Organic Herb Garden Lighting for Indoor Gardening
Indoor gardening is a good year around source for culinary and medicinal herbs, and a continuous supply of the fresh herbs you love. Many herbs are easy to grow in containers; they are attractive plants to have in your home and they smell wonderful, too. One of the most important things you need to consider in order to grow herbs year round is organic herb garden lighting.
Light Requirements
Before you rush out and buy an expensive organic herb garden lighting system, learn what your herbs' light requirements are. All plants use light for photosynthesis. Animals eat food; plants manufacture all of the food for any ecosystem by combining carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight to make sugars. These sugars provide the building blocks for all other nutrients.
But different plants have different light requirements. While some plants prefer to grow in the shade and burn easily in full sun, others love full sun and don't grow well in shade. Most herbs prefer full sun, but there are exceptions. A local gardening expert or a good organic gardening book should provide you with the information about the light requirements of the herbs you plan to grow. Plants also need dark periods for optimal health. Most plants will grow under 24/7 lighting, but they do better with several hours of darkness every day.
Incandescent Lights
Incandescent lights are a poor choice for organic herb garden lighting, even if they are called "grow lights." Incandescent lights are too "hot" and provide the wrong type of light to stimulate plant growth. Incandescent lights are an excellent choice for display lighting on your indoor herb garden, but they must be placed at least 24 inches away from the plants to prevent burning.
Fluorescent Lights
Fluorescent lights are a good choice for your indoor organic herb garden lighting. Fluorescents are inexpensive and easily available; they are also easy to set up and they have full-spectrum lighting. Fluorescents should be placed no more than four inches from the plants, so you have to keep moving them as your herbs grow.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lights
High intensity discharge lights are even better for organic herb garden lighting. They are very affordable and more efficient than fluorescent lights. Two types of HID organic herb gardening lighting are: MH (metal halide) and HPS (high pressure sodium).
MH lights give off energy in the blue end of the light spectrum. This is similar to the light at midday in midsummer. This light stimulates the growth of the plants, especially leaves. It is perfect for many herbs and for leafy vegetables, like lettuce or spinach. HPS light gives off energy in the orange part of the spectrum and is similar to evening light or fall light. Orange spectrum light encourages flowering and fruit production. An HPS organic herb gardening lighting system will help herbs like nasturtium, calendula and lavender to bloom.
For best results get combination and convertible HID organic herb garden lighting systems - you can start seedlings under MH light and then switch to HPS light to encourage flowering. An organic herb garden lighting system will ensure that your indoor herb garden will be productive all year round, giving plenty of fresh, healthy herbs for all your needs.
Light Requirements
Before you rush out and buy an expensive organic herb garden lighting system, learn what your herbs' light requirements are. All plants use light for photosynthesis. Animals eat food; plants manufacture all of the food for any ecosystem by combining carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll and sunlight to make sugars. These sugars provide the building blocks for all other nutrients.
But different plants have different light requirements. While some plants prefer to grow in the shade and burn easily in full sun, others love full sun and don't grow well in shade. Most herbs prefer full sun, but there are exceptions. A local gardening expert or a good organic gardening book should provide you with the information about the light requirements of the herbs you plan to grow. Plants also need dark periods for optimal health. Most plants will grow under 24/7 lighting, but they do better with several hours of darkness every day.
Incandescent Lights
Incandescent lights are a poor choice for organic herb garden lighting, even if they are called "grow lights." Incandescent lights are too "hot" and provide the wrong type of light to stimulate plant growth. Incandescent lights are an excellent choice for display lighting on your indoor herb garden, but they must be placed at least 24 inches away from the plants to prevent burning.
Fluorescent Lights
Fluorescent lights are a good choice for your indoor organic herb garden lighting. Fluorescents are inexpensive and easily available; they are also easy to set up and they have full-spectrum lighting. Fluorescents should be placed no more than four inches from the plants, so you have to keep moving them as your herbs grow.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lights
High intensity discharge lights are even better for organic herb garden lighting. They are very affordable and more efficient than fluorescent lights. Two types of HID organic herb gardening lighting are: MH (metal halide) and HPS (high pressure sodium).
MH lights give off energy in the blue end of the light spectrum. This is similar to the light at midday in midsummer. This light stimulates the growth of the plants, especially leaves. It is perfect for many herbs and for leafy vegetables, like lettuce or spinach. HPS light gives off energy in the orange part of the spectrum and is similar to evening light or fall light. Orange spectrum light encourages flowering and fruit production. An HPS organic herb gardening lighting system will help herbs like nasturtium, calendula and lavender to bloom.
For best results get combination and convertible HID organic herb garden lighting systems - you can start seedlings under MH light and then switch to HPS light to encourage flowering. An organic herb garden lighting system will ensure that your indoor herb garden will be productive all year round, giving plenty of fresh, healthy herbs for all your needs.
Source...