the maximum is for violet, 8000 K. For good development of seedlings, you need light with a temperature of 1500 and 6000-7000 K. Red and blue-blue correspond to these indicators. In the first few weeks, more blue is needed for reliable rooting of sprouts; after transplanting, an equal amount of both colors is required.

Attention! It is definitely not recommended to use traditional incandescent lamps for seedlings - those that are most often used for home lighting. 95% of the energy in them is transformed into heat, which can lead to overheating of the sprouts, their clarification, and also the occurrence of burns.

Characteristics of halogen, fluorescent and induction lamps

It is believed that halogen lamps are not the best option for illuminating seedlings. They are brighter than incandescent lamps, but they heat up less. Over time, their level of dedication decreases. At the same time, the use of halogen lamps is justified in cases where it is necessary to add red color - its temperature here is 3000 K, i.e. twice as much as usual.

Fluorescent lamps are more suitable for lighting seedlings. They are economical because they consume little electricity, do not heat the air and provide a lot of light. However, their spectrum contains virtually no red light. Therefore, their use is especially undesirable when germinating tomatoes, cucumbers and citrus fruits.

Fluorescent lamps

At the same time, fluorescent light sources contain a lot of blue and violet rays, which are useful for the development of roots. Another advantage is that you can choose a light bulb with any spectrum: warm, cold or daylight. Each of them has its own characteristics:

  1. Warm – good during the flowering period.
  2. Cold – necessary during the vegetative growth phase.
  3. Daytime - used at any time, sometimes throughout the entire seedling growing cycle.

Advice. To illuminate seedlings, there are special phytoluminescent lamps, which differ long term service and efficiency. However, they emit an unnatural lilac-pink color, so using them in a living room - for example, on a windowsill - is undesirable.

Induction lamps also consume little energy, allowing you to save on electricity. At the same time, they have a fairly high light output. The most advanced are bispectral lamps that emit both red and Blue colour A. These lamps do not flicker and distribute light evenly.

Pros and cons of sodium lamps for seedlings

Very often, such lighting devices are used in greenhouses. They emit red-orange light, which has a beneficial effect on mature plants in the flowering and fruiting stages. Sodium lamps do not irritate the eyes, so they can be used at home. But for this you should choose a lamp with a power of up to 100 W.

Sodium lamp

Additional benefits of sodium lamps:

  • economical energy consumption;
  • effective use both in greenhouses and in small areas with seedlings;
  • long service life.

Disadvantages include:

  • relative bulkiness;
  • absence of blue color in the spectrum;
  • complex connection;
  • the need for additional use of a control device.

Advice. You can increase the energy efficiency of a sodium lamp by using a capacitor when connecting.

Description of LED lamps for plants

Today this type of lighting is perhaps the most common. To the human eye, such radiation appears gloomy, but for plants its red-blue spectrum is optimal. LED LED lamps They are more expensive than others, but they have a number of advantages:

  1. Economical.
  2. Durability. Service life – up to 50 thousand hours.
  3. Easy to repair - an LED that has become unusable can be replaced.
  4. Quick turn on and flicker-free light.
  5. Low heat – plants do not get burned.
  6. Possibility of installing LEDs of different spectrum and power. This allows you to select the radiation required by seedlings in a specific period as correctly as possible. For example, if you need to add blue or red.
  7. Small dimensions.

LED lamp

Give preference specific model It is worth taking into account where the lighting will be located, for the seedlings of which crops and at what distance from the tops of the sprouts. Depending on the type of racks and the number of seedlings, you can choose a lamp of any shape. In stores you will find the following varieties:

  • Pipe. Often used on a windowsill or in long narrow rows.
  • Tablet (another name is phytopanel). Looks like a big square. Used by professional agronomists to illuminate seedlings on wide shelves.
  • Single lamp. Most suitable option for additional lighting of a small number of sprouts at home.
  • Spotlight. Cover a wider area compared to single lamps. At the same time, they work effectively at a great distance from the seedlings.
  • Ribbon. It can be assembled in any order. Typically used for self-made DIY lighting.

Phytopanel

  1. The hotter the lamp gets, the higher it should be placed above the containers with seedlings. You can find out the temperature of the operating device from the description of its technical characteristics.
  2. At different stages of development, plants need different lighting. For example, immediately after sowing, future seedlings need to be illuminated around the clock. During this period, the blue-blue spectrum is useful. Next you need to add red.
  3. Don't forget about individual approach for each crop - take into account the shade tolerance of the plants. The average length of daylight hours for vegetable sprouts is 12-13 hours. At the same time, tomatoes require 14-16 hours, cucumbers - 13-15 hours, white cabbage– 16 hours, peppers – 9-10 hours.
  4. Reflectors and light screens, as well as reflectors, help to illuminate effectively and at the same time save energy. You can make them yourself. The easiest way is to put a kind of shield on the windowsill white– for example, from matte cardboard. You can cover it with foil - everyone probably knows its reflective ability.

Monitor the behavior of plants in order to adjust the position of the lamp in time

Also pay attention to how the sprouts develop under the influence of additional artificial lighting, and make adjustments in time:

  • the appearance of burns on the leaves is a sign of a low-lying phytolamp. Hang it higher;
  • pale leaves, overly elongated stems are signals of a diametrically opposite problem: the lamp hangs too high/far. Lower it to allow the seedlings to gain strength;
  • the stems are pulled to the side, become crooked, deformed - they overdid it with side lighting. Place the light source at the top.

Regardless of which lamp you decide to choose, it is important to use it correctly. Only in this case will it be possible to improve the quality of seedlings and reduce the number of weak plants.

How to choose a lamp for plants: video

Lamp for additional illumination of plants: photo


The fundamental difference between illuminating adult plants and young seedlings is that the light is captured not only by chlorophyll, which supports photosynthesis, but also by other pigments, such as phytochrome and cryptochrome, which affect cell division and elongation, as well as their specialization. Therefore, for developing seedlings, the quality and regularity of lighting is much more important than for adult plants.

And now more about the quality of light.

Light from most sources is characterized by the so-called spectral composition, that is, the proportion of light of each color of the rainbow. So, each type of light affects plants in its own way. For example, red light stimulates seed germination processes, and far (or distant) red light suppresses them.

Red light also promotes seedling development: in its absence, the seedling is in an etiolated state, in which it has a pale appearance and a hooked shape. As soon as (10 minutes is enough) red light begins to fall on it, the growth rate of the stem decreases, the hook straightens, chlorophyll synthesis begins, so the cotyledons begin to turn green.

Orange, yellow and green lights do not affect these pigments.

But the blue color, due to inhibition of cell elongation, restrains the growth of the stem, especially its subcotyledon part, and therefore reduces the “stretching” of seedlings. At the same time, it stimulates cell division, allowing the stem to thicken. In addition, blue light causes phototropism reactions, better known as seedling bending: on the side of the blue light source, cell growth is inhibited, so the stem bends towards the blue light source.

Absorption spectrum of chlorophyll (horizontal - wavelength in nm).

The difference between luminous flux or (“luminous power”) and illuminance.

Lumens and luxes are often confused. These quantities are units of measurement of luminous flux and illumination that need to be distinguished.

The electrical power of a lamp is measured in watts, and the luminous flux (“luminous power”) is measured in lumens (Lm). The more lumens, the more light the lamp produces.

Luminous flux characterizes the light source, and illuminance characterizes the surface on which the light falls.

Illumination is measured in lux (Lx). A light source with a luminous flux of 1 Lm, uniformly illuminating a surface of 1 square meter, creates an illumination of 1 Lux on it.

Dependence of illumination on the distance between the source and the illuminated surface.

Illumination on a surface is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the lamp to the surface. If you move a lamp hanging above the plants at a height of half a meter to a height of one meter from the plants, thus doubling the distance between them, then the illumination of the plants will decrease by four times. This is something to keep in mind when you are designing a plant lighting system.

If the illumination at a distance of 1 m from a light source is 1000 lux, then at a distance of 2 m it is already 250 lux, see table

The illumination on a surface depends on the angle at which this surface is illuminated. For example: the sun on a summer afternoon, being high in the sky, creates illumination on the surface of the earth several times greater than the sun hanging low above the horizon on a winter day. If you use a floodlight type lamp to illuminate plants, try to ensure that the light is directed perpendicular to the plants.

Required illumination for seedlings and calculation of the light power of lamps.

The required illumination for most plants that we grow in seedlings should be above 8000lux. And where to get these luxes and how to calculate them on the packaging of the lamps in the store they don’t write. Moreover, most advisers who talk about the advantages of this or that lamp do not write about this. So it turns out that the lamp seems to be “correct”, but the plants feel bad. They stretch out, outgrow...

This happens especially often when a novice gardener, having read about the advantages of special “phytolamps,” decides to give his seedlings a holiday and installs 1 lamp over five rows of cups with seedlings! This can be compared to trying to feed one sandwich with caviar to all invited guests... After all, for plants, light is life! And good light means a luxurious life!

We now know that lux describes how “light” the plants are, and lumens characterize the lamps you use to illuminate those plants. And it is the number of lumens that is indicated on the lamp labeling.

Let's calculate how many lumens are needed for plants to receive illumination of 8000 lux or higher on YOUR windowsill or seedling table.

1. First, we calculate the area that the seedlings will occupy: For example, this is a table 1.5 m long and 1 m wide S = 1.5 * 1 = 1.5 m2

2. Now let’s determine the luminous flux in lumens that we need to create. To do this, we multiply the illumination we need by the area of ​​the illuminated surface:
8000lx*1.5m2=12000lm is the minimum we need to illuminate our table.

3. Let's take into account the losses, when suspended at a height of about 30 cm they are about 30%, which means the luminous flux should be approximately 1.5 times greater than 12000 * 1.5 = 18000 lm.

So, we have calculated the minimum luminous flux that should be created by lamps designed to illuminate seedlings placed on a table 1.5 m long and 1 m wide.

What area can each lamp illuminate?

For approximate orientation, which lamp and for what area is best to use, you can see the table below. The table is given for HPS lamps.

Illuminated area depending on power.

150 60 cm x 60 cm

250 90 cm x 90 cm

400 1.2 m x 1.2 m

600 2 m x 2 m

1000 2.5 m x 2.5 m

How and what lamps or lamps should be chosen to illuminate seedlings.

When choosing lamps, you should, first of all, pay attention to the power of the luminous flux, the color spectrum of radiation that they create, and the coefficient useful action(efficiency) of the optical system, as well as the stability of light characteristics throughout the entire period of operation. It is better, of course, to buy mirror lamps with an efficiency of 95% or more. Since the light reflector in them is located inside the lamp, it is not susceptible to exposure to steam, water, salts, and does not become cloudy over time. So, the optical effect of a lamp with a mirror lamp remains practically unchanged throughout its entire service life.

Let's try to take fluorescent lamps as an example and look at the markings:

Power, W: 36

Chuck: G13

Service life: 20000

Purpose: The lamps have excellent luminous flux characteristics and greater environmental safety

Color: Cool White

Color Rendering Index (Ra) : 89

Lamp luminous flux (Lm): 3350 These are the lumens we need!

Lamp length, mm: 1200

That. to illuminate a table with an area of ​​1.5 m2 when hanging the lighting system at a height of 30 cm from the plants we will need as many as 6 lamps(18000lm:3350=5.37 but rounded to 6x).

Now we take a high-pressure mirror lamp DNaZ/Reflux 250

Power, W: 250

Lamp luminous flux (Lm) : 26000

As we can see from the characteristics, the luminous flux of one lamp will be enough for us to provide the necessary illumination for our table with seedlings.

Power, W: 70

Lamp luminous flux (Lm) : 5600

Requires 3 lamps.

Advantage of lamps DNaZ/Reflux is present, however, one must take into account their high cost, for example a ready-made lamp for seedlings 250 W with DNAZ and electronic ballasts costs about 4600-5000 rubles.

Many fluorescent lamp manufacturers offer lamps with a spectrum optimized for plants. It makes sense to purchase such a lamp if you need to replace an old lamp: with the same power, a special lamp provides more “useful” light for plants. But if you install new system to illuminate plants, then do not chase these specialized lamps, which are much more expensive than ordinary ones. Install a more powerful lamp with a high color rendering index (lamp marking - /9...). Its spectrum will contain all the necessary components, and it will provide much more light than a special lamp.

Comparative light output of different types of lamps.

The light emission of such a lamp is extremely low - approximately 17 lumens/watt

A halogen lamp is fundamentally different from the lamp described above, it has a different shape and inside its bulb there is a halogen (usually iodine) in the form of a gas. As a result of the operation of the lamp and iodine gas in the flask, everything that escaped from the spiral tungsten filament comes back. Due to this, the life of the lamp increases, and its light output also increases ( about 25 lumens/watt) and color temperature.

The color temperature of this lamp is within 4300 degrees Kelvin, while the halogen lamp has - 2800 degrees Kelvin. The sun has a light temperature of 6000 degrees Kelvin. Color temperature is a unit of brightness. Therefore, the higher this value is, the closer the spectrum of the lamp will be to natural sunlight. Now it becomes clear why xenon lamps have a blue tint, while halogen lamps have a yellow tint.
Luminous output up to 100 lumens per watt (average 70)


The luminous efficiency of such lamps depends on its type and is 70-100 lumens/watt.

Special - Linear lamps

With tube diameters of 16mm, 26mm and sockets G5 and G13, respectively, these lamps have specific parameters and characteristics and are most often used for aquariums and pets. They are also very often used to illuminate plants that are deprived or deprived of natural light. Such lamps have high level radiation in both the blue and red parts of the spectrum, which contributes to a good photosynthesis process. Due to this, plant growth is accelerated. Luminous output 47-93 lumens per watt (average 60)

This type of lamp is very popular among people who grow plants, since the light they emit almost completely meets the needs of the plant, since these lamps emit a sufficient amount of the red part of the spectrum. I think that almost everyone knows that the plant has several pigments that perceive the blue and red parts of the spectrum. For the significance of these parts of the spectrum, it is worth remembering that, for example, the red part of the spectrum promotes the growth of the root system, flowering and ripening of the crop. So, in turn, plant pigments that are susceptible to the blue part of the spectrum are responsible for the growth of leaves and the plant as a whole. Therefore, plants that did not receive additional required quantities of the required spectrum grow elongated and with a weak root system. Luminous output up to 200 lumens per watt(average 100)

HPS (high pressure sodium arc lamp) is the same HPS that, for convenience and greater productivity added a mirror finish.

A special feature of this lamp is the reflective layer that is applied inside the bulb. The bulb and mirror layer are made in such a way that during operation the reflected light does not hit the gas-discharge tube, thereby increasing the service life of the lamp. Thanks to this reflective layer, a high reflection efficiency is also achieved, which is about 95%.

These lamps are very similar in design to mercury lamps. Inside the flask, in addition to mercury, there are added metal iodides. Therefore, these lamps are rightfully considered the most efficient, this moment, light sources. These lamps have an increased light transmission coefficient; even mercury lamps are inferior to them. Be careful not to confuse these lamps with halogen lamps, which are not discharge lamps. Luminous output up to 100 lumens per watt (average 75)

This method of lighting plants is now gaining popularity because... The efficiency ratio is high and the power consumption is low. These indicators of an LED lamp are many times higher than those of other lamps, such as HPS and fluorescent lamps.

An LED light bulb at an inexpensive price and with good performance can be

Conclusion

Based on the main indicators - color spectrum, efficiency and price per unit of illuminated area, you can make a choice in favor of LED lamps.

Useful additions when organizing illumination of seedlings near the window.

Regardless of the lighting you choose, try to place the seedlings near a south-facing window; you can save money by using the sun and get better results.

Add additional reflective screens to the back and sides of the seedlings.

Follow the supplementary lighting schedule; changing the time either up or down can have a negative impact on the seedlings.

Remember that nothing can replace sunshine on sunny days.

.

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122 comments to the entry: “Illumination of seedlings. All about lighting, the influence of light and the choice of lamps and lamps”

  1. Alexander:
    November 13th, 2012 at 9:10 pm

    Thank you for the Article: concise, scientific, intelligible. The only thing that upset me was the price information. A little expensive for a retired hobbyist.

  2. Sashka:
    March 3rd, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    The price indicated on Dnaz is not correct, I took Dnaz from the EPR a year ago, it turned out to be 2500 rubles.

  3. Valery Medvedev:
    March 4th, 2013 at 9:38 am

    Tell me where you got the Dnaz lamp at this price, I found the cheapest one for 3.5 thousand rubles. not including delivery.

  4. Svetisad:
    March 17th, 2013 at 11:40 pm

    Great article! Everything is very clear and detailed. Here are the phytolamps and phyto-lamps for supplementary illumination of seedlings, which are discussed in the article: svetisad.ru/svetisad.ru/folder/2976806

  5. SVictor:
    January 20th, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    It is extremely DANGEROUS to use a high-pressure mirror lamp DNaZ/Reflux - it heats up to 300-400 degrees, and explodes from any drop of water.

    Budget lamp forumhouse.ru/entries/4843/

    Continuation of forumhouse.ru/entries/4924/

    Price: white tape 5630 reel 5m (20W/m) - 1200 rubles;

    driver (power supply) 12V 100W — 1100 rub.

  6. allisa:
    February 23rd, 2014 at 4:47 pm

    Valery, thank you. The information is very useful, but due to the female mindset, I can’t calculate my coverage. I have a rack on my window, 3 shelves: size 1.2m x 35cm, shelf height (bottom to top) 40cm, 45cm, 55cm, each with 2 fluorescent lamps of 28W. Not enough? And one more question: the light is on from 10 am to 8 pm, and in any weather (cloudy or sunny), I do not have the opportunity to change the interval, guided by the weather outside the window, because... I already leave for work at 7 am. Tell me if this lighting mode benefits my plants.

  7. Valery Medvedev:
    February 23rd, 2014 at 10:52 pm

    Alice, you can increase the daylight hours, if you leave at 7 am, then turn it on at 7 o’clock, and you can turn it off at 20:00. And there should be enough lamps, but still, fluorescent ones are also better suited, but only phyto with a reddish spectrum .

  8. allisa:
    February 24th, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    Thanks, I'll look for those...

  9. Julia:
    February 27th, 2014 at 12:43 pm

    Is it possible to use an energy-saving cold-glow lamp (more powerful), but shine it through red-blue glass? Or is this already a perversion?

  10. Valery Medvedev:
    February 27th, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    You are right, there is no need for perversions, the Chinese have excellent LED lamps for $23, which is 830 rubles, I have already checked, the result on tomato seedlings is better than any praise, within 35 days from the moment of sowing it began to form buds, which means it is ready for planting. I plant in a greenhouse on May 5-15, which means I will sow in early April, I save exactly a month of time and the seedlings are super, I will soon post photos, etc.

  11. SVictor:
    February 28th, 2014 at 11:02 am

    Julia. As a technician, I can explain. Colored glass allows certain colors to pass through and retains others. Plants from all over the world will, in any case, take the color that they need and as much as they need, but the plants are indifferent to the rest of the color and excess lighting. The main thing is not to overheat with infrared and not to burn with ultraviolet. The red color promotes the growth of tops, and from blue plant they will be stockier. The ratio for tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings is blue:red = 4:1. So fluorescent lamps or LED strips need COLD WHITES

  12. SVictor:
    February 28th, 2014 at 11:14 am

    Don’t spend money on fluorescent phytolamps from China - the price is high, but there is little benefit. European prices are exorbitant. But the Chinese lie and save a lot: the power is 2-3 times lower than what is written on the lamp, the service life is no more than 6 months, and then they dim by another 2-3. Especially with the ECO badge. For the Chinese, this means super savings - there is very little luminescence, the filament is not tungsten, no mercury is added to the flask, etc.

  13. Yuri:
    March 11th, 2014 at 5:27 am

    I hung a DRL on the seedlings, large as a man’s head, Soviet-era, made in Poland, power 400 W. Previously used in lamp posts and street lighting. Even though it was hanging at a distance of 1 meter, the seedlings received an ultraviolet burn.

  14. Valery Medvedev:
    March 11th, 2014 at 11:06 am

    Such lamps must be hung at a height of at least 3 meters and a heat sink must be installed, otherwise you will create a fire hazard at home.

  15. Stepan:
    March 17th, 2014 at 10:20 pm

    Valery, at what distance should you hang DNAT-250 in a mirror lamp? A lamp at a distance of 30 cm - tomato seedlings fall, some wither, others die from the black leg.

  16. Valery Medvedev:
    March 18th, 2014 at 8:51 am

    DNAT-250 is suspended at a height of at least 2 meters from plants; they are dangerous for seedlings at home. It is better to use LED lamps or lamps

  17. Stepan:
    March 19th, 2014 at 11:00 pm

    Valery, tell me at what height should the DNAT-250 lamp be hung? When suspended at 60 cm, a pronounced yellow spot with a diameter of about 20 cm remains under the lamp. Will there be enough illumination if raised higher?

  18. Stepan:
    March 19th, 2014 at 11:10 pm

    What is the danger to seedlings? What is the best way to use this lamp for illumination? you have to make do with what is available.

  19. Valery Medvedev:
    March 20th, 2014 at 5:07 am

    Stepan, DNAT-250 must be hung even higher, otherwise you will get burns on the seedlings, but there is enough light, it’s worth looking at its characteristics Lamp luminous flux (Lm): 26000, this is more than enough for 1 sq. m.

  20. Christina:
    March 21st, 2014 at 6:15 pm

    Valery, hello! can you give a link where you ordered the lamps...I find some expensive ones, for 3.5 thousand rubles. I can't get it (((

  21. Valery Medvedev:
    March 22nd, 2014 at 6:55 am
  22. Christina:
    April 2nd, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    Thank you, Valery! You are my savior, there’s no way my tomatoes will be able to bud without lighting by May))) I urgently need to buy a lamp.

  23. Julia:
    April 3rd, 2014 at 1:49 pm

    Valery, hello. How many lamps should I buy for a window sill 1m 20cm long?

  24. Valery Medvedev:
    April 3rd, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    3 lamps is enough

  25. Julia:
    April 3rd, 2014 at 6:52 pm
  26. Vyacheslav:
    April 23rd, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    I bought a 70 eur 50W LED lamp from China (it says it is designed for 12 m2). Made a table out of OSB sheet 2500*1250 (3.125 m2) placed by the window. When the lamp is on during the day and it’s cloudy or sunny outside - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, in short, all the greenery leans towards the window. They react to the lamp when the sun goes down. I mean, any lamp is worse than the sun.

    Tomatoes, whether with or without a lamp, are dull green and elongated (I can assume that due to the temperature of 20 degrees) they darken when I take them out into the greenhouse.

    Peppers, especially if you lower the lamp 60 cm above the peppers, the purple-green ones become stronger and the root permeates the entire glass (without a lamp I have not observed this for such a period), but because there is only one lamp for the entire area of ​​3 m2 hanging about 1.2 m from the table surface so that it captures all the seedlings.

    All kinds of orchids feel very good under this radiation. Even during the winter, withered ones come to life and straighten their leaves.

    I can’t stay in this world for a long time - my head starts to hurt and I feel nauseous. I had to build curtains from foil film.

    My conclusions are as follows - for the peppers perfect solution, for the rest of the seedlings I did not find much difference.

    Maybe the intensity is low or other factors, but I got these results.

  27. Valery Medvedev:
    April 25th, 2014 at 7:46 am

    A Chinese 50 W lamp cannot adequately illuminate such an area and it must be hung no higher than 50 cm from the plants, then the tomatoes will stop leaning towards the window and will become dark green.

  28. Ma Sha:
    December 24th, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    Valery, in many of your videos there are homemade lamps in the background. Everything is clear with the lamps, but how and what is the housing made of? Would it be difficult for you to create a separate video tutorial on making a lamp with LED lamps with your own hands? My husband and I thought of something like this, but we don’t have a machine that bends sheets of metal, and we planned to mount lamps on a long board, but we have little idea how to install socket sockets in drilled holes, whether to put it on heat-insulating glue or in another way, how to combine the wires into one single wire, etc. Do I understand correctly that the starter is already hidden in the lamp body and a wire with a simple plug that is inserted into the socket is enough?

  29. Valery Medvedev:
    December 24th, 2014 at 2:36 pm

    Masha, look at this video of mine, it shows how easy it is to make a lamp using lamps.

  30. Ma Sha:
    December 24th, 2014 at 6:24 pm

    Valery, thank you, I already watched this video and realized that the sockets used were wall sockets (I didn’t think of that initially). Do I understand correctly that in your 10-lamp lamp the sockets are connected by wires in series and thanks to this all the lamps turn on at the same time? I don’t want to pile up a bundle of 10 wires.

  31. Valery Medvedev:
    December 25th, 2014 at 10:13 am

    Masha, the lamps are connected in parallel, but there is no need to fence any bundle, the two-core wire goes in sections from lamp to lamp. You are just slightly confusing the serial and parallel connections, the lamps will turn on at the same time in any case, unless you put a switch in the middle of the circuit, for example, and then you can turn off some of the lamps, this is what I did on the first lamp for energy-saving lamps, now I have replaced them with LEDs

    And the Christmas tree garlands are connected in series.

  32. Victor:
    December 30th, 2014 at 11:39 am

    Hello Valery Sergeevich. I would like to briefly comment on your energy-saving lamps - what kind of lamps they are (how many degrees Kelvin there are) and LED ones: what colors and how many colors (red-blue), and what happened in terms of harvest, I’m also doing the same here what kind of experiments, in terms of quantity and crops, I would like to optimize all this and somehow automate it, so that it would turn on and switch itself, closer to the conditions of nature, in the morning it would be red, but at noon - blue, and in the evening add some red stuff again. Maybe make two parallel branches of LEDs and set two timers? One turned off after working in its mode, and the other turned on in a different mode. I have to think, so I’m collecting information.

  33. Valery Medvedev:
    December 30th, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    Victor, I use ready-made lamps, today only LED ones, and turn on the socket using a timer. For seedlings of any crops, I really like the effect, but for full cycle Of course you have to get closer to the sun, I’m not good at electrical engineering, so homemade solutions I haven't tried it.

  34. Victor:
    January 3rd, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    Valery. I asked for a reason, I also use ready-made ones for now, but these ready-made ones have different LEDs, these are only in diamond: 9-red, one blue, and if you look at the energy saving one, 6400 kelvin, it is close to daylight, and blue light , 450 nanometers, about the same, look here (copy the link and paste it into a search engine), but the point is that, having such an assortment of light bulbs, you can turn them on one by one, in the morning a few red ones, by noon we add blue ones, and by the evening red ones again, these bulbs already have them, albeit in different quantities, which is very important. that’s where my question comes from, how many LEDs are there in your lamps.

  35. Victor:
    January 3rd, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    This year I want to highlight only blue until the first real leaves, and then, if the weather is cloudy, then red-blue 3:2, but when there are sunny days, then maybe I’ll add blue, and choose whether it’s red or just blue, since red goes through the window, naturally with a screen on the side of the room, and if they stretch out, then of course blue, in general, experiments again.

  36. Victor:
    January 4th, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    Good afternoon I'll try to insert my 5 cents. I live in St. Petersburg, where the sun is almost invisible, the sky is almost cloudy all year round, and based on this, I came to the conclusion (for myself) two timer sockets, and two chains of lamps, one red-blue 3:2, the other two lamps of 4 blue and one white (LEDs) or two energy-saving lamps (daylight with a color temperature of 6400 Kelvin, lamps with a light temperature of 2700 K are ineffective), first the chain of red lights turns on from seven in the morning to 11 in the afternoon, and the second chain with blue light turns on at 10 in the morning until 18, and from 18 to 21 red and blue, everything turns off at night. In this spectrum, the seedlings feel good, and other colors, green, yellow, are needed for microorganisms living in the ground, but we are growing seedlings that will move to a more illuminated place. I calculate all this for a box measuring 50x30 cm.

  37. Valery Medvedev:
    January 9th, 2015 at 11:05 am

    Mine have two blue and three red.

  38. Victor:
    January 12th, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    Thank you, Valery Sergeevich, this is important to me. According to my observations, it works out better when at the beginning there are more blue ones, 4 blue, 1 white, or a savings account to help the red-blue ones (6400 Kelvin), but this is in my region, it may come in handy.

  39. Lydia:
    January 13th, 2015 at 9:55 am

    Good afternoon. Valery, please tell me if there are any more detailed characteristics LED lamps, about which you write above, because according to the link provided, these lamps are not available. I tried to search on the Internet, there are a lot of 15W LED lamps and everyone has different characteristics - white light, cold light, maybe there is a specific manufacturer. Mostly I see 5W lamps - will this power not be enough or will several be needed? I have never seen a species like the one in your picture. Will a lamp like the one in the picture fit?

  40. Valery Medvedev:
    January 13th, 2015 at 11:20 am

    Look for LED grow lights, they all mostly consist of red and blue diodes.

  41. Victor:
    January 13th, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    For Lydia. To illuminate plants, lamps with a certain emission spectrum are required, 660 nanometers - red and blue 450 nm, plants simply do not recognize another spectrum, and the power is at the rate of 5o watts per square meter, this means if the lamps are 10 watts, then 5-6 pieces are enough. I have 2 lamps of 10 watts for a box measuring 60cm x 20cm.

  42. Boris:
    January 22nd, 2015 at 9:03 pm

    Good evening, Valery! I bought 2 Fluor lamps to illuminate seedlings on the windowsill, their spectrum is normal, but the luminous flux is not enough. I want to add 2 fluorescent lamps (4000K, 3300Lm each). I think that there is never too much light. What do you think?

  43. Valery Medvedev:
    January 24th, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    You definitely won’t have too much of it; you can overdo it with dnuts.

  44. Sergey:
    January 28th, 2015 at 4:25 am

    Hello, Valery!

    What area with seedlings do you illuminate with your lamp?

    of 10 lamps of 15 watts? At what height above the seedlings? With or without lenses?

    I bought 4 pieces. such lamps to try - what area do you think can be illuminated?

  45. Valery Medvedev:
    January 28th, 2015 at 9:02 am

    My lamp illuminates 0.75 square meters, I illuminate without lenses at a height of 30 cm from the plants, so you can roughly estimate that you will illuminate 0.3 square meters.

  46. Victor:
    February 8th, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Hello Valery! I watched your video, super-determinate tomatoes on the windowsill, under the LED lamps that you wanted to put on New Year's table, my mouth is already watering, but the question is, what variety is it for you??

  47. Valery Medvedev:
    February 8th, 2015 at 9:04 am

    Victor, look at this article, I wrote a variety there.

  48. Victor:
    February 8th, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    thank you Valery.

  49. Maksim:
    March 12th, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    Hello! Please tell me what is the optimal power of an LED lamp for a box 60x15cm (as I understand it, 0.09 m2). Will 15w be enough? Thank you for your answer!

  50. Valery Medvedev:
    March 13th, 2015 at 9:54 am

    Maxim, you will have to hang two of these, since the box is stretched out.

  51. Vladimir:
    March 24th, 2015 at 2:05 pm

    Good day!!! Please tell me about the LED lamps that I ordered from China, 15 watts each. Information: I purchased 4 pieces for 35 green. The lamp has 5 LEDs, 4 red and one blue. I took 4 pieces for one window sill measuring 1.5×0.3. The specification states red 660 nm, blue 460 nm, the question is, is one blue LED enough and at what distance should the light be placed from the plants? Thank you very much and good luck in your work!!!

    P.S. Off-topic question: tell us how you prepare the soil for a greenhouse from the moment you purchase it until the moment you add mulch, etc. How do you determine its parameters to obtain good harvest, what kind of water do you irrigate, for example, in our Moscow region the soil is very acidic and the water for irrigation has a high iron content

  52. Valery Medvedev:
    March 24th, 2015 at 5:35 pm

    I place the lamps 20 cm from the plants; for seedlings, one blue one should be enough. I prepare the soil for the greenhouse in the same way as for warm beds, the parameters are looseness, the presence of humus, I water warm water

  53. Victor:
    March 25th, 2015 at 1:06 am

    I'll intervene on the LEDs: a 15-watt Chinese lamp has half the power, 8 watts, they write 5 pieces of 3-watt ones, let's say, then 3.5v X 0.7a = 2.45w is a blue LED, and a red one , 2.4 x 0.7 = 1.68 (we multiply volts by current and get power) and for an area of ​​1 sq. m you need 50 - 60 watts of LED power, and if more it won’t hurt, and spectrum: as soon as the first loops appear , immediately remove the LED backlight and two to three days without a break, then connect red light (660 nm) at a ratio of 1:1, 3 red and 2 blue, from 12 to 14 hours (if seedlings are grown in urban conditions and on a windowsill, then it should be fenced off from light at night street lamps, otherwise the seedlings will be drawn to the light of the lantern) for a box of 30X50 cm, 3 lamps are enough (blue light inhibits the above-ground part, and the root system continues to grow and strengthen, the seedlings do not stretch, and red light promotes the growth of foliage.

  54. Anya:
    March 30th, 2015 at 9:19 pm

    Thank you for your efforts to educate beginners!

  55. Alexei:
    March 31st, 2015 at 1:21 am

    Valery, hello. Yesterday we picked tomatoes and peppers. Then we thought about additional lighting: I bought one strip of blue-red lights (72 diodes), in a ratio of 3:1 (red:blue); and one ribbon of white glow 5700 Kelvin, in which, judging by the graphs on the Internet, the blue spectrum at 440 nm is twice as high as the red one at 650 nm, that is, roughly speaking, red predominates in one ribbon, and blue in the other (even though the ribbon is white). What do you think, now, for the first time after picking, which light is better to use, with more red or blue? Or turn on both without bothering? It’s just that the table area is about a meter, but I can’t find out what the power of the tapes in watts is, maybe even two tapes are not enough. And the second question is off topic, if I may: is it necessary to spray or water the seedlings with baikal? Or is it later? Thank you.

  56. Valery Medvedev:
    March 31st, 2015 at 3:47 pm

    You need to use all the light, it certainly won’t be superfluous, I wouldn’t spray the seedlings.

  57. biktor57:
    April 2nd, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    Valera: Will energy-saving lamps be used to illuminate seedlings or not?

  58. Nikolay:
    April 2nd, 2015 at 9:56 pm

    Valery, please tell me. What luminous flux (lm) does a 15 W diode lamp give like in your backlight?

  59. Valery Medvedev:
    April 3rd, 2015 at 11:04 am

    In LED lamps for plants, the luminous flux is not indicated; it is important to hit the wavelengths 660 and 445, and the total power; the more powerful the lamps, the easier it is to hang them higher, and therefore illuminate a larger area.

  60. Valery Medvedev:
    April 3rd, 2015 at 11:09 am

    They will do, but for a good effect you need to dial up more power and make reflectors, because for plants most of the spectrum emitted by them is useless. Therefore, now there is a choice between dnata and LEDs, as you like.

  61. Victor:
    April 3rd, 2015 at 2:42 pm
  62. Victor:
    April 3rd, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    in a diode (white) with a light temperature of 6500K blue photons - 30%, green - 50%, red - 20%. Just a purely seedling spectrum. but they need to be taken three times more

  63. Nikolay:
    April 6th, 2015 at 10:44 pm

    How long a day should the seedlings be illuminated? I am from 6.00 to 21.00.

    Enough? Or is it still necessary?

  64. Valery Medvedev:
    April 7th, 2015 at 9:04 am

    So normal.

  65. Alyona:
    May 7th, 2015 at 8:05 am

    Good afternoon. I really need your advice.

    I want to choose LED lamps for illuminating cucumber and tomato seedlings. Which ones are best for this?

  66. Victor:
    October 23rd, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    Hello!

    I bought an LED phytolamp with a power of 54 W.

    On the website where I bought it, it is indicated that the lamp is intended for additional illumination of an area of ​​1.25 sq.m.

    Luminous flux 3500 lm,

    LED (4 blue, 14 red), ultra-bright.

    Please tell me at what height should such a lamp be placed?

    And yet, I have doubts, will the lamp cover such an area?

    Thanks in advance for your help.

  67. Valery Medvedev:
    October 24th, 2015 at 10:10 am

    Such a lamp will definitely not handle 1.25 kW, maximum 0.5. Such lamps usually have a focusing lens, so you can hang from 30 cm to 1 meter; the younger the seedlings, the lower the suspension.

  68. Ivan:
    December 23rd, 2015 at 9:41 pm

    Hello! Please tell me, can a housekeeper lamp 85W 6375 Lm 6400K, suspended at a height of 1 m from tomato seedlings, cause them burns or not?

  69. Valery Medvedev:
    December 24th, 2015 at 9:45 am

    Such a lamp at such a height will not cause burns.

  70. Sergey:
    January 9th, 2016 at 2:42 pm

    Please tell me. My box is 0.6 sq.m. There is a 50W LED lamp hanging on top, and a 125W ESL lamp hanging on the side below, the shoots are leaning towards the ESL, what should I do?

  71. Valery Medvedev:
    January 10th, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Hang these lamps from above on the sides of the ice.

  72. Juliana:
    January 15th, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    Good afternoon

    Someone already wrote here that it is impossible to stay near an LED lamp for a long time - it gives you a headache and nausea. We have the same.

    We ordered one phyto lamp for an experiment in China. We received it and hung it over the windowsill. It is impossible to sit next to him for more than 20 minutes, even with his back turned. Why is that? And how does it affect a person? Is it even possible to be around when she is working?

    And one more question after that. Is it possible to illuminate plants in an aquarium with an LED lamp and how will the fish react to it? Maybe someone has encountered this.

  73. Olga:
    January 20th, 2016 at 4:01 pm

    Valery, I really need your qualified recommendation on the timing of growing seedlings under 36 W phytolamps (bicolor, 660:450nm diodes, ratio 9:3). I am planting a plot in the Moscow region under Lukrasil No. 60, with heat accumulators on May 9-15. I plan to use ACH (by the way , is it possible to use purchased vermicompost for it?) I plan to grow seedlings: 1) large-fruited strawberries from my own seeds; 2) early ripe peppers, eggplants, medium-sized and standard tomatoes. I want to use your experience in organizing a place for seedlings - light reflectors made of penofol, watering with melt water (if you prepare snow water in advance, do you need to disinfect it somehow - warm it to a boil or add Phytosporin?) Sorry about that a large number of questions, but if not you, then who. Sincerely your grateful follower

  74. Valery Medvedev:
    January 22nd, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    Under the lamps, you need to move the crops for 15-20 days. There is no need to boil the water, but of course the snow must be clean.

  75. Zhanna:
    January 24th, 2016 at 1:06 am

    Hello, please tell me what area the phytolamp will illuminate Voltage: 85-265V 10W E27 (blue-red spectrum) and at what height to hang it? Thank you in advance.

  76. Valery Medvedev:
    January 24th, 2016 at 10:20 am

    Such a lamp will illuminate a radius of no more than 30 cm, the height of the suspension is from 20 to 40 cm above the plants, depending on the growth phase and the plants themselves.

  77. Alexander:
    January 28th, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    I have one like this homemade lamp. Radiator - a piece of aluminum cornice, LED - 1 watt, driver - 6-10 watts, ordered through Ali-express. Last season I raised wonderful seedlings.

  78. Alexander:
    January 28th, 2016 at 10:41 pm

    Such a driver. From 6 to 10 one-watt LEDs.

  79. Taisa:
    February 9th, 2016 at 6:06 pm

    Valera, hello. I have an insulated veranda. 5 windows on all sides. Seedlings of vegetables and flowers are supposed to be on a window sill 3m x 0.3m. I settled on the Sidor phytolamp. Options:

    1. -2 linear lamps 1 m long (1.5 m possible) 40w each.

    2. -2 linear lamps 1m long, 30w each.

    3. -3 lin. lamps 1m long, 30w.

    Please help me decide. I’ve been struggling with the choice for six months now. My character is so bad. Finally decided on a lamp. Now I can’t choose the power and quantity. I have doubts: isn’t 40w too much? And one more thing: distance to plants, please. Thank you.

  80. Valery Medvedev:
    February 10th, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    The distance to plants is 30-40 cm, the amount depends on the area.

  81. Victor:
    February 24th, 2016 at 5:08 pm

    Hello!!! HPS 400 lamp FOR what area?

  82. Valery Medvedev:
    February 26th, 2016 at 11:38 am

    I haven't tested them.

  83. igor_m:
    February 26th, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    April 3rd, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    You need to know that the main quantity in photometry is the luminous intensity of the radiation source, measured in candelas (cd). Lux (lx), ..... Therefore, illumination of one lux corresponds to a luminous flux of one lumen falling on one square meter of area. And is approximately equal to one watt (LED)

    Victor, have you mixed up anything? Illumination of one lux corresponds...and is approximately equal to one watt (LED)? Based on the fact that plants need 4000-8000 lux, then in terms of diodes, 4000-8000 W are needed?

  84. Victor:
    February 29th, 2016 at 12:51 pm

    To what height should DNAT-400 be raised from seedlings?

  85. Valery Medvedev:
    March 1st, 2016 at 10:11 am

    At least a meter.

  86. pomadkacool:
    March 1st, 2016 at 2:53 pm

  87. Valery Medvedev:
    March 2nd, 2016 at 8:32 am

    I see these 9 cotton lamps with a large number of small LEDs, I don’t think they are able to illuminate the table well, they don’t have focusing lenses, so it seems to you that they illuminate a large area, the third one is definitely not superfluous, hang it 20 cm from the plants.

  88. pomadkacool:
    March 2nd, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    Thank you, Valery, we conducted an experiment with these lamps in one store, the results were excellent!

    And another question, how many hours a day do you need to shine on the seedlings? Our plants constantly don’t have enough light; last year all the seedlings stretched out!

  89. Valery Medvedev:
    March 3rd, 2016 at 4:12 pm

    I light up for 12 hours.

  90. pomadkacool:
    March 5th, 2016 at 8:14 am
  91. Tatiana:
    March 10th, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    Last year I ordered lamps for plants from China. This year I made 2 lamps, for myself and my mother. Each lamp has 3 lamps. Taped inside mirror film, to reflect light. I hung it above the windowsill at a distance of 25 cm from the seedlings. I'll keep an eye on the results.

  92. Tatiana:
    March 10th, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    Last year I ordered plant lamps from China. In January I made 2 lamps myself, for my mother and for myself. Each lamp has 3 lamps. I hung it above the windowsill at a distance of 25 cm above the seedlings. I'll keep an eye on the results.

  93. Ruslan:
    March 19th, 2016 at 6:17 pm

    Dnat 150 W living corner 60*60*120cm

    in the spring we replant them in long pots on the balcony

    Small peppers and tomatoes are a month old,

    those that are larger are one and a half.

    Homemade electronic ballast, with a circuit similar to this one

  94. Natalia:
    May 1st, 2016 at 6:31 am

    I bought a Reflex DNAZ lamp 70 W. I have few seedlings. According to the characteristics, it should be enough for an area of ​​1 * 1.5, even a little more. I thought that this year my seedlings would be just a sight for sore eyes, but alas. The tomato seedlings grew in just 3 days. I had to put it on cold balcony. Now she stands there, blue from the cold. I thought the reason was high temperature air (in the apartment + 21, plus the lamp heats up to +60). After the tomatoes I planted cucumbers, watermelons and melons. Reduced the temperature by opening the window. The result is the same. The cucumbers still sit there more or less, and the watermelons and melons - you can’t look at them without tears. In general, one disappointment. Only the peppers liked this lamp; they are bright green and about to bloom, although I planted them, as always, at the same time. Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? According to the advertisement of this lamp on all websites, the seedlings should simply smell fragrant, but alas, for me. The light from this lamp is quite normal for the eyes. At first it was not usual, the objects had some unnatural pale color, but then I got used to it.

  95. Ainur:
    August 17th, 2016 at 7:30 am

    Good afternoon

    Do you make red-blue phytolamps? Area 3 hectares, Beds: 9.5 m x 1.20 m, distance between beds 1.5 meters.

    characteristics

    object: greenhouse

    area: 3 hectares

    Lighting: Led/DNAT

    degree of protection: ip 65/ip 67

    quantity unknown

  96. Valery Medvedev:
    August 22nd, 2016 at 9:04 am

    I do not do.

  97. Gulnaz:
    August 29th, 2016 at 11:08 am

    I bought a phytolamp E27 36 watt, 660 nm - 9 pcs red, 450 nm - 3 pcs blue, for illuminating plants, north side of the window, no sun at all. How many lumens will the lamp emit, is it enough?

  98. Valery Medvedev:
    August 30th, 2016 at 11:59 am

    It will be enough for a circle with a radius of 40 cm.

  99. Semenoa:
    October 2nd, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    Valery, how many W/m2 is needed? for illumination with LED lamps?

  100. Valery Medvedev:
    October 3rd, 2016 at 11:34 am

    It all depends on the quality of the LEDs, but approximately 100 watts or more.

  101. Andrey:
    October 6th, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    Valery, help me choose lamps. Doubts arose with 28 W lamps, diodes smaller than 500 lux. But the price is reasonable. And 30 W diode is more but the amount of lux. unknown.

  102. Valery Medvedev:
    October 10th, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Andrey, these lamps use outdated LEDs low power, the effectiveness may not be great.

  103. Natalia:
    January 29th, 2017 at 11:09 am

    March 1st, 2016 at 2:53 pm

    Hello everyone, everyone! Valery, I purchased factory-made LED plant lamps, tell me how high should I hang them above the plants when the seedlings are small and when they are already large? How long will it take to finish lighting the peppers and tomatoes?

    P.S. The lamps are chic, ECO marked, which is very important, they shine over a large area, I bought 3 pieces for an old book table, but realized that two would be enough.

    How did these bulbs perform?

  104. Natalia:
    January 31st, 2017 at 8:10 am

    Hello! Maybe I’m contacting the wrong address, but suddenly I’ll get an answer. I would like to know at what height above the seedlings should I hang 2 phyto rulers PHITO-90 cm-15W64SMO-P40LNE for a lighting area of ​​1.2 x 0.75 sq.m?

  105. Valery Medvedev:
    January 31st, 2017 at 9:39 am

    20 cm above the seedlings and 30-40 above the peaked one.

  106. Valery Medvedev:
    January 31st, 2017 at 9:43 am

    20 cm above the seedlings and 30-40 above the peaked one. 12-14 hours.

  107. Shavkat Latipov:
    February 27th, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    Hello. I want to assemble a phytolamp myself. I read that vegetable crops they love white light. I ordered red and blue LEDs of the required spectrum + full-spectrum. I decided to combine everything. And is it still necessary to include white?

  108. Valery Medvedev:
    March 4th, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    I won't say for sure. I use additional light only for seedlings; two spectra are enough.

  109. Alexander:
    February 26th, 2018 at 11:28 am

    Good afternoon.

    Last year (17) I bought 6 pieces. 10 W LED lamps and hung them above the table at a height of half a meter. Table 120×70 (cm)

    In addition, another 36 W fluorescent lamp hung above it. LED dumps were on the sides of the fluorescent one. Seedlings - tomatoes and peppers. At first it all grew under fluorescent lamp, but my wife, as usual, was unhappy with the amount of light, so I hung up phytolamps. After that, the tomatoes felt worse. They became thin and crooked. Only after being transplanted into a greenhouse did they recover. But the peppers survived fine. So the conclusion is this. You can overdo it with the amount of lighting.

    Or did I do something wrong?

  110. Valery Medvedev:
    February 28th, 2018 at 8:11 am

    With such lighting you definitely didn’t have an excess of light, 50 cm is too high for such lamps, 20-30 maximum and shine for 12 hours.

  111. Larisa:
    March 3rd, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    Hello. I bought two OSRAM FLUORA L 36W/77 lamps (luminous flux 1400 lm, lamp length 1200). One lamp is above the window sill measuring 1.4 by 0.37 and I plan the second above a table near the wall measuring 1.40 by 0.50. Grow rooted petunia cuttings. Please tell me if I can get by with this backlight, do I need to make additional reflectors, at what height should the lamp be? And I still doubt whether or not it is necessary to partially close the window from daylight; it seems to me that a lot of light from the lamp is scattered onto the street.

  112. Anton:
    March 6th, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    Good afternoon, Valery

    We are going to try growing lettuce for ourselves.

    We came up against the issue of supplementary lighting when growing seedlings.

    The area that the cassettes with lettuce seedlings will occupy is approximately 20 m2

    A room without windows (no daylight at all)

    Other sources include only incandescent lamps (ordinary ones), but they can only shine to enter and exit the room.

    We would like to ask some advice: how much light do our seedlings need? Please explain. What kind of lamps, what kind of glow are needed and at what distance should they be broadcast?

    Thank in advance!

  113. Valery Medvedev:
    March 7th, 2018 at 12:37 pm

    If the height allows, then it is better to add additional illumination with Reflex at the rate of 100-150 W per square meter

  114. Valery Medvedev:
    March 7th, 2018 at 12:44 pm

    It should be enough, the height of the suspension is 20-30 cm to the plants.

  115. Alexander:
    April 1st, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    Hello Valery! Tell me, I hung dnat-400 and two dnat-250 over 2 sq.m of seedlings at a height of 40 cm from the seedlings there is weak airflow from computer coolers temperature during the day 30 at night 25 without sunlight mode 14 light 10 at night. Is it scary what I'm doing? I have constant fears of lack of lighting and light.

  116. Valery Medvedev:
    April 2nd, 2018 at 9:14 am

    Alexander, a Dnatov suspension above the seedlings is needed from at least 1 meter, preferably 1.5-2 m can be easily burned, especially since the temperature for seedlings is too high 20-25 is what is needed, such power is more than enough, and in terms of additional lighting time it usually shines 12 hours and 12 night

  117. Fedor:
    April 2nd, 2018 at 8:08 pm

    Hello Valery, judge my calculation, how correctly I chose the illumination for tobacco seedlings. Thank you

  118. Valery Medvedev:
    April 4th, 2018 at 8:17 am

    The calculation is of course correct, but in reality a lot will depend on the lamp itself, or rather on its spectral characteristics, namely in what ranges it has maximum radiation and whether it matches the needs of plants.

  119. Fedor:
    April 4th, 2018 at 12:24 pm

    Hello! That’s why I indicated in which places how many Lx at such a height, according to data from the same Internet, nightshade lighting consumption should be enough, if they consume from 2500 to Lx 4000Lx, then my average is 2960Lx. But I still reduced the distance to the lamps and made it 24 cm. Lx has increased, but I am afraid of burning the plants with the light flux, is this possible? And I can’t get something out of the cotton wool.

  120. Valery Medvedev:
    April 8th, 2018 at 8:43 am

    You won’t burn LEDs with such a flow; LEDs can be suspended from 10 cm.

  121. Maksim:
    May 28th, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    Hello, I have a 70×100 box, an Apollo 6 180 W full spectrum lamp, the germinated sprouts were planted immediately in large pots, they grow 5-7 cm and the leaves begin to turn yellow, what’s wrong?

  122. Valery Medvedev:
    May 31st, 2018 at 10:42 am

    There can be many reasons and they are not necessarily in the lamp, but try raising it higher, perhaps the radiation is excessive.