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During the day, seedlings on the windowsill have enough natural light, and with the onset of twilight, you have to turn on the lamp. For artificial lighting, many owners adapt any suitable device. Usually a table lamp comes to hand or they simply hang a cartridge with a sweetheart. In fact, lighting for seedlings on the windowsill should not be primitive, otherwise it will do more harm than good.
Spectrum favorable for plant development
Seedlings require 12 hours of light per day. From February to March, daylight hours are short. In the early morning and at dusk, artificial lighting is turned on. The lamps are turned off at night. Plants will not benefit from round-the-clock lighting. Another important issue is the correct choice of lighting fixture. Optimally, seedlings develop in natural light with sunlight, as they receive all the necessary spectrum. When choosing a lamp for backlighting, this nuance is taken into account in the first place.
The light spectrum consists of twelve segments, each of which is divided into groups of colors. Vegetation reacts differently to each spectrum. The most useful are:
- Red light increases the synthesis of chlorophyll, accelerates the emergence and development of sprouts. Deficiency causes deformity of plants.
- Blue light weakens the growth of the stem, but this is good for the plant. Seedlings do not stretch, but become strong. The stem thickens due to accelerated cell division.
Yellow and orange light do not affect the development of plants, which is why it is useless to use traditional incandescent lamps for illumination. Green light similarly does not provide much benefit, but hardly anyone uses devices with such a glow.
Is one daylight enough
The lack of daylight associated with short daylight hours is one part of the problem. Seedlings stand on the windowsill one behind the other. Plants located closer to the window shade the distant plantings. And if there is a rack on the windowsill, light falling from above from the window, close the shelves of the higher tier. There is a second problem – the lack of lighting during the day.
Seedlings begin to reach for the cocoon glass. Stems become thin. The leaves are sluggish, underdeveloped. They try to solve the problem by turning the boxes. From careless movements, the sprouts break or fall to the ground.
Features of high-quality backlight
It is optimal to install seedling shelves on a backlit windowsill so that the entire area with planting material evenly receives diffused light. The benefits of lighting can be obtained if three important conditions are met:
- intensity;
- optimal spectrum;
- duration.
Plants fully develop at an illumination intensity of 8 lux. It is difficult to achieve such results with lamps. The rate of intensity for artificial lighting is considered to be 6 thousand lux.
The spectrum affects the development of plants. The standard is sunlight. Such results cannot be achieved by artificial lighting. When choosing lamps to illuminate seedlings on the windowsill, they take into account the possibility of its emission of red and blue. They are responsible for the rapid germination of seeds, the development of plant cells, and the process of photosynthesis.
The duration of illumination depends on the grown planting material. Usually this period is 12-17 hours. The lamps are turned off at night. Round-the-clock lighting of seedlings on the windowsill is required during the initial stage of germination of sprouts.
Choice of light sources
The owners often make the lighting of seedlings on the windowsill with their own hands from what is on the farm. First of all, household table lamps with a traditional incandescent lamp come across at hand. The choice is very bad. The lamp emits a yellow color that is useless for plants and a lot of heat. If the appliance is placed low, there is a risk of leaf burns.
The electrical store sells a huge variety of lamps, but LEDs, fluorescent tubes or phytolamps are best suited for illuminating planting material.
Fluorescent tubes
A fluorescent lamp for seedlings on a windowsill is a common daylight fixture. Lamps are often used in the apartment to illuminate the room. Housekeeper lamps fall into this category, but they are inconvenient due to the small area of illumination. Best suited lamps for highlighting seedlings on the windowsill in the form of a tube. The product can be selected according to the length of the window sill. So, for a standard window opening, lighting from fluorescent tubes 1 m long is suitable.
Lamps differ in color temperature: soft, cold and others. The indicator is measured in kelvins (K). If, for example, a number up to 3000 K is on the product packaging, then the glow will be yellowish. Luminescent tubes with a color temperature in the range of 4,5 thousand K are suitable for illuminating seedlings.
LEDs and phytolamps
Ordinary LED window sill grow lights are suitable as they have blue and red in their spectrum. LEDs do not emit heat, consume little electricity, and are safe to use. LED chandelier lamps produce warm and cool daylight shades, but there is a better option for lighting seedlings.
LED strips of red and blue glow allow you to create an optimally favorable spectrum for plants. They are sold in rolls of 5 m. There is a sticky layer on the back side. When the illumination of seedlings on the windowsill is set up with your own hands, the tape is glued to the back of the shelf of the upper tier of the rack or inserted into the profile.
The quality of the backlight depends on the characteristics of the LEDs. Expensive lamps or tapes are capable of emitting light up to 6 thousand lux.
The most effective is a bicolor lamp for seedlings for a window sill, equipped with a standard E 27 base. There are 12 LEDs inside the case: 9 – red and 3 blue glow.
There are phytolamps from other companies, but they must be chosen correctly. In a high-quality model, the case is made of a heat-conducting metal alloy. The element serves as a heatsink. Cheap phytolamps are made with a plastic case, the walls of which have small slots for ventilation. With prolonged use, the plastic does not have time to remove heat and quickly melt.
The video shows a shelving with lighting:
Rules for the location of lighting fixtures
It is necessary to install lamps to illuminate seedlings on the windowsill correctly, otherwise they will be of little use:
- The minimum height of the lamp from seedlings is 10 cm. It is better to make the backlight from height-adjustable lamps. Different groups of plants prefer certain light levels. Adjusting the height achieve optimal brightness.
- Reflectors made of foil or mirrors will help distribute light evenly and direct it into dark areas.
- It is better to close the lamps on homemade lamps with frosted caps for better light dispersion.
Modern lighting will help to make a dimmer. The control device is installed in the electrical circuit. The dimmer adjusts the brightness of the lamps, bringing artificial lighting closer to natural daylight.
Backlight manufacturing options
To illuminate the seedlings, it is optimal to take ready-made lamps 1 m long in the store. If the width of the window opening is larger, two short lighting fixtures can be placed side by side.
If a rack is installed on the windowsill, the lamps are suspended from the lintels of the shelves. Ropes or chains are made adjustable so that you can change the height of the device above the seedlings.
If there is no rack, and the seedlings just stand on the windowsill, a rack is made for the lamp. The easiest option is to make two racks from the bars, and fix a rectangular frame on top.
A good do-it-yourself lamp for seedlings on the windowsill will come from blue and red LED strips. As the base of the lamp, a wooden plank is suitable, 5 cm long less than the width of the window opening. Two aluminum profiles are screwed to the bar with self-tapping screws parallel to each other. Glue blue and red LED strip inside. The excess is cut off with scissors according to the markup. The ends of the LED strip are connected by connectors with wires and connected to the power supply. The finished lamp is hung on a rope or chain.
No matter which side of the building the window is located, lighting is needed when growing planting material on the windowsill. The lack of artificial lighting will affect the poor harvest in the fall.