Ensuring a sufficient amount of light to grow seedlings will make healthy plants. Every year with the onset of the season, garbryer lovers make everything possible to grow good seedlings using various devices. One of these is a lamp for seedlings.

Plant lighting is the key to the success of the future harvest. Seedlings we begin to grow in winter when the light day is short and additional lighting is simply necessary, especially in the morning and in the evening. It is also desirable to take care of the lighting and in the event that the windows on which the seedlings will grow are turned to the north or if your apartment is located on the 1st floor. You can buy a lightweight lamp in a specialized store, but its price is equal to the cost of high-quality greenhouse. Therefore, many gobble-lovers cope with the task of themselves and collect the lamp to grow seedlings.

What are the advantages of lamps to make seedlings:

• with early growing seedlings, artificial extension of the daylight;
• due to the additional light, the plants receive uniform lighting, which means that they are developing correctly. If we grow seedlings without artificial lighting, the sprouts will be very pulled out or incorrectly developed;
• artificial light helps plants to develop in stages, reaching certain sizes.

As practice shows, artificial readiness is necessary when growing any garden culture. But, how and how and how it is better to do - the question is interesting and complex.

Ways of highlighting seedlings

To ensure sufficient coverage of seedlings at home can be different ways: natural and optional. With the first method - lighting without the use of lamps, you need to build a design that resembles a box on the windowsill. The perfect material is a dense cardboard box. The top and the lateral part are cleaned, only low-boards are left. The inner part of the device is glued with foil. It turns out that the sunlight will fall on the foil, and that in turn - reflect. Such a simple method allows you to highlight the culture from all sides. The adaptation is economical, affordable and even quite efficient. The disadvantage of such a backlight is that it is impossible to grow a large amount of seedlings on a small windowsill. In addition, if the window comes to the north or day of overcast, then the light will not be enough and the foil will remain without "work". In this case, additional lighting lamps are required to highlight seedlings.

What is the color spectrum for plants?

Before proceeding with the lamp, it is necessary to determine the color spectrum and designate "useful" for seedlings. The next step will be the choice of lamp type, but about it a little later.

The opinions of many gardeners diverge: someone believes that it is necessary to grow seedlings exclusively "on blue" color, and someone on the contrary, claims that only red plants are needed. Another misconception comes down to the fact that the seedlings do not need green. And in vain, because it is necessary for normal growth, and it is impossible to experiment with this.

What gives plants each color:

• red - it is necessary to use for an adult plant to speed up the flowering and formation of fruits;
• blue - without him it is impossible to grow strong seedlings. It helps the root system to become stronger, and green is stronger. If the seedlings are not enough blue, it will stop stretching up, the stalks will become thicker, and the leaves are larger;
• other color components can not be used - their plant will be able to receive naturally. It is enough that the sunshine through the window will drink plants.

And the most important thing is that it is necessary to take into account when building a lamp for highlighting seedlings: the main goal is to grow healthy seedlings, and not harvest right from the windowsill. Therefore, we make focus on blue and muffled red.

Types of lamps. What to choose?

Popular and effective lamps for growing seedlings that can be built with their own hands:

1. Sodium lamps (high pressure). Such devices will provide a consistently warm light that will be favorable to develop seedlings. The high cost of the components, as well as the presence of the power regulator does not allow the average gardener to make an independently lamp.
2. Phytolampa. A good option for highlighting seedlings. It has a spectrum of pink and purple colors, which is ideal for plants. From the minuses it is worth noting that a special mirror reflector must be installed, since such a color is very harmful to humans (can cause severe headache). Despite this disadvantage - lamps are in demand.
3. Metallogenic sodium lamps are available, easy to care, but they are not blue, which significantly affects the development of plants - they are poorly gluable and slowly developing.
4. Fluorescent lamps for seedlings - the second common name "Daylight lamp". A good option is easy to make such a fluorescent lamp for seedlings with your own hands.
5. Classic incandescent lamp. Eastern and ineffective, since only 5% of the energy given will be transformed into light, and the remaining 95% will go into the air as thermal radiation. As a result of using such a lamp, seedlings will dry, stretch up, getting burns.
6. LED lamps are effective and durable. With such a lamp is easy to pick the desired range.

How to make lamps for seedlings at home

From said list of devices for the illumination of plants, is effective lamp with LEDs.

Let us consider the advantages of LED lamps for seedlings:

1. The possibility of combining 2 spectra: red and blue.
2. LEDs are sold in any hardware store in the department of electrical goods. Are inexpensive.
3. The lamps consume the minimum amount of energy, while give up a lot of light. For good development, seedlings require at least 6 thousand suites. A LED lamp is coping with this task.
4. Easy to mount and just exploit.

For growing seedlings at home, LED lamps are just suitable. They lightly illuminate plants.

What is needed to build a lamp at home:

• lEDs (red and blue color);
• termocles. For the price it is a bit more expensive than the thermalcase, but more efficiently, so you decide that you are better to purchase;
• the base for fastening diodes. It may be a plate, aluminum profile, an old line;
• power supply or driver to stabilize current and voltage;
• fork;
• cord.

How to build a lamp, see photo:

Diodes are collected and attached to the driver. It must be connected to the switch and fork. If 4 colors are used: blue, red and 2 White shade, then you need to take a double switch and connect the wires so that you can control the light.

LED tape can be fixed on the basis of double-sided sticky ribbon or special devices. Then collect in the chain.

To ensure optimal lighting for growing seedlings, it is necessary to alternate the LEDs on the tape in this order: first 2 red, then 1 blue and so on.

Note that the Red LEDs feed from 1.8-2.2 volts, and blue from 3-3.5. Therefore, in order not to burn the light bulbs, instead of the power supply, it is better to purchase a driver (pulse power supply). Such a device will stabilize the current and voltage.

IMPORTANT: If seedling will be grown not on the windowsill, but in a closed box, then you need to purchase more dairy and pure white diodes. The first will be responsible for midday lighting, the second - for the morning. Reds need to take 30 diodes, blue 20 and 10 white.

The convenience of LEDs is that they can be installed as you like. It is advisable to arrange the light bulbs in 2 rows (on 2 line) so that there is an uniform lighting of seedlings. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the LED has a different lighting angle (from 70 to 120 ^oC), so they need to be installed so that each light bulb does not overlap the neighboring.

For growing strong seedlings, it is necessary to use only blue and red diodes (2: 1). But after picking the plant, a strong stress is obtained, so they need peace, which means that the lighting intensity can be reduced. It is enough to freeze the plants in the same red and blue, but with low intensity - 1: 1.

Now let's stop at this moment as the lighting area. At what distance fasten the LEDs so that the plants get the maximum amount of light? If you install the lamp at a certain height, the lighting area will be increased, but the light power is reduced. If you increase the distance of 2 times, then the power of light will fall 4 times. It turns out that the LED lamp cannot be raised high, since the illuminated area will be larger and the plants will not receive enough light.

How to make a lamp for seedlings you will learn from this video. Footage:

Ultraviolet lamp for seedling

For mass cultivation of seedlings, the lamp with ultraviolet is rarely applied. Despite this, good results are noted when using them. The fact is that the UV lamp acts on the same principle as the sun's rays - they are invisible for the human eye, but transmit a small dose of X-rays in a purple spectrum. For plants, such rays can become useful.

In the room, such a lamp can be placed in the window opening, above boxes with seedlings or install cups with plants right under the lamp, which is often installed in the kitchen under kitchen cabinets.

Another thing is LED lamps for seedlings. They have a high efficiency and the ability to regulate the color spectrum. You can make backlight for plants in just a few hours.

What do you need:

1. Buy some inexpensive lamps.
2. 2 daylight lamps for each lamp.
3. In the place where the boxes are arranged with a seedler, it is necessary to protect the white fabric or install reflective foil. It is necessary in order for seedlings to be lit from all sides.
4. Secure the lamps on the loop of the wire - this is the best option, as it will easily remove the lamps and move them to a new place.
5. You can make the design thoroughly and save every centimeter of the useful area. Install the shelves at an altitude of 36 cm from the windowsill and by 22 cm. You can arrange strawberries and petunias. The bottom shelf will take seedlings - here it will be comfortable and not hot.

The only drawback of LED lamps is a high cost, which will pay for a maximum in 2 years.

Watch this video comparing the two types of lamps:

How to find out, suits plants lamp or not?

Find out whether the lamp designed is suitable for seedlings or not - very simple. It is enough to observe the growth of seedlings. If the stalks are thin and began to stretch up, then there is not enough light. If the seedlings are strong and healthy, it will say that the lamp copes with its task.

I wonder how to know whether plants are not hot under the lamp? It is necessary to simply put the palm under the lamp and hold it for a few seconds - if you feel warm, it means the seedlock "fries" under the lamp. The second way is to observe the seedle if its leaves began to clog, it is better to take a break and turn off the lamp.

For each plant there is its own norms. One will be enough 13 hours of light, and another needed 17. What must be done, so it is to freeze the plants on a cloudy day. You can visually determine the need for light so: if you turn on the lamp and in the room will be more comfortable (the illumination increased), it means that the light of the plants are needed. If the difference is not observed, it is not necessary to include additional lighting.

Make yourself lamp for the lighting seedlings is easy. The main desire and a little diligence, and then you will have to collect a good harvest.