The production technology and products of three primary
color rare earth fill lamps were first introduced to mainland China from
Taiwan. Its working principle is similar to that of a fluorescent lamp.
After the lamp is powered on, it emits electrons and forms an internal
circuit circuit with the mercury vapor inside the lamp. The mercury
atoms inside the lamp tube discharge after colliding with inert gas,
exciting 253.7nm ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light is absorbed
and converted into visible light by tricolor phosphors containing
certain rare earth elements. The light quality combination of the three
primary color rare earth fill light is relatively fixed and cannot be
adjusted arbitrarily. The proportion of photosynthetic effective
radiation energy in the light is relatively low, so it cannot meet the
needs of different plants or plants for different light quality
combinations (photosynthetic nutrition) at different stages, nor can it
meet the rigorous scientific research and experimental requirements in
the field of plant photosynthesis. Therefore, the scope of application
is relatively small, and the comprehensive fill light effect is average.
In addition, the manufacturing material and process of this type of
lamp determine its fragility and pose a risk to the environment. The
leakage of highly toxic mercury vapor can drift down with the air and
penetrate into plants and the human body, posing a great threat to
health, especially to pregnant women, infants, and the elderly. So, this
type of fill light is not suitable for use in small spaces and crowded
environments such as homes and offices. At present, the market for
tricolor rare earth fill lamps is too chaotic, with uneven quality and
very few products with excellent effects. In addition, high procurement
and maintenance costs (relatively high power and short lifespan),
limited use, and poor performance are factors that make the current
application range very small.
LED plant lights are high-tech new products that have emerged in the
past five years or so with the rise of LED white light lighting. Many
domestic research institutes have only recently started or completed
experiments on the effects of different LED light qualities on plants.
The light quality of LED plant lights is determined by chips, and the
quality of domestic chips used in current plant lights is not yet up to
standard. Therefore, we can only choose imported chip packaged LED beads
to produce LED plant lights, which leads to high production costs of
lamps. However, due to its accurate and adjustable light quality, high
photosynthetic radiation per unit power consumption, good plant light
supplementation effect, and low operating costs (super energy-saving),
it has many advantages. Since 2012, some private handicraft workshops
have joined the manufacturing camp of lighting fixtures. These people do
not understand agricultural technology, nor do they have the conditions
for product experimentation, and do not consider safety regulations.
They only purchase components and assemble them randomly, resulting in
super cheap finished products. This low-quality and ineffective
so-called "LED plant lights" are disrupting the originally difficult
market environment, which is also the current situation facing the white
light LED market. So, when choosing LED plant lights, it is also
important to keep your eyes open. It is best to choose products that
were built before 2012, have quality assurance, a brand, and reasonable
prices. Do not seek cheap prices and suffer huge economic losses and
safety accidents.
Different plants have different spectral requirements, such as red/blue 4:1 for lettuce, strawberry 5:1, and universal 8:1. Some require the addition of infrared and ultraviolet radiation, but some factories only have a partial understanding and combine all spectra together, claiming that full spectrum is suitable for any plant. As a result, because it contains ultraviolet radiation, it can kill the orchids, but fortunately it is not the kind that costs hundreds of thousands. White light contains all the spectra, so someone else created a white light LED that, when it comes to full spectrum, Philips did the same foolish thing. And I conducted an experiment on the same plant, using two 200W white lights on one side and a 90W UFO (red blue 1:1) and a 90W square (red blue 8:1) on the other. After a week, the plants under white light grew noticeably slower than those using red blue lights. Don't be superstitious about white light, at most add a few white LED lights to the red and blue lights for improvement, instead of using them as the main light. The output lumen of the LED itself is not high, and some customers say that Philips's T-tube lights are useless because Philips only has a maximum of 20W and has added a frosted lampshade, which has lost some lumens. How many micromoles are left when hanging from a high altitude and shooting onto plants? It's strange if there is an effect. LED plant lights below 50 watts are suitable for use near plants and are more suitable for plant tissue culture (layered planting), home flower and vegetable cultivation, and small space soilless cultivation. LED plant lights above 50 watts are suitable for use in greenhouses, and the distance between the lights and the main crop crown area should be controlled within 2.5 meters.