One of the benefits of growing indoors is having the ability to control the amount of lighting that your plants receive using hydroponic grow lights. Unfortunately, the lighting and it’s schedule is often one of the things that most newbie hydroponic growers don’t pay much attention to.
Here are a couple of tips that will hopefully get you on the right track.
Create Seasons With Your Lighting
After you plant your seedlings, you should give them the same amount of lighting that they would normally get naturally from the sun at the beginning of the growing season. Since the days are much shorter during the beginning of the growing season, you should keep your hydroponic grow lights turned on for about 12 hours per day. This will allow your plants to receive 12 hours of darkness too.
How Long Should The Lights Stay On The Plants During The Peak Season?
Think about it like this: During the peak outdoor grow season, there are about 15-16 hours of natural daylight. If you want your plants to grow at their peak ability, you should mimic these lighting conditions. Give your plants 15-16 hours of daylight and 7-8 hours of darkness.
How To Automatically Turn The Lights Off And On
You can buy a timer to schedule your lights so that they automatically turn off and on. This makes using the right amount of light as simple as setting a timer! No more excuses!
How Far Should The Lights Be Away From The Plants
One of the biggest mistakes a lot of people make is not keeping the right distance between the light and the plant. If it’s too close, you will burn the plant. If it’s too far, it won’t be getting the full spectrum of light.
A good way to test weather or not the plant is too close is to put your hand directly above the top of the plant. If it’s too hot for your hand to site under all day, how do you think your plant will feel?
If it’s too far away, you should be able to tell just by looking. If the whole pot is not being hit with the light, it needs to be moved closer to the plant. You could also buy a light fixture that has a reflector that will spread the light out more evenly.
What Kind Of Hydroponic Grow Lights Produce The Most Beautiful Plants?
This is strictly my opinion, but I feel that HPS (High-Pressure Sodium) lights are by far the best grow lights available. They may more expensive, but if you are serious about starting your own productive hydroponic garden, this is an investment worth making.
I hope you have taken something out of this post today. Hydroponic grow lights play a huge role in the success of your plants. Learning how to give them the right amount of light at the right amount of times will prove crucial to growing beautiful plants worth bragging about and showing off!
