Bonsai Trees Care

Hydroponics is the science of growing plants without soil. It has been proven that plants will thrive if they are given the right amounts of nutrients, water and light. Soil holds the nutrients that the plant requires but it is not essential for plant growth. In fact, with hydroponics your plant will be able to spend its energy growing rather than looking for nourishment!

There are certain plants that grown better in hydroponic conditions than others. Fruit bearing plants, leafy plants and flowering plants can all be grown hydroponically.

Apart from nutrients and water, the most important requirement for plant growth is light. If you grow your plants outdoors, light is not a problem. But if you grow indoor plants, light becomes essential for the health of your plant.

There are many types of indoor lights, also known as grow lights, used for plants. Some of these lights are:

Fluorescent lights
Incandescent lights
Metal halide lights
High pressure sodium lights

Grow Plants With Grow Lights

Let’s take a closer look at these different hydroponic grow lights.

Fluorescent lights are generally available in a broad light spectrum. Their color spectrum ranges from bright white to warm white to cool white to daylight. These lights are not very expensive and last for quite a long time. However, the disadvantage with them is, for that for them to be effective, they need to be placed very close to the plant. This is because fluorescent lights are low intensity lights. Apart from seedlings and cuttings, this light is most useful for house plants that already get some natural light.

Incandescent lights are better as room lights than grow lights. They have the lowest intensity of all the grow lights. The blue spectrum that is essential for plant growth is very low in this kind of light. Even though special incandescent bulbs are available and they are the cheapest light to buy, they are still the least effective of all the grow bulbs.

Metal halide lights are also known as high intensity discharge (HID) lights. These are probably the best grow lights. Apart from having a broad spectrum of light, they also have enough blue light to promote healthy plant growth. Metal halide lights are also more efficient and intense. These lights are best for plants that are grown in a greenhouse and have no access to natural light. HID’s generate a lot of heat. Vented reflector hoods are available for ventilation and cooling while HID lights are being used. The downside of HID lights is that they use a lot of electricity and are expensive to run.

High pressure sodium lights are also HID lights. They have a strong yellow-red spectrum but a relatively weak blue spectrum. These lights are best used for flowering plants. Like metal halide lights, they are most useful in places where there is no natural light available. High pressure sodium lights last long and are very efficient.

All these grow lights and other hydroponic systems and garden accessories can be found at the online store of hydroponicsonline.com.