What is Horticulture Lighting?
Horticulture lighting is the method for promoting plant growth by artificial lighting fixtures when natural light is lacking.
Professional horticulture lighting is not just about supplying adequate light for plant growth via the improvement of photosynthesis, but also about helping plants to produce a more attractive flower, better shape of leaves and more fruit as well as reduce or lengthen a particular growing phase.
For professional horticulture lighting, the proper tailored recipes are important for optimization of plant growing on purpose. The specific needs of different plants in each growing stage and each part of plant organs determine which lighting recipe is better for optimize growth.
Growth
Aside from the factors including temperature, humidity, water, oxygen, carbon and nutrients, unique characteristics of lighting also play a major role in controlling plant growth. The light intensity, spectrum and duration impact plants' morphology, growth, fruiting as well as flowering.
Photosynthesis
Plants can transform light energy into chemical energy by photosynthesis. Plants need to consume special light spectra emitting in order to generate essential elements, such as chlorophyll, anthocyanin, carotenoid and phytochromes, within it's organs for growing. A professional horticulture lighting recipe must optimize the spectrum of light source to meet the plants needs for photosynthesis in order to maximize the growth speed and reduce the electrical energy consumption at the same time.
PAR: Photosynthetically Active Radiation
Photosynthetically active radiation, also known as PAR, stands for the spectral range of solar radiation from 400nm to 700nm. It defines the light the plant requires to support photosynthesis. In this range, plants' photosynthetic organisms are able to absorb light in the process of photosynthesis.
PPF: Photosynthetic Photon Flux
Photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) is a measurement that establishes the overall amount of photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) a light releases. It values all photons from 400nm to 700nm based on the plant's photosynthetic response.
PPFD: Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density
Photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) is another measurement that offers the same information as PPF. It also represents the photons in the spectral range of 400nm to 700nm. While the distinction between them is that PPF measures the amount of photons given off from a light source. On the other hand, PPFD refers to how many photons drop on a surface area in square meters.
