I am sorry to have to say it, but you need to know some science to choose and use an artificial light system, otherwise, you will be at the mercy of poor and/or misinformation which will cost you in the long run in either money or poor plant growth. Light, carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, and mineral nutrients are required for plant growth. Light is the main source of energy for all plants and is involved in regulating many growth responses such as flowering. Three characteristics of light are critical to plant growth: the spectrum, intensity, and duration. To understand how these properties of light affect plant growth we must understand the nature of light
THE SPECTRUM OR THE COLOR OF LIGHT
Visible light is the most familiar part of a much larger electromagnetic spectrum that includes all forms of radiation such as x-rays, microwaves, ultraviolet, and infrared rays. All radiation is emitted in the form of waves and scientifically the electromagnetic spectrum is expressed as wavelength. White light such as sunlight is made up of a range of wavelengths. What we see as blue light is composed of shorter wavelengths while red light is composed of longer wavelengths. When combined in equal amounts they appear as white light.
The color of visible light emitted from an artificial light source is also expressed as the temperature in degrees Kelvin of the light source. The higher the Kelvin number the bluer the light so a light that is 5000 K. is blue while one 2000 K. is more yellow/red. In more general terms blue light is referred to as “cool” light while red light is referred to as “warm” light. Both the Kelvin temperature and the terms “cool” and “warm” do not refer to how much heat the light emits but the color of the light.
