Light used to help plant Photosynthesis
 

Hi
just wondering, can i use a normal Halogen Lamp to help my plant grow...
I'm in Sweden and its dark most of the day in winter.. do i need a special
lamp or will a high intensity halogen do the trick.

I don't need the plant to grow super fast, just survive it through the
winter.

/Marc

Light used to help plant Photosynthesis
 

In article ,
Kalisto wrote:
Hi
just wondering, can i use a normal Halogen Lamp to help my plant grow...
I'm in Sweden and its dark most of the day in winter.. do i need a special
lamp or will a high intensity halogen do the trick.

I don't need the plant to grow super fast, just survive it through the
winter.

Halogen lights are too hot and will dry out or burn your plants.
Fluorescents are the way to go -- they emit mostly light rather
than heat, so are more economical as well. You can use pretty much
any normal sort of tube -- cool white, warm white, daylight, etc.
Here in North America, 4 foot (~120cm) fixtures and tubes are the
cheapest.

If it's just one plant, you might want to use a 15 or 20 watt compact
fluorescent in an adjustable desk lamp.

Remember the inverse square law: twice the distance from the source,
light is 1/4 as intense. Also, while there are a lot of refinements
to growing plants under artificial light, overall, quantity is more
important than quality (i.e. optimal wavelength distribution) so for
your purposes, a simple solution should be more than adequate. A
longer exposure at a lower intensity equals a shorter exposure at
greater intensity -- and unless you are trying to trigger flowering,
for most plants 24-hour light is not a problem.

Light used to help plant Photosynthesis
 

Hi Marc,

As another respondent has already told you, the way to go is definitely the
fluorescent tube style of bulb.

As he states, all standard formats (warm white, cool white, etc.) will do
the trick for you, but here in North America (I'm in Canada), there are
special plant grow fluorescents that have a broader spectrum of light and
definitely produce superior results growing plants. The slightly higher
prices over standard formats is worth the small price difference.

As the other person also stated, halogens generate enough heat to fry an egg
and an additional practical consideration is that your electricity bills
will go through the roof as the energy consumption is very high for
halogens. The average 122 cm fluorescent tube used to run 40 watts but the
new standard here is now around 32 watts, due to energy consumption
concerns.

Regards,

Gord,
Winnipeg Canada

"Kalisto" wrote in message
.se...
Hi
just wondering, can i use a normal Halogen Lamp to help my plant grow...
I'm in Sweden and its dark most of the day in winter.. do i need a special
lamp or will a high intensity halogen do the trick.

I don't need the plant to grow super fast, just survive it through the
winter.

/Marc