The beauty of indoor hydroponics is the ability to provide your plants with exactly what they need all the year round with no need to worry about the weather or soil conditions. You can control every aspect, and in this article we will concern ourselves with manipulating the light cycles to maximize the growth of your plants. Doing this right means you can enjoy any fruit, vegetable, or berry when it’s in or out of season at any time of the year.
Mimicking the Seasons With Grow Lights
With the sophistication of technology we now have access to a variety of light bulbs, power strips, and timers to we can create the perfect light cycles. Specific plants are used to growing in their respective climates related to the latitude and longitude, length of day, and seasonal effects. Grow lights allow us to control this very tightly through each type of plant’s growth cycle, from sprouting, blooming, and producing. As a matter of fact, it will be you triggering the movement through the growth cycle with your knowledge of grow lights. There are four ways to achieve this.
Length of Day
In nature, plants typically begin a strong period of growth during the warmth and longer days of the Spring season and then continue on to maturity during the longest days of Summer. With timers and knowledge, you can create artificial seasons or mimic real ones in order to produce plants when and how you want. Of course each plant is different and light isn’t the only factor involved, but it is largely the most important signal to manipulate the plant’s internal clock.
Temperature and Humidity
Temperature is another regulating factor in a plant’s growth cycle. It is not just the temperature and humidity in the air but also that of the soil. Warm, moist soil inspires seeds to sprout while warm exposure to powerful light encourages the production of longer stems and leaves reaching up to your bulbs. By restricting temperature, you can signal to the plants that it’s time to divert growth energy into production energy, whether that be flowers, fruits, or seeds. Remember, some plants will go through several harvests so you will even need to mimic Winter using ventilation.
Water Access
As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” This is because the Spring often brings on increased rainfall that continues into Summer. This increased humidity and moisture signals and allows the plants to sprout and build strong stalks and buds. When water access decreases along with lessening light, the plant will being attempting to produce offspring to continue it’s existence. You will use timers to provide and restrict access to water and nutrients to your plants.
Quality of Light
The temperature of light (not the heat, but the wavelength) changes over the seasons based on the sun’s average position in the sky. The colors change from blue to red over the month’s, also a part of the plant’s signaling process to move into the next stage of the growth cycle. You can control this by swapping bulbs when you’re ready.
Factors for Increased Growth Output
To reiterate the above information from another angle, it’s useful to consider the factors that influence plant growth in a list form. Let’s take a look below:
Mimicking the Seasons With Grow Lights
With the sophistication of technology we now have access to a variety of light bulbs, power strips, and timers to we can create the perfect light cycles. Specific plants are used to growing in their respective climates related to the latitude and longitude, length of day, and seasonal effects. Grow lights allow us to control this very tightly through each type of plant’s growth cycle, from sprouting, blooming, and producing. As a matter of fact, it will be you triggering the movement through the growth cycle with your knowledge of grow lights. There are four ways to achieve this.
Length of Day
In nature, plants typically begin a strong period of growth during the warmth and longer days of the Spring season and then continue on to maturity during the longest days of Summer. With timers and knowledge, you can create artificial seasons or mimic real ones in order to produce plants when and how you want. Of course each plant is different and light isn’t the only factor involved, but it is largely the most important signal to manipulate the plant’s internal clock.
Temperature and Humidity
Temperature is another regulating factor in a plant’s growth cycle. It is not just the temperature and humidity in the air but also that of the soil. Warm, moist soil inspires seeds to sprout while warm exposure to powerful light encourages the production of longer stems and leaves reaching up to your bulbs. By restricting temperature, you can signal to the plants that it’s time to divert growth energy into production energy, whether that be flowers, fruits, or seeds. Remember, some plants will go through several harvests so you will even need to mimic Winter using ventilation.
Water Access
As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” This is because the Spring often brings on increased rainfall that continues into Summer. This increased humidity and moisture signals and allows the plants to sprout and build strong stalks and buds. When water access decreases along with lessening light, the plant will being attempting to produce offspring to continue it’s existence. You will use timers to provide and restrict access to water and nutrients to your plants.
Quality of Light
The temperature of light (not the heat, but the wavelength) changes over the seasons based on the sun’s average position in the sky. The colors change from blue to red over the month’s, also a part of the plant’s signaling process to move into the next stage of the growth cycle. You can control this by swapping bulbs when you’re ready.
Factors for Increased Growth Output
To reiterate the above information from another angle, it’s useful to consider the factors that influence plant growth in a list form. Let’s take a look below:
- Nutrient and Water Access
- Temperature Control
- Aeration Management
- Light Cycle Control