Best Hydroponic Lighting Tips explained!

Looking to start your own hydroponics project in a part of your home or commercial space? You may be wondering about some of the big questions related to the best ways to use light in enabling photosynthesis.

It turns out lighting is a lot more complex than just having some lamps above the grow space. You need the right luminosity and light spectrum, and you also need to optimize light in a number of other ways.

Here are some of the tips that growers can use to get more out of a crop cycle.

Eliminating Corner Plants

This tip is fairly easy -- it has to do with how light is naturally distributed outward from a light bulb.

Look at a lamp or other light fixture, and you’ll see a “cone” of light. It starts thin, and broadens as it moves further from the light source.

The problem is that this is not a viable solution for hydroponics. What this does is, it lights various plants and leaves others in the darkness. We sometimes call these other neglected plants “corner plants.”

So if light is naturally like this, how do you get around it? Use other materials to bounce light off of surfaces and redistribute it. One of the most common is interior aluminum or mylar reflective services that will bounce light around the grow box and distribute it to plants.

Avoid Burning

Some growers get an unpleasant surprise when they start to see plants brown or wither. They don't know what's going on until they finally realize -- my plants are getting burnt!

Having an adjustable lighting system helps you to prevent burnt plants as they grow toward the light.

Light Tracks and Other Tools

Another option is to broaden or spread out your light by having a continual light source around the perimeter. New LED lights can come in different forms, like a light track that distributes light further than a single bulb.

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Growers also use various topping and canopy approaches to get plants more access to light. This may involve pruning heads off of plants, or otherwise opening up the canopy to receive light. We often talk about sea of green or screen of green approaches to open up a grow area and get a more lush and abundant harvest.

These are some of the basic strategies for getting more light into the grow area. Light is an essential part of photosynthesis, and your plants need to be able to use it effectively.

For more, check out Dealzer and everything that we offer hydroponic growers.