Trouble reading today's article? Click
here: Issue #199 - Sunday, February 14, 2016 Dear Fellow
Grower, In today's issue... - Learn how the color spectrum of your grow lights affects how plants
grow, so you can choose the perfect grow lights for your garden!
- It can be difficult to see your plants properly when growing under odd-colored lights like HPS or LEDs! Did you know there are specially designed glasses which let you see your plants in full color?
- This week's trophy pics features some ultra neat pictures showing how a plant goes from a seed to a seedling!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of
GrowWeedEasy.com) "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness."
~Eleanor
Roosevelt
How Does Spectrum Affect Growth? by Nebula Haze |
Table of Contents Note: This article is aimed at intermediate to advanced cannabis growers looking for ways to improve their results.
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What is the Color Spectrum of Light?
Although natural light might appear white to us, it is actually made up of many different colors. You can see this in action when you put light through a prism, or if you catch the sight of a rainbow. When light is refracted into its individual parts, you can see all the colors that make up that light! Over the years, we've learned that plants actually make "decisions" about how to grow based on the spectrum of light they receive. A different color spectrum can change how cannabis germinates, grows and
even makes buds! Although we don't have a lot of options to change the spectrum of sunlight when growing outdoors, we have almost complete control of the spectrum when growing cannabis indoors since we're using grow lights!
So what's the "best" light spectrum for growing cannabis? Unfortunately that's a big question since each spectrum has its own unique effects and some are more useful to you than
others, but let me share everything we know so you can decide what's best for your goals and situation.
There is no "best" light spectrum for growing cannabis, but you can choose the best one for your goals and grow room! So why do cannabis plants react to the spectrum of light?
When growing outdoors under the light of the
sun, the spectrum of light received actually gives a cannabis plant a lot of information about what's going on in the world around them.
As just one example, during the spring and summer, more of the blue spectrum of light makes it to earth because the sun takes a more direct path through the sky.
In the summer, a plant responds to this bright direct light (with lots of blue) as a cue to grow vegetatively with lots of big leaves and short stems. The plant tries to spread out as much as it can and increase its leaf mass.
Blue light - Grow lights with a higher ratio of blue light are often used in the vegetative stage as they tend to make cannabis plants grow short and squat, with big healthy leaves.
As fall approaches the sun starts hanging lower in the sky. As a result, more of the light that reaches the plant
falls within the red spectrum. More light in the red part of the spectrum is a sign to the plant that summer is coming to an end and it's time to get in gear before winter. As a cannabis plant gets exposed to a higher ratio of red light, it reacts by growing longer stems with more space between the leaves, getting as tall as possible for the best position to start making buds and pollinate via the wind!
Yellow/Red light - Grow lights with higher amounts of red are often using in the flowering stage to encourage plants to grow tall (stretch) and to help promote budding. Plants may switch to the flowering stage faster under red light than under blue.
By keeping track of the ratio
of colors in the spectrum of light, a cannabis plant is able to "know" a little bit about what's going on around them which helps plants grow in the best way possible! As an indoor grower, it's your job to be the sun and tell your plant what to do!
If you're trying to keep plants short with lots of leafy growth, use grow lights that give off light in more of the blue spectrum during the beginning of your
plant's life. When it's time to switch the plant to the flowering stage, you might switch the lights to something that has more of the reds and oranges that cannabis likes during the flowering stage.
But you don't have to follow the general rules! I personally use an HPS bulb from seed to harvest, which gives off primarily red/yellow, because I like how young plants grow under them - I find it easier to train the plants when they have a little bit more space between nodes! But if I were in a very height-limited space, I might consider trying to give more blue light to help keep stems naturally shorter. I personally grow plants from seed to harvest under HPS grow lights so plants grow taller, because the longer stems make plant training easier in my case. You can grow your cannabis plant from seed to harvest under any grow light as long as the light is bright enough! How big a difference does spectrum make to plant growth?
As long as
a cannabis plant is getting bright light with at least some red and blue, it will grow normally, so any reputable plant grow light you get on the market will do the job and get you to harvest with top-quality buds!
Although certainly not essential to healthy plant growth it is considered good form to choose lights in the proper light spectrum to encourage the growth you want in the vegetative
and flowering stages of the marijuana plant. If you have a tool, why not use it?
However, keep in mind that different strains are affected differently by the color spectrum of the light. Some plants are barely affected at all while others might react much more strongly. It's important to remember that the changes caused by light spectrum are relatively small (such as stems tending to grow longer) and many
other factors drive some of the same changes.
For example, if your plant isn't getting enough light, it will grow long and lanky even if the light has lots of blue because it's "reaching" for more
light. On the flip side, if you give your plant high levels of light with lots of yellow, it tends to stay short because it's getting so much light that there's enough blue and no need to get taller. Since almost
all grow lights give off a spectrum of light that is suitable to healthy cannabis growth, in many ways the amount of light has a much bigger effect on your plant than spectrum.
The best way to increase yields is to give your plant more light altogether!
In other words,
giving your plant more light is going to give you a bigger return on yields than simply changing the spectrum. So if it's possible to give your plant more light (up to a point), that is going to increase your yields even if you're adding light in the "wrong" spectrum. Even bright white fluorescents that dip into the green spectrum will produce great plant growth. If
it's a grow light, it will do the job! Learn about different cannabis grow lights! In-Depth Look at How Light Spectrum Changes How a Cannabis Plant Grows (Advanced)
Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes not just the visible light spectrum, but also includes X-rays, Gamma rays and infrared light. Plants react to light spectrum via a process (known as photomorphogenesis) that is completely separate from
photosynthesis. This section has nothing to do with PAR or lumens or how a plant makes energy from light (which I talk about below).
In this section we're only talking about how the plant uses hidden information contained in the spectrum of light to grow better!
Although a plant can't physically get up and move to a new spot, it is constantly growing and changing its growth patterns to maximize the amount of light it gets. For example a plant turns its leaf blades to face the light as the sun moves across the sky, and then puts all its leaves down at night to save energy and protect itself. Like all plants, a cannabis plant has ways to measure different spectrums of light, each giving the plant information about the best way to grow. Plants "smell" the light spectrum!
Like humans, plants use the
signals from their senses to help find energy to grow. For example we have a nose to smell something tasty and help us seek out food. But although we use our noses to capture the hidden messages in smells, ultimately a nose can only signal to us about possible food sources. We can't actually eat food with our noses - we need our mouths to get food in our bellies.
Plants have certain light sensors
(photoreceptors) found all over the plant that act kind of like the plant's "nose" to detect information about the light spectrum. Just like how humans use their sense of smell to help find good food, the plant uses the information about light spectrum to help the plant grow in a way that gets the most light.
However, similar to how we can't actually eat food with our noses, plants
can't make energy from light using their photoreceptors.
So when it comes to this section about photoreceptors and the light color response of plants, we're talking about the "nose" of the plant, not the "mouth!" The reactions to light spectrum we talk about below are completely separate from photosynthesis! If you're interested in how the plant actually obtains energy from light via photosynthesis,
check out the link about PAR, lumens and light intensity!
How Each Light Spectrum Affects Cannabis Growth:
How to See Your Plants in True Color! |
Today we talked a lot about the color spectrum of light, and how it affects your plants. But color spectrum affects you, too! When the color spectrum is tinged with yellow or purple, like with LED and HPS lights, it's impossible to see your plants in true color! This makes it a lot more difficult to spot problems, which means a
problem might go on a few days before you notice it!
Not only that, when working under powerful grow lights, it's important to protect your eyes from damage!
Not too long ago, I found out that a company called "Method 7" makes glasses that not only keep your eyes safe, they actually correct
the color spectrum of light so you can see your plants!
Here's two examples of Method 7 glasses in action!
Method 7 Glasses for HPS Grow Lights |
Method 7 Glasses for LED Grow Lights The only problem is that Method 7 glasses are obscenely expensive ($80)!
But
recently I discovered a company called "Apollo" which makes knockoff glasses that claim to do the same thing, but cost less than a fifth of the price at $15 each!
It seemed too good to be true but I ordered a pair and I have to report that they're honestly almost as good! If you don't want to put down a ton of money for the Method 7 glasses, get the ones from Apollo, you won't regret
it!
Learn more about specialized glasses for...
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Hi there. I am an aspiring growing and have been doing a lot of research, and always end up back on your site. I just wanted to say that you have some of the best information out there and you make it so easy to understand. I appreciate everything you do and want to say thank you. Keep it up.
~Alex
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"I started my seeds in between two wet paper towels for 3 days, then after they germinated I put them in red solo cups with organic soil."
~Linkt92 |
These are such great pictures! All the seeds have cracked open, but one has germinated sooner than the others and is more developed. It has already buried its roots in the paper towel and is
stretching out, slithering through the dirt in "root mode," searching for light.
Once this seedling gets light, it will switch to "seedling mode." Its leaves will open and its stem will start to get stronger so it can hold up it's own weight. After getting a nice home for its roots and some bright light, its baby leaves quickly turned green to start absorbing energy from the sun. Soon it starting growing new
leaves. Now this seedling is going strong! Thanks again
to Linkt92 for these neat pics!
~Nebula
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Nebula Haze:
Medical cannabis is important to me personally, and I'm dedicated to showing others how easy it is to grow their own supply of
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It is my mission to educate and build growing resources to help both new and advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We update GrowWeedEasy.com at least weekly (often even more often!) to make sure that our website provides you with all the information you need to succeed at growing! |
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Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture,
bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis is a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much
easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
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