The Best Lights for Flowering

Wondering about the best lighting for the flowering phases of hydroponic plant cycles? It's an interesting question, and one that growers talk about a fair amount. The flowering phase can have different needs for the original vegetative phase. In the former phase, plants simply grow from seedlings getting bigger and stronger. In a flowering phase, they actually begin to bud or bear fruit.

So how do you fine-tune lighting for the flowering phases? Here are some tips that we've gotten from growers over the years.

Lighting Types

Many growers swear by using high pressure sodium bulbs for the flowering phases of a plant cycle. This is because the high pressure sodium bulbs have a lot of yellow and red light spectrum, which is great for flowering plants. Some growers will use metal halite bulbs for the vegetative phase and high pressure sodium for flowering phases. Others will use high pressure sodium all the way through, though some have cautioned that this strategy can leave plants looking “elongated and leggy.”

Adequate Luminous Intensity

For every stage of plant growth, you have to make sure the light is bright enough and distributed well to all plants. This may involve manipulating plant growth in various ways, and setting lights at just the right distance for plants.

Changing Light/Dark Cycles

Many growers also change the light and dark cycles plants use for the flowering phases. A common suggestion is to start off at 12 hours on and 12 hours off -- or in other words, 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of darkness. Growers then tend to up the level of darkness, which can trigger flowering and induce plants to act as though it's time for harvest. They will gradually increase their dark time over a series of weeks to achieve the results they want with the flowering phase. It’s also important to seal plants from light so that dark cycles are not compromised.

These are just some common types of suggestions for lighting in the flowering phases. You'll also want to make sure to use particular nutrients and other strategies to boost plant harvests. For more about all of this type of strategy and the tools that you may need to use, check out Dealzer’s web site. Our blog posts, social media forums and informational pages help you to put together projects that work. Let us help you to achieve a fully functional hydroponic garden and great harvest plant cycles.