What colour light do plants grow best in a polytunnel? More than one colour light would be the best or most suitable for your beautiful growing plants in a greenhouse; these colours are blue and red.
However, these are not the only colour lights that your plants can have. Blue and red are the best colour light for growing your healthy plants in the polytunnel because they are close to the spectra that plants often use.
Additionally, your plants can also use some green and yellow light. So, what colour light do plants grow best in a polytunnel? Let’s find out!
Colour Light For Your Plants
As a UK gardener, it is vital to note that plants will grow well with most lights’ colours. Each colour’s amount or intensity will be the more significant deciding factor than the colour of the light used for your plants.
The gardener in the UK is responsible for ensuring and monitoring the proper colour of light while growing plants in the greenhouse, aside from other conditions like temperatures.
Having control over your greenhouse’s environment is its advantage, as you can create a surrounding suitable for your plants despite your location or the weather you are experiencing.
Best Color Light For Growing Your Plants
What colour light do plants grow best in a polytunnel? Gardeners in the UK often choose green, yellow and orange lights for growing plants in a greenhouse, thinking that these colours are from the same spectrum given out by the sun.
We are trying to mimic the ideal conditions that your plants require for optimal growth in a greenhouse.
Most recent studies show that your plants’ photosynthetic activity is actually in the spectrum’s blue and red frequencies.
If you want to have a beautiful and healthy yield, you’d like to use red and blue lights as these colours absorb maximum chlorophyll, beneficial for plants.
However, you must also understand that there are different types of lights and colours that you can use in a polytunnel for growing your blooming plants.
While blue and red are the best colours for growing these plants, a full spectrum LED grow light will be the ideal option for growing your plants in a greenhouse.
LED compared to fluorescent
What colour light do plants grow best in a polytunnel? When you use a fluorescent bulb, this emits blue lights that would help you attain bushier plants.
Fluorescent bulbs are also excellent when seeding your plants because they do not give off too much heat, which is very important to monitor when taking care of your growing plants in the greenhouse.
If you opt for a fluorescent lamp to ensure your plant’s growth, you may select between warm white and cool white (with more blue colour in it).
But LED lights, more energy-efficient and long-lasting, uses wavelengths that fluorescent bulbs don’t use.
Moreover, an owner, farmer, or British gardener finds it easier to choose the actual colour spectrum with LED lights, which fluorescent bulbs can’t provide.
With this in mind, the following information will discuss each colour and its different effects on your lovely plants as they grow in your greenhouse.
Blue colour
While gardeners in the UK use the blue light, always remember that the emphasis is on mixing it with other spectra of lamps.
Some plants can experience adverse effects from blue light, such as stunts in growth, as it influences the colour, energy acceptance, and leaf thickness of your plants.
A minimum intensity of blue light is enough to help with your plants’ maturity and growth rate and minimise their total water loss.
Red colour
Another influential colour of light for growing your plants is a polytunnel is red. The colour spectrum red works better if you combine it with blue to surely achieve well-developed and healthy plants.
The colour red is helpful for your plant growth, for it plays a massive role in seed germination, expansion of leaves and stem, and during flowering stages of your plants.
Green colour
Among the unique and beautiful spectrum of colours, British gardeners tend to ignore the colour green for their light because it has the least efficiency.
But according to studies based at Michigan State University, the colour green is still helpful in the photosynthesis and structure of your growing plants, especially in a greenhouse.
The green colour light helps any greenhouses with thick top canopies so that the leaves staying in the lower part still receive sufficient green light on their own to participate in photosynthesis.
Light Intensity Vs. Color Of Light
Yes, the light intensity is more important than the colour of light when growing plants in your greenhouse. Besides learning the colour spectra, it is vital to note the next step: to realise the importance of light intensity while growing your plants healthy in the greenhouse.
In general, the higher the intensity level of the light for your plants, the higher the photosynthesis rate will be.
Keep in mind that adding grow lights in your polytunnel is crucial because polytunnel glazing lessens the light available by your plants for photosynthesis.
Conclusion
Maintaining optimum and ideal conditions in your polytunnel can be challenging for some, but it is still very attainable for everyone in the United Kingdom.
Besides the proper conditions and temperatures needed for your greenhouse, note that the combination of blue and red lights is best for your growing plants because these colours are the most significant for your plant growth, stability, and structure.
Each colour has a different but equally significant role in your plant’s health, so it is vital to learn the amount or intensity of light for each colour your plants will need while growing in a greenhouse.
Nevertheless, what colour light do plants grow best in a polytunnel would depend on the plant or you. Thanks for reading, and we hope you’d check on us again!