Supplemental UV Plant Lighting — Is It Worth It?

When discussing grow lights, we are generally concerned with visible light, which occuplies the 400 nm to 700 nm range. Different colors correspond to different wavelengths within this range. You may have overlooked Ultraviolet light.

Ultraviolet light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that comes from natural sunlight. This light is broken up into three different sections of different wavelengths:

UVA = 400nm-315nm

UVB = 315nm-280nm

UVC = 280nm-100nm

While UVC is not naturally present on Earth due to our atmosphere, UVA and UVB are both a key part of life.

 

UV has been shown to increase the amounts of THC, CBD, and terpene production in cannabis plants.

UV light is extremely important for plant growth too. In safe doses, UV helps produce oils that create the great smells and tastes you are looking for in your crop. That’s what the plant produces to protect itself from more UV exposure. Just like us, plants create their own natural sunblock.

UV light can speed up the germination process for starting seeds when grown indoors. As growers transplant seedlings to more intense light sources, UV strengthens the plants, better preparing them for high intensity light. Transplanting seedlings from low intensity lighting to high intensity lighting can shock or slow the plant’s growth. This is especially true when moving young plants from indoor to outdoor. Exposure to UV in the early stages of plant growth reduces shock time and speeds up the production process.

Cannabis responds to the stress and sunburn from UV wavelengths by creating its own sunscreen in the form of trichomes. The more trichome production the higher the THC and CBD levels. So in marijuana growth, trichomes filled with THC is the best natural sunblock for UV radiation. The marijuana plant produces more THC to compensate for high UV light exposure. For this reason, feeding your marijuana plants low levels of supplemental UV light will actually help them and generally result in better crops, as is the case with cannabis.

Growing weed indoors is possible, but not exactly the easiest thing to do, especially for beginners. The plant is deprived of natural sunlight, which can be a significant hindrance to its growth. That being said, UV grow lights can provide a promising solution, but you have to use it right.

ultraviolet light causes the production of resin, and with it THC and CBD, in order to protect the marijuana plant from harmful UV rays. Thus, adding UV light to LED grow lights results in an increase in THC in the resulting buds.

The UV we’re worried about corresponds to 280–400 nm on the electromagnetic spectrum, and the vast majority of LED grow lights on the market today do not provide anything in this range at all. It’s actually not part of the light that qualifies as PAR, since it’s not visible. You will pretty much never see it on grow light spectrum charts

So how to give your plants UV?

A supplemental grow light will be a good choice.

Then the question is coming again, how to choose a good supplemental UV grow light？ I want to share with you my best experience with these supplemental grow light.

ECO Farm 30W UV Supplemental Quantum Board

 

Grow with 395nm enhancing wavelengths. Proven to grow bigger, fatter more colorful buds and help your canopy absorb the white light at higher intensities, resulting in significantly higher yields.

This ECO Farm enhancer is comprised of quality components from the Driver to the LG high-efficiency LED arrays.

Engineered to be the best on the market for bloom enhancers in efficiency, spread, and spectrum. Imagine what this ECO Farm Enhancer can do for your grow!

ECO Farm 30W UV Supplemental LED Grow Light

 

395–400nm UV-A level LED blacklight. No UV-B/UV-C harmful wave length. SPRCIAL and SCIENTIFIC DESIGN: Each LED chips of black light has their owns reflectors, our ultraviolet lights can offer more concentrated, stable and uniform lighting effect.

Can effectively inhibit the bacteria & insect in the air, the soil and the surface of plants etc.

6ft long cord and ON/OFF Switch make this UV lights safer when using it. You can adjust the length of cord to match your need and turn on/off the UV flood lights via switch instead of removing the power cable frequently. This UV LED floodlights has stand that easy to be fixed on the wall or ground. Easy to position with adjustable bracket.

These two type of supplemental UV grow light can completely meet your requires. You can make a choice between them according to your actually situation.

The one thing you need to watch out for with UV is over-exposure. UV is HOT and it can burn your plants if you’re not careful (just like it can burn people). You don’t need it to be on all the time! Your best bet is to start off with a short period of exposure daily and gradually work your way up to 4–5 hours a day around your peak daylight hours. If you’re on a 12–12 cycle then having the UV on between hours 4–8 should give you the best results.

Once you’ve got it set up you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy your super potent crop come harvest. Hope your have a good time with your girls!

Supplemental UV Plant Lighting — Worth It!