Most of the vegetable and flower crops in our latitudes are grown through seedlings. Seeds are sown in January-February, when the light day is still very short, and such conditions are not sufficient for high-grade photosynthesis. Therefore, truck farmers use artificial lighting when growing seedlings. It can be of various types: as a rule, these are special phytolamps , as well as mercury, sodium (conventional and metalloallogenic), luminescent and LED lamps for illuminating seedlings on the windowsill. Incandescent lamps for these purposes do not use, because they are very uneconomical and give not so much light as heat, and small gentle shoots can easily get burned.
Most often today use two varieties - phytolamps and LED lighting. However, phytolamps are too expensive, their purchase pays off only if you grow plants for later sale. But the illumination of seedlings at home by LED lamps has become more widespread due to the following advantages.
Advantages of LED lamps for highlighting seedlings
In comparison with other varieties of lamps for seedlings, LED backlighting has several weighty "pluses":
- economy and durability due to low voltage, minimal energy consumption and no need to change burnt out bulbs;
- the choice of the spectrum of light and the combination of the most important of them (blue and red);
- adjustment of intensity of illumination;
- LEDs do not flicker and do not form either infrared or ultraviolet radiation;
- LED-lamps do not contain gas, mercury and other toxic substances, do not cause difficulties with their disposal;
- if desired, the LED lamp can be manufactured independently. The location of the LED strips for optimal seedling lighting should have a ratio of 2: 1 (2 red, 1 blue, 1 red, 1 blue, etc.).