Moon's Graden

I was out looking for some gro-lights today, and couldn't find any in
stock. I did, however, see one of those blacklights that I used to turn on
when I smoked dope as a ***ager.  Has anyone ever used one around plants
??  They seem to have a lot of UV light, so much so that it would appear
that one would do the work of three fluorescent gro-bulbs, and at a
fraction of the cost.  I'll bet that it would make some of the brighter
flowers, like the Tropicana rose glow like mad.

Any ideas ???

Bill Limoges

Victoria

This is a basic primer on lights that I wrote a while
ago.  I don't think that you would get a great deal
more total light (visible and invisible) out of your
black light, but you might due to not having to go
through the fluorescent stage.  However, you would =

lose some light in the filter that takes out the =

visible light.  The major question to ask is if your
plants "like" the ultra violet spectrum.

Cheers
   Bryce

There basically two types of lights in use today.
"Regular" or incandescent lamps AND fluorescent =

lamps.

Regular INCANDESCENT light bulbs work, by passing =

    electric current through a wire or "filament" =

    which gets so hot that it produces light in =

    the visible range.  It produces a more or less =

    continuous spectrum of light.  Only about =

    5 percent of the electric energy is given off
    as light.  The rest is given off as heat.
    The filament is surrounded by a vacuum which =

    prevents oxygen from reacting with the =

    hot filament and burning it up.

    HALOGEN lamps are a subset of incandescent =

    lamps.  In a regular vacuum filled lamp, =

    molecules of the filament (which is white hot), =

    are continually being boiled off the surface, =

    and deposited on the inside of the glass =

    envelope, which is why light bulbs that have =

    been in service for a long time have a dark, =

    or black "mirrored" look.  =

    Bulbs that are filled with inert Halogen gas, =

    have a gas pressure that forces most of those
    molecules back on the filament.  Thus the
    bulbs tend to have a constant light over =

    their life time.  They also tend to be =

    "whiter".

    However, Halogen lights are an incandescent =

    light.  They have a filament, and their =

    efficiency is in the same range with other =

    incandescent lights.  i.e. around 5%.

FLUORESCENT bulbs start out with electric current =

    through a mercury vapor.  This e***s the =

    electrons of the Mercury atoms, and they move =

    (temporarily) to a higher energy orbital shell.  =

    When they move back, they release photons of =

    light.  This light is mostly in the invisible =

    ultra violet range.  As this light moves out, =

    it hits the florescent powder coating on the =

    inside of the tube.  This powder absorbs the =

    photons and then fluoresces, releasing light =

    in the visible range.  There are three basic =

    powders used.  There is a red, a green, and a =

    blue.  Each fluoresces at it=92s own particular =

    wavelength.  The tube manufacture mixes the =

    powders to get what ever color he wants.  The =

    good news is that the efficiency is much higher.  =

    I believe that something on the order of 25 percent
    of the energy is converted into light.  This =

    means that for a given amount of watts, you get
    about 5 times the light, or for a given amount =

    of light, it takes 20% of the power, and you
    get only 15% of the heat.  That's why they are
    called "cool" lights

    The catch of course is, that although the light =

    may look a given color, it is still made up of =

    only the three colors.  It is not a continuous =

    spectrum.  This is why you can=92t tell true colors =

    under fluorescent light.  =

    Black lights are lamps (usually mercury vapor =

    type lights) that have a filter that removes almost =

    all of the visible light.  The fluorescent =

    powder that is normally on the inside of the tube
    is painted on to neat posters and stuff and glows =

    brightly.

GROW-LUX / VITA LIGHT
    While incandescent bulbs have a continuous =

    spectrum, they are heavily weighted toward the =

    red end, with almost nothing in the blue region.  =

    Incandescent GROW-LUX tries to correct this by
    putting a filter on the lamp that absorbs (and =

    convert to heat) a portion of the red light,
    giving you a more balanced spectrum.  Less light =

    over all, but more balanced.

    It is my understanding that with fluorescent =

    GROW-LUX they have tried to balance the three =

    colors to look like the light from the =

    incandescent GROW-LUX  However, by definition,
    all fluorescent based lights have a non =

    continuous spectrum.

SUN LIGHT
    If you are trying to match the suns light, the =

    best way is with a mixture of incandescent bulbs =

    to give you a spread of the light spectrum, and =

    fluorescent lights to balance out the blue end.

That still leaves a bunch of questions.

How important the "correct" spectrum is to plants?

What is the "correct" spectrum? =

Do plants want/require a continuous spectrum =

matching the Suns light?

Do plants want/require a specific wavelength, or a =

specific combination of wavelengths?

Do all plants want/require the SAME wavelengths?

What to plants "do" with the wavelengths that they =

don't "want"?

Can they "use" wavelengths that they don't "like"
if they have to?

And of course, the biggie;
If there is a benefit to using GROW-LUX/VITA-LIGHT =

is it worth the extra expense?

-- =

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Bryce Grevemeyer        | Phone:    (313) 845-5589      |
| Ford ETC C370           | FAX:      (313) 845 3799      |

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Bill & Harvey
SKID  zone 6  CT  USA

(Bill writes)

..brian...
--
Standard Disclaimer Applies... Blah Blah Blah...
"It ain't bragging if you can back it up" Jaco Pastorius...

Bill Limoges

Plants don't need UV to grow.  They use mainly the red and blue parts of
the spectrum.  UV is something they protect themselves against, and a
plant that's getting "sunburned" is not a pretty sight.

Some plants do react to UV by producing pigments, Venus flytrap comes to
mind.  But it also produces that pigment under high intensity light in a
greenhouse, so I suspect that UV isn't the sole factor.

bob
--

------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand:     | Edna St.  
 Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand! | Vincent Millay

I set up a light Garden for seed-starting for the first time this spring.
I'm using regular fluorescent lights instead of grow lights, and I'm
getting some very happy, vigorous plants. Try using one warm white and one
cool white (assuming you have a light fixture that accomodates two bulbs.)

Happy Gardening!
- Anna V. in Zone 7