Sunlight is composed of many different wavelengths of light, and only a tiny fraction of the solar radiation spectrum affects photosynthesis, about 5 percent of the sunlight. The optimal ratio of red light at 620-680nm and blue-violet light at 400-500nm was obtained through the study and LED plant lamp was successfully developed.
LED grow lamps can not only emit monochromatic light with narrow light waves, such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, infrared, etc., and can be combined randomly according to different needs of plants, but also be a cold light source with low heat properties, and reduce the use of chemicals such as pesticides and hormones to ensure food safety.
Below is the ratio of 14 kinds of vegetables needs light source parameters:
(1) Lettuce: red and blue light sources 6:1 and 7:1 respectively are the most suitable for planting and seedling growth.
(2) Leek: red/blue 7:1 under treatment of leek plant height, stem thick, leaf width and other mass ratio were significantly higher than other treatments.
(3)Cucumber: The best red-blue ratio in the growth period of cucumber seedlings is 7:2, and the best ratio is 7:1 in the growth period.
(4) Green vegetables and water convolvulus: the best red and blue light proportion suitable for the growth of green vegetables and water convolvulus leaves is 7:1.
(5) White Radish: the most suitable light quality for growth: red and blue proportion: 8:1.
(6) Rapeseed: the proportion of red and blue light is 9:1, which is conducive to the growth of rapeseed.
(7) Strawberry and tomato: red and blue ray 9:1 is most beneficial to the growth of strawberry and tomato, and the fruit is full and nutritious.
(8) Holly: red and blue are arranged in proportion to the ratio of 8:1. Holly grows best, is strong and has very developed roots.
(9) Budding vegetable: the most significant effect is 6:2:1 red, green and blue.
(10) Calla Lily: growth condition to supplement the red and blue ray ratio of 6:2 is the best effect.
(11) Hot sun in the palm: comprehensive analysis showed that the treatment of red and blue ray was better, which was conducive to morphology, root growth, and dry matter accumulation.
(12) Dendrobium: red and blue ray: 3, with the best proliferation effect; At 6:4, it is more conducive to photosynthesis and material accumulation of seedling plants.
Lettuce, for example, they need planting environment parameter values for:
Illumination above the plant: 2,600-2900lx (pure red and blue spectral illumination value, non-white illumination value), no natural illumination, complete artificial lighting system, the early irradiation period is open at 6h, closed at 2h, and circulates three times every day; Open at 14h and close at 10h, circulating twice a day.
Ambient temperature: 28 to 30 ℃ (late start adding air conditioning, maintain 28 ℃);
Relative humidity: 50%-70% (late air-conditioning down to about 60%).
Of course, the above data can only be used as a reference. In the actual planting process, it is necessary to set the specific plant according to the specific plant. In order to provide customers with the best plant lights, Xinjia especially sets up customized services to provide the best lighting for plants.
Greenhouse, a relatively closed production system, will play an important role in meeting the growing demand for food in the future. In recent years, the shortage of greenhouse lighting is more and more get the attention of people, on the one hand, is due to greenhouse azimuth, structure, cover material characteristics caused by the greenhouse light transmittance drop, on the other hand, is caused by a lack of sunlight greenhouse crops, as a result of climate change, such as a continuous wet weather of winter and early spring season, frequent fog weather, etc. Lack of light directly affects greenhouse crops adversely, causing serious losses to production. These problems can be effectively alleviated or solved by the plant supplementary lighting.
Incandescent lamp, fluorescent lamp, metal halide lamp, high-pressure sodium lamp and new LED lamp have all been used in the greenhouse. Among these types of light sources, high-pressure sodium lamp has high luminous efficiency, long service life, and high comprehensive energy efficiency, and occupies a certain market position. However, problems such as poor lighting persistence, low safety, and non-close irradiation are also prominent. Some scholars hold a positive attitude towards LED lamps in the future or overcoming the problem of insufficient performance of HPS lamps. However, LED is expensive, light supplement technology is difficult to complete, and the view of light supplement is not perfect. In addition, the product specification of LED plant light supplement lamp is confusing, which makes users question the application of LED in plant light supplement. Next, let's look at which led plant lamps and high-pressure sodium lamps are more effective.
Differences Between High-Pressure Sodium Lamp And LED Plant Lamp
Luminescence Principle and External Structure Differences
High-pressure sodium lamp is composed of mercury, sodium, xenon arc tube lamp core, glass shell, anaerobic agent lamp holder and so on. The ballast is divided into inductive high - pressure sodium lamp and electronic high - pressure sodium lamp.
LED, also known as the light-emitting diode, is a chip composed of a P-type semiconductor and N-type semiconductor. There is a transition layer between the P-type semiconductor and N-type semiconductor, which is called p-n junction. As the current flows from the LED anode to the cathode, the semiconductor crystal emits a different color of light from purple to red. The intensity of the light is related to the current. According to luminescence intensity and working current, it can be divided into general brightness (luminescence intensity < 10 MCD), high brightness (luminescence intensity is 10~100 MCD) and ultra-brightness (luminescence intensity > 100 MCD). The structure is divided into four major parts: the structure of the light distribution system, the structure of the heat dissipation system, the driving circuit and the mechanical/protective structure.
Differences In Irradiation Range And Spectral Range
High-pressure sodium lamp bulb light Angle is 360 °, most have to pass a reflector to exposure to the designated area after reflection, the spectral energy distribution is rough as red, orange, yellow-green, light LanZiGuang (account for only a small part).
According to the different distribution of the LED light is designed, the effective light Angle can be roughly divided into 180 ° or less, 180 ° ~ 300 ° and 300 ° or three categories. LED light source has adjustable wavelength and can emit monochromatic light with the narrow light wave, such as infrared, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, etc., which can be combined randomly according to different needs.
Applicable Condition And The Differences of Life
High-pressure sodium lamp is the third generation of lighting source. It has a wide range of conventional alternating current. It has high luminous efficiency and strong penetrability. Sodium lamp is a kind of thermal light source. In the process of use, there is also a self-extinguishing problem.
LED, as the fourth generation of new semiconductor light source, is driven by dc, with a life of more than 50000 hrs and low attenuation. Comparing LED with a high-pressure sodium lamp, it is pointed out that LED is safer, free of harmful elements and more environmentally friendly.
The Difference of Effects of High-Pressure Sodium Lamp And LED Grow Lamp on Crops
A large number of production practices and scientific researches in agricultural production have proved that artificial plant light supplement can not only increase crop yield and shorten planting cycle, but also effectively improve crop quality. In the process of seedling breeding and crop management in the greenhouse, high-voltage sodium lamp and LED are used to supplement light, which can promote the growth and development of crops and change the yield, shape and physiological indexes of crops.
Yield and Quality Differences
High yield and high quality of crops are the ultimate goals of planting and cultivation. LED light supplementation can improve the quality of seedling of pepper, tomato and eggplant, and the single fruit quality and yield of tomato plant increase obviously under the condition of 10 hours of light supplementation. The increased yield of LED light is also shown in cucumber planting. LED can improve the quality of grapefruit, in which the fruit develops the fastest with blue light supplementation treatment, the fruit has a higher single grain quality, the highest sugar content, and the single grain quality is the largest in the mature period of UV-supplementation treatment. Similarly, 70W high-pressure sodium lamp had an obvious effect of increasing yield per plant of strawberry by 17.9%. High - pressure sodium lamp and LED supplementation to have a significant effect on plant morphology. The visual fruit quality of cucumber was also improved by the LED side lighting treatment. Add LED to sodium lamp, compare only sodium lamp treatment, cucumber color more bright-colored.
Morphological Index Difference
Plant morphology index is an important index in the growth process of plants, especially in seedling production, which determines whether the plants can grow healthily after transplantation and cultivation. In general, the growth rate of LED conifer plants is better than that of a high-pressure sodium lamp.
Physiological Difference
The content of chlorophyll directly affects the accumulation of photosynthetic products in leaves. Studies have shown that the chlorophyll content of plants under LED growth is higher than that of a high-pressure sodium lamp. Both LED and hv sodium lamp can improve photosynthetic pigment content. Moreover, the accumulation of photosynthetic pigment is higher than that of hv sodium lamp and the transpiration rate is higher than that of hv sodium lamp. The special spectral proportion of LED can also affect the flowering effect of some plants. In addition, it must be pointed out that chlorophyll content alone cannot positively indicate the effect of light on the photosynthetic capacity of plants, because when plants encounter low light density environment, they will automatically adapt to the weak light stress and accumulate more chlorophyll in the leaves to obtain more light energy.
High-Pressure Sodium Lamp and LED Production Cost Difference
Compared with the traditional light source, high-pressure sodium lamp and LED have obvious advantages. High-pressure sodium lamp and red and blue LED lamp to apply top light to the plant canopy, both of which can achieve the same output, and the LED only needs to consume 75% of energy. It is reported that under the condition of the same energy efficiency, the initial investment cost of LED is 5-10 times that of the high-pressure sodium lamp device, and the initial high cost makes the LED's quantum cost per mole of light within 5 years of using it 2~3 times that of the high-pressure sodium lamp. For flowerbed plants, a 150W high-pressure sodium lamp and a 14W LED can achieve the same effect, compared to a more economical 14W LED. In the 550m2 area, the cost per kg of cucumber is $1.30 for the high-pressure sodium lamp alone, $1.45 for the sodium lamp and single-row LED lamp, $1.72 for the sodium lamp and 2-row LED, and the profit cost ratio is 2.31, 2.07 and 1.74 respectively. The use of LED in the shed room requires a large number of erections, and the one-time input cost is relatively high. For individual vegetable farmers, the investment is relatively difficult. Whether the cost reduction effect generated by LED power saving can fully compensate for its initial investment and subsequent financial costs in its effective lifespan requires careful calculation and measurement.
The most absorbed by green plants are red-orange light with a wavelength of 600~700nm and blue-violet light with a wavelength of 400~500nm. High-pressure sodium lamp and LED can meet the lighting needs of plants. The high-pressure sodium lamp has a moderate price, can be accepted by the broad masses of farmers, the short-term effect ability is better than LED, its matching supplementary light technology has been relatively mature, is still in large-scale use. However, the high-pressure sodium lamp needs to be equipped with ballast and related electrical appliances, which increases its use cost. Compared with high - pressure sodium lamp, LED has a narrow spectral adjustability, high safety, and reliability. LED has flexibility in the application of plant physiological experiments. LED can be widely used in the production of high-quality medicinal crops. Some scholars pointed out that LED technology has great potential in improving the growth of plants.
In fact, the process of planting should be reasonably selected according to the actual situation of cultivation demand, application target, investment capacity and cost control.
While many are still questioning whether vertical farming can truly solve the world's food shortage, it doesn't prevent companies from exploring food production in all kinds of extreme environments.
For example, can the agricultural production stop depend on the sky? Can the whole building be turned into a farm? How are wind towers integrated into vertical agriculture? What value can modularization and customization play in the field of agricultural production? What new technologies and models will emerge in vertical agriculture? In short, explorers are boldly accelerating the transformation of vertical agriculture, and new ways of growing vegetables are constantly being formed. Here are 13 innovative technologies and their applications that represent the latest advances in vertical agriculture: 13 cutting-edge gardening models, which are you picking?
1.Hydroponics-a method of growing plants without soil
Hydroponics, a new method of plant cultivation, is widely used in vertical agriculture. This method replaces the soil with nutrient solution, thus eliminating the bacteria and harmful substances in the soil, thus realizing the real green food production.
As the roots of plants are immersed in the nutrient solution, the monitoring of plant growth and nutrients in the nutrient solution can be easily realized through the sensor, so as to improve the optimal environment for plant growth.
2.Aerosol Growing - growing plants without soil and with little water
Aeroponics is a new type of Aeroponics that was invented by NASA in the 1990s in the United States to find effective space plant planting techniques. The technology later became known as Aeroponics, which means "plants growing in an air/fog environment with no soil and little water."
Aerosol culture is used to atomize nutrient solution into small droplets by spray device and spray directly on the root of plants to provide water and nutrients needed for plant growth.
Among the vertical agriculture technologies, aerosol cultivation is the most water-saving technology, which can reduce water consumption by 90% compared with hydroponics. At the same time, aerosol cultivation can make plants absorb nutrients more efficiently and grow healthier and more nutritious.
3.Fish and Vegetable Symbiosis - an ecosystem that integrates plant and fish farming
The fish and vegetable symbiosis system are much like the hydroponics system, but it is more optimized. The method aims to integrate fish and plants in the same ecosystem, with fish growing in indoor ponds and producing nutrient-rich waste that can serve as a nutrient source for plants on vertical farms.
On the other hand, these plants can purify and filter wastewater for use in fish ponds. The fish and vegetable symbiosis system simplifies production and economic problems and maximizes production efficiency.
Compared with most innovative vertical agriculture technologies, the application scale of fish and vegetable symbiosis system is relatively small at present.
4.Lokal - a small, self-contained household vegetable system
In September 2017, IKEA innovation lab Space10 came up with the idea of Lokal using hydroponic agricultural systems. By replacing the soil with nutrient solutions and replacing sunlight with LED grow lights, people can grow and harvest crops in indoor areas without sunlight or soil. This innovation could really help people grow fresh food in their homes.
According to SPACE 10, the system can make plants grow three times faster than traditional planting methods and reduce water consumption by 90 percent. With sensors, users can keep track of the growing status of crops on their phones. In the long run, IKEA wants to use machine learning to collect and analyze people's use of Lokal's data.
5.AeroFarms - intelligent vertical agriculture innovation
Established in 2004, AeroFarms, an American vertical farm, is a leader in indoor farming by using state-of-the-art technologies such as LED lighting, aerosol cultivation and climate control to grow vegetables without sunlight, soil and pesticides. Now the company has been able to grow more than 250 vegetable varieties.
Through sensors, the company can realize intelligent digital management of the whole process of crop growth, shorten crop harvest time, improve food quality and reduce the impact on the environment, making crop growth and harvest more controllable and efficient.
The company has built several farms around the world, including the world's largest vertical farm, which was established in Newark, the United States, in 2016. With an area of 69,000 square feet, the farm can produce 2 million pounds of vegetables and spices a year and save 95 percent of its water compared to crops grown in ordinary fields.
6. Plantscapers - buildings providing food for the tenants
Plantagon, a Swedish food technology company, has come up with an innovative solution that will allow office Spaces and buildings to feed people directly. To that end, Plantagon bought a patent for a vertical greenhouse invented by a farmer named Ke Olsson, which USES a sort of overhead transport system that gradually moves the growing box from the floor of the vertical greenhouse to the ceiling without the need for artificial lighting.
Plantagon incorporated the patent into the Office Building, which will be named the World Food Building, with the goal of producing at least 550 tons of vegetables a year, which is expected to provide daily necessities for nearly 5,000 people. To keep costs low, the building will be maintained and harvested using highly automated technology.
In addition, sunlight, temperature, nutrition and air quality will be monitored through autonomous systems.
7. VertiCrop -- urban sustainable agricultural technology
Vancouver-based VertiCrop, which launched a patent for farming techniques used in cities, was named one of the world's greatest inventions by time magazine in 2009.
Based on hydroponics technology, the technology moves specially designed floating trays through the transport system to provide the best artificial light and natural light for plants.
The design allows crops to grow healthily in controlled and enclosed environments, requiring no herbicides or pesticides at all, and yields 20 times as much as conventional farmland crops, with just 8 percent of the water needed for soil tillage.
8. Modular Farms -- produce fresh plants anywhere in the world
The modular farm system is a major innovation of the Canadian company ModularFarms. It is a completely indoor vertical farming system capable of producing healthy and fresh plants in any climate and anywhere.
The modular farm is a customized design based on the concept of the urban farm, providing modules that can be used for various purposes, and users can customize the system and expand its functions according to the needs of agriculture.
The modular farm system, which focuses on farmers' return on investment and plant health, is a perfect match for container farms and an experimental technology for vertical farming.
9.Cubic Agricultural System -- the next generation sustainable agricultural system
Dave Dinesen, CEO of Cubic Farms, a Canadian company, has pointed out in a TED talk that the company is the next generation of consistent, predictable and profitable farm product developers.
The cubic agricultural system developed by the company works through conveyor rotation, automatic nutrition conveying system and LED lighting to create the best growing environment for green plants. The water consumption is only 1/26 of that of traditional agriculture.
The company's technology completely eliminates the risk of ordinary agriculture and achieves standardized output by controlling input. The products produced by the farm are very consistent in size, taste, and color, and can also offer longer shelf lives and higher nutritional content. It also means a stable and more predictable income.
10.ZipGrow -vertical farming for modern farmers
ZipGrow, an American company, combines vertical farming with soilless farming. The working principle of its vertical planting tower is to use traditional hydroponic techniques combined with vertical gravity supply system to maximize the use of limited space and increase the benefit per unit area.
ZipGrow has essentially revolutionized vertical agriculture, including systems control, vertical planar growth techniques, and high-tech workflow design.
11.Bowery - the world's most technologically advanced commercial indoor farm
BoweryOS, a technologically advanced agricultural system developed by us indoor farming company Bowery, controls the whole indoor growing process of crops without pesticides, producing more than 30 times the yield of traditional planting methods, and can grow more than 100 kinds of herbs and green leafy vegetables.
The technology will automatically generate ideal conditions for plants while collecting growth data and providing plants with accurate light intensity and time, nutrition and purified water. Automatic irrigation systems can measure and maintain optimal levels of water needed to grow vegetables, saving 95 percent more water than traditional agriculture.
12. Skyfarm - wind vertical farm tower
British construction firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners proposed a concept called Skyfarm during the 2014 world building festival. The intention was to create a hyperboloid tower, using different farming techniques, including fish and vegetable symbiosis and traditional soil farming methods, suitable for producing crops in high-density urban areas or where land supplies are low.
The multi-story building USES bamboo to make a sturdy circular frame while maximizing the sunlight reaching the farm. The circulatory system supports the growth of crops and fish, in which nutrients from the fish are transported to the crops, which provide the fish with filtered water.
A large transparent water tank is designed at the bottom of the tower to house fish such as bass, tilapia, and barramundi. In the middle of the tower, plants are grown by hydroponics. Further up, plants grow through air mist and soil free, and the tower top is made up of water tanks and turbines.
The tower, which aims to provide urban residents with crop products that last for a short period of time throughout the year, is a typical example of a sustainable agricultural solution.
13.Sky Greens - the world's first hydraulic vertical farm
Singapore firm Sky Greens has developed the revolutionary vertical farming system, which is also the world's first low-carbon, hydroelectric farm. Vegetables are grown on the shelves and can rotate around the clock.
On the farm, the plants at the bottom absorb water, while the plants at the top get sunlight, and the whole process repeats. This method minimizes water, land and energy consumption compared to traditional farming techniques.
In addition, the system can yield 10 times more than conventional farms. Although the system is currently used to grow Asian vegetables, it can also be used to grow various fruits and other vegetables.
In general, vertical farming is becoming an attractive option, as more and more consumers have begun to accept it. And these innovative technologies will become increasingly popular and revolutionize vertical agriculture in the future!
What Are LED Grow Lights?
LED grow light is a kind of light lamp that provides light compensation to greenhouse plants according to the natural law of plant growth and the principle of photosynthesis, which can promote growth, prolong flowering period and improve quality. Also known as a plant light or greenhouse light.
When Plants Need The LED Grow Lights?
I'm sure you all know that plants need photosynthesis to grow, and one of the most powerful mediators of all is light. Because the earth's rotation and the cause of the sun, the plant in the spring, summer, autumn can access to adequate illumination, but in winter, day short night, unable to get enough sunlight to grow plants, plus the widespread use of greenhouses, light of the demand is higher and higher, so is the lack of natural light as the fill light artificially to provide the required the plants under the condition of light, to promote their photosynthesis to! In the absence of light, plants usually need to use the plant lamp to give him enough light so that he can grow better.
How To Use The LED Grow Lights To Work?
1) indoor use only.
2) do not touch the surface of the lamp when plugged in.
3) should not be used where there is water or irrigation.
4) do not let the water soak the plant lamp.
5) plant light environment temperature below 65 ℃. To the best of greenhouses, the temperature is between 25 ℃, 28 ℃.
6) it's easy to attract insects and small animals when the plant lights are on at night, so it's best to close the door to the greenhouse.
7) irradiation time should not exceed 12 hours.
8) the distance between the plant lamp and the plant is 1.5m to 4m, which is adjusted according to the power of the lamp and the demand of the plant, but it should not be too close to avoid burning the plants
Why We Need The LED Grow Lights?
1. The red and blue light needed by concentrated plants can make the plant grow its stem, leaf, and root more rapidly
2. Reduce your electric charge by up to 80% to save money
3. Minimum heat emission, reduce the cost of A/C and fire hazard
Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 25 percent
5. With an extremely long lifespan of 100,000 hours, incandescent lamps and fluorescent bulbs are generally rated at 1,500-6,000 hours
6. Pure natural light spectrum, reduce glare and eye fatigue
7. Simple installation and DIY
Where Can I Buy LED Grow Lights?
Shenzhen XinJia Light Co. Ltd is a professional manufacturer of LED grow lights, which all meet CE, FCC, CCC and RoHS standards.
In order to provide the best service and high-quality products, XinJia created the self-operated website-www.ledtopplus.com, which can make our customers easy to find what they need and fell in love with shopping.
If you want to get more information of led grow lights, you can see the passage from this link:
《How to Grow the Plants With LED Grow Lights?》
《How to Choose The Suitable LED Grow Lights For Our Plants》
Indoor plants which refer to planting a plant or vegetable indoors to complete the stages of growth, flowering, and fruiting by means of artificial intervention. For most people, indoor planting can not only grow their favorite vegetables but also help their favorite plants to grow faster through artificial regulation. As indoor planting becomes a trend, it should be understood that the most obvious defect of indoor planting is the lack of light. To solve this problem, plant lights are grown, and here's our list of the most popular indoor small led grow lamps of 2018.
1.ZW0190-00：150LEDs 100W Full Spectrum LED Grow Light ，Which The Best Seller in 2018
Although it is only 100W, the number of lamp beads is as high as 150. Besides red and blue, we specially added white light and IR, and the full spectrum can meet the requirements of various stages of illumination of plants. Bright but does not harm the eye, the high efficiency but does not consume the electricity, are you indoor planting the best choice!
2.ZW0003:10W 5PCs LED Grow Light, Small But Widely Used
ZW0003 is the most classic product in the plant lamp. It is not only low in price, small in size and easy to use, but also high in beads. It does not need a lot of electricity to generate a lot of light.
3.ZW0066：5W LED Strip Light ，Soft, Use at Any Angle That You Want
Most of the time, we will put the plants or vegetables on multiple shelves and use them. If we use the par lamp, the plants on the bottom will receive no light. In order to solve this problem, it is recommended to use the plant lamp belt: not only can it be simply installed at each Angle, but also can adjust the length of the lamp belt according to your needs. We provide corresponding connection heads and 5 supplementary power sources for each lamp band, so as to help indoor plants grow better from the perspective of customers.
4.ZW0186-00：40W Full Spectrum Led Grow Light for Indoor Plants Vegetables Greenhouse and Hydroponic
Metal casing, better heat dissipation, no need to worry about excessive heat to damage the lamp, absolute quality assurance. The exquisite appearance and thoughtful full-spectrum design can help customers save money and bring light to your plants.
5.ZW0199-00 120W Full Spectrum Led Grow Light ，Newest Product in 2018
Plastic shell, lightweight, not heavy. The left and right side and bottom of the unique cooling system can help the lamp to exert the maximum effect. One of your best choices is the newest thing in 2018
In addition to the above recommended best small plant lights, if you plan to plant large areas, you can also choose our panel lights, I believe there is always a product to your satisfaction.
《2018 The Newest LED Grow Lights Worth Buying》
The main types of facilities for horticulture include plastic greenhouses, solar greenhouses, greenhouse and plant factories, etc., because the construction of facilities blocks the natural light source to a certain extent, resulting in the insufficient indoor light, resulting in reduced crop production and lower quality. Therefore, the supplementary lighting plays an indispensable role in the quality and high yield of facility crops.
For a long time, the artificial light source used in the field of facility horticulture mainly includes high-pressure sodium lamp, fluorescent lamp, a metal halogen lamp, incandescent lamp, etc., the prominent shortcoming is high heat production, large energy consumption, and high operation cost. The development of a new type of Light-emitting Diode (LED) makes possible the application of low-energy artificial Light in the field of facility horticulture. LED has high photoelectric conversion efficiency, using a direct current, small volume, long service life, low consumption, wavelength is fixed, the advantages of low heat radiation, environmental protection, compared with the current widespread use of high-pressure sodium lamp and fluorescent lamp, LED light not only, the light quality (the proportion of the various wavelengths of light, etc.) can be according to the needs of plant growth adjustment precision, and because of the cold light irradiation can close plants, thus make the cultivated layer and improve space utilization, realize the traditional light source can replace the energy-saving, environmental protection and space efficient utilization, and other functions.
Based on these advantages, LED has been successfully applied in facilities horticulture lighting, controllable environment basic research, plant tissue culture, plant factory seedling breeding and space ecosystem, etc. In recent years, the performance of LED supplementary lighting has been continuously improved, the price has been gradually reduced, and various products of specific wavelength have been gradually developed, which will be more widely used in the agricultural and biological fields.
Effects of LED Grow Lights on The Growth of Horticultural Crops
The regulating effects of light on plant growth and development include seed germination, stem elongation, leaf and root development, phototropism, synthesis and decomposition of chlorophyll and flower induction. The elements of the lighting environment in the facility include the intensity of light, the cycle of light and the spectral distribution. The artificial supplementary light can be used to adjust the elements without being restricted by the weather conditions.
Plants have selective absorption characteristics of light, and their light signals are sensed by different light receptors. At present, there are at least three types of light receptors in plants, namely, photoreceptors (absorption of red and far-red light), cryptochrome (absorption of blue and near-ultraviolet light) and ultraviolet light receptors (UV-A and UV-b). By irradiating crops with a certain wavelength light source, the photosynthetic efficiency of plants can be improved, the photomorphogenesis of plants can be accelerated, and the growth and development of plants can be promoted. Plant photosynthesis mainly USES red-orange light (610~720 nm) and blue-violet light (400~510nm). With the use of LED technology, monochromatic light (such as red light with a peak of 660nm and blue light with a peak of 450nm) can be radiated to the band of the strongest absorption region of chlorophyll, and the spectral domain width is only + / - 20 nm.
At present, it is believed that red-orange light can significantly accelerate the development of plants, promote the accumulation of dry matter, and the formation of bulbs, roots, leaf balls and other plant organs, causing early flowering and fruiting of plants, playing a leading role in plant color enhancement. Blue and violet light can control the phototropism of plant leaves, promote stomata opening and chloroplast movement, inhibit stem elongation, prevent plants from growing in vain, and delay the flowering of plants and promote the growth of vegetative organs. The combination of red and blue LED can make up for the deficiency of the monochromatic light of the two, and form the spectral absorption peak which is basically consistent with the photosynthesis and morphology of crops. The light energy utilization ratio can reach 80%~90%, and the energy-saving effect is remarkable.
The use of LED supplementary light in gardening facilities can yield significant yield. Studies have shown that the number of fruits, total production and single fruit weight of cherry tomatoes under the light supplement of 300 pa mol/(m squared ·s)LED lamp belt and LED lamp tube 12h (from 8:00 to 20:00) significantly increased, among which the light supplement of LED lamp belt increased by 42.67%, 66.89%, and 16.97%, and the light supplement of LED lamp tube increased by 48.91%, 94.86%, and 30.86%, respectively. In the whole growth period, LED light supplementation [red and blue matter ratio is 3:2, light intensity is 300 mm mol/(m squared ·s)] treatment can significantly increase the fruit quality and yield per unit area of melon and eggplant, increasing by 5.3%, 15.6%, and 7.6% and 7.8% for eggplant. LED light quality and its intensity and duration can shorten the growth cycle of plants, improve the commodity yield, nutrition quality and morphological value of agricultural products, and realize the efficient, energy-saving and intelligent production of horticultural crops in facilities.
Application of LED Grow Lights on Vegetable Seedling
The control of an LED light source on plant morphology and growth is an important technology in the field of greenhouse cultivation. Higher plants can sense and receive light signals through photosensitive pigments, cryptochrome, and photoreceptor systems, and regulate the morphological changes of plant tissues and organs through intracellular messenger conduction. Photomorphogenesis refers to the plant's dependence on light to control cell differentiation, structural and functional changes, and the construction of tissues and organs, including the influence on part of seed germination, promotion of apical dominance to inhibit lateral bud growth, stem elongation, and inducing directional movement.
Vegetable seedling is the important link of facility agriculture. The continuous rainy weather will make the light in the facility insufficient, and the seedling will easily grow in vain, which will affect the growth of vegetables, flower bud differentiation, and fruit development, and ultimately affect their yield and quality. In production, some plant growth regulators, such as gibberellin, auxin, polyazole, and chlorophyll, are used to regulate the growth of seedlings. However, unreasonable use of plant growth regulators is likely to pollute the environment of vegetables and facilities, which is harmful to human health.
LED supplementary light has many advantages, and the application of LED supplementary light is a feasible approach. In the weak light [0 ~ 35 mu mol/(m squared · s)] under the condition of LED light supplement [25 + / - 5 mu mol/(m squared · s)] trials found that green light the elongation growth of cucumber seedlings, red and blue light moderate growth, inhibit seedling compared with natural seedling index under weak light, added red, blue, from index increased by 151.26% and 237.98% respectively, and compared with monochromatic light quality, light quality, and the fill light with red and blue components processing under strong seedling index increased by 304.46%.
Adding red light to cucumber seedlings can improve the true leaf number, leaf area, plant height, stem thickness, dry fresh quality, seedling vigor, root activity, SOD activity and soluble protein content of cucumber seedlings. Adding UV-b can improve the chlorophyll a, chlorophyll B and carotenoid content of cucumber seedlings. Compared with natural light, supplementary LED red light and blue light significantly improved tomato seedling leaf area, dry matter quality and seedling vigor index, while supplementary LED red light and green light significantly increased tomato seedling plant height and stem diameter. The biomass of cucumber and tomato seedlings can be significantly increased by the green light supplement treatment with LED green light, and the fresh and dry weight of seedling increases with the increase of green light supplement intensity, while the stem thickness and seedling vigor of tomato seedlings increase with the increase of green light supplement intensity. LED red and blue light can increase the stem diameter, leaf area, dry weight, root-crown ratio and seedling vigor index of eggplant. Compared with white light, LED red light can improve the biomass of cabbage seedling, promote the elongation of cabbage seedling and the expansion of leaves. LED blue light can promote the coarse growth, dry matter accumulation and strong seedling index of cabbage seedling, and make the cabbage seedling dwarf. The above results showed that the advantages of vegetable seedling cultivated with light control technology were obvious.
Effect of LED Grow Lights on The Quality of Fruits and Vegetables
The protein, carbohydrate, organic acid and vitamin contained in fruits and vegetables are beneficial to human health. Light quality could be regulated and controlled by VC synthesis and decomposition enzyme activity of VC content in the plant, and the garden plants of the metabolism of protein and carbohydrate accumulation regulation function, red light to promote the accumulation of carbohydrates, blue light treatment is beneficial to proteins to form, and the combination of red and blue light on plant nutrition improve effect is significantly higher than the monochromatic light.
Adding LED red or blue light can reduce the nitrate content in lettuce, adding blue or green light can promote the accumulation of soluble sugar in lettuce while adding infrared light can contribute to the accumulation of VC in lettuce. Adding blue light can promote the content of tomato VC and soluble protein. The combination of red and red and blue light treatment promoted the sugar and acid content of tomato fruits, and the ratio of sugar acid was the highest under the combined red and blue light treatment. The combination of red and blue light can improve the VC content of cucumber fruits.
Phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins and other substances contained in fruits and vegetables not only have important effects on the color, flavor and commercial value of fruits and vegetables but also have natural antioxidant activities, which can effectively inhibit or remove free radicals of the human body.
LED blue light supplementation can significantly increase the content of anthocyanin in eggplant skin by 73.6%, while LED red light and red blue light can increase the content of flavonoid and total phenol. Blue light can promote the accumulation of lycopene, flavonoid, and anthocyanin in tomato fruits. The combined red and blue light can promote the production of anthocyanin to a certain extent, but inhibit the synthesis of flavonoid. Compared with white light treatment, red light treatment significantly increased anthocyanin content in the ground part of lettuce, but blue light treatment had the lowest anthocyanin content in the ground part of lettuce. The content of total phenol in green leaves, purple leaves and red leaves of lettuce was higher in white light, combined red and blue light and lower in red light. Adding LED ultraviolet or orange light can increase the content of phenolic compounds in lettuce leaves while adding green light can increase the content of anthocyanin. Therefore, it is an effective way to use LED light supplement to regulate the quality of fruit and vegetable nutrients.
Effect of LED Grow Lights on Plant Aging
Chlorophyll degradation, protein loss and RNA hydrolysis in the process of plant aging are mainly manifested as leaf senescence. Chloroplasts are very sensitive to changes in the external light environment, especially under the influence of light quality. The combination of red light, blue light and red and blue light contribute to the formation of chloroplast morphology, blue light contributes to the accumulation of starch grains in green leaves, and red and far-red light have negative effects on the development of chloroplast. The combination of blue light and red and blue light can promote the synthesis of chlorophyll in cucumber seedling leaves, and the combination of red and blue light can also delay the decline of chlorophyll content in leaves at the later stage, and this effect is more obvious with the decrease of the proportion of red light and the increase of the proportion of blue light. The chlorophyll content of cucumber seedling leaves was significantly higher than that of fluorescent lamp control and red and blue color treatment. LED blue light can significantly increase the chlorophyll a/b value of the vegetable and the herb.
Changes in the contents of cytokinin (CTK), auxin (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA) and various enzymes during leaf senescence. The content of plant hormones is easily affected by the light environment, and the regulation of plant hormones by different light substances is different, and the initial steps of the optical signal transduction pathway involve cytokines.
CTK promotes the expansion of leaf cells, enhances leaf photosynthesis, inhibits the activity of ribonuclease, deoxyribonuclease, and protease, and delays the degradation of nucleic acid, protein, and chlorophyll, thus significantly delaying leaf senescence. There is an interaction between light and ctk-mediated development regulation, and light can stimulate the increase of endogenous cytokinin levels. When plant tissue is in senescence, the content of endogenous cytokinin decreases.
IAA is mainly concentrated in areas where growth is vigorous, and there is little content in aged tissues or organs. Ultraviolet light can increase the activity of indoleacetic acid oxidase, and low IAA level can inhibit the elongation of plants.
ABA is mainly formed in senescent leaf tissue, mature fruits, seeds, stems, roots and other parts. ABA content of cucumber and cabbage under combined red and blue light is lower than that of white light and blue light.
Peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbic acid peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT) are important protective enzymes related to light in plants.
The effects of different light quality on the activity of plant antioxidant enzymes were significant. APX activity and POD activity were significantly increased and decreased after 9 days of red light treatment. After 15 days of exposure to red light and blue light, POD activity was higher than that of white light (20.9%) and 11.7%, respectively. The content of soluble protein, POD, SOD, APX and CAT of cucumber seedling could be significantly increased by adding 4h blue light. In addition, the activity of SOD and APX decreased gradually with the extension of illumination time. The activity of SOD and APX in blue light and red light decreased slowly but always higher than that in white light. Red light irradiation significantly reduced the activity of peroxidase, IAA peroxidase and IAA peroxidase in tomato leaves, but significantly increased the activity of peroxidase in eggplant leaves. Therefore, reasonable LED supplementation strategy can effectively delay the aging of gardening plants and improve yield and quality.
Construction and Application of LED Lights Formula
The growth and development of plants are significantly influenced by the light quality and its different composition proportion. As different plants have different needs for light and different needs for light at different stages of growth and development, the best combination of light quality, light intensity and light supplement time is needed for the cultivated crops.
The Ratio of Light Quality
Compared with white light and single red and blue light, LED red and blue light showed comprehensive advantages in the growth and development of cucumber and cabbage seedling.
When the ratio of red and blue is 8:2, the stem size, plant height, plant dry, fresh weight and seedling vigor index of the plant are significantly increased, which is also conducive to the formation of chloroplast matrix and basal granule layer and the output of assimilation products. Under the treatment with the proportion of red and blue at 8:1, the seedling plant height, stem coarseness, leaf area, seedling index, ground part and whole plant fresh quality were the largest, and the seedling leaves had a higher POD and APX activity. When the ratio of red and blue was 6:3, the root activity, soluble protein content, soluble sugar content and net photosynthetic rate of cucumber seedling were the highest, and SOD activity was relatively high.
The combination of the red, green and blue matter was beneficial to the accumulation of dry matter, and the addition of green light promoted the accumulation of dry matter in the rapeseed. The effect of hypocotyl elongation was best when the ratio of red and blue was 8:1 and the ratio of red and blue were 6:3, but the content of soluble protein was the highest.
When the proportion of red and blue light was 8:1, the seedling of the muskmelon had the largest seedling index and the highest content of soluble sugar. When the proportion of red and blue light was 6:3, the chlorophyll a content, chlorophyll a/b ratio and soluble protein content of the seedling were the highest.
When the ratio of red and blue light to celery is 3:1, it can effectively promote the increase of celery plant height, petiole length, leaf number, dry matter quality, VC content, soluble protein content and soluble sugar content. In tomato cultivation, increasing LED blue light ratio promotes the formation of lycopene, free amino acids, and flavonoids, and increasing red light ratio promotes the formation of titrable acids. When the ratio of red and blue to 8:1 is used in lettuce leaves, it is beneficial to the accumulation of carotenoid, effectively reducing the content of nitrate and increasing the content of VC.
Light Intensity
Plants are more susceptible to light suppression in low light than in high light. With the increase of light intensity [50, 150, 200, 300, 450, 550 mm mol/(m squared ·s)], the net photosynthetic rate of tomato seedlings show a trend of first increase and then decrease, and reaches the maximum at 300 mm mol/(m squared ·s). The plant height, leaf area, water content and VC content of lettuce were significantly increased under the treatment of 150 umol /(m squared ·s) light intensity. Under the treatment of 200 umol /(m squared ·s) light intensity, the fresh weight, total weight and free hydroxy acid content of the ground part of the lettuce were significantly increased, while under the treatment of 300 umol /(m squared ·s) light intensity, the leaf area, water content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll a+b and carotenoid were decreased. Compared with darkness, the content of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and chlorophyll a+b in germinated black-bean sprouts increased significantly with the increase of LED supplemental photometric intensity [3, 9 and 15 displacement mol/(m squared ·s)]. The VC content was the highest when the light intensity was 3 plus mol/(m squared ·s), and the content of soluble protein, soluble sugar and sucrose was the highest at 9 plus mol/(m squared ·s). Under the same temperature condition, with the increase of light intensity [(2~2.5) lx 103 lx, (4~4.5) lx 103 lx, (6~6.5) lx 103 lx], the seedling time of pepper seedling is shortened, and the content of soluble sugar increases, but the content of chlorophyll a and carotenoid gradually decreases.
Lighting Time
The light stress caused by insufficient light intensity can be alleviated to a certain extent by appropriately extending the light time, which is conducive to the accumulation of photosynthetic products of horticultural crops and the effect of increasing yield and improving quality. The VC content of bud seedling was gradually increased with the extension of the time of illumination (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20h/ day), while the free amino acid content, SOD and CAT activity were all decreased. With the increase of the illumination time (12, 15, 18h), the fresh weight of the cauliflower plant increased significantly. The VC content of vegetable leaf and moss stem was highest at 15 and 12 hours respectively. The content of soluble protein decreased gradually in the leaves of cauliflower, but the highest was treated with the moss stem for 15h. The soluble sugar content in the leaves of the cauliflower gradually increased, while the moss stem was highest at 12h. In the case that the ratio of red and blue is 1:2, the relative content of total phenols and flavonoids in green leaf lettuce is reduced by 20h light treatment compared with 12h light exposure time, but in the case that the ratio of red and blue ray is 2:1, the relative content of total phenols and flavonoids in green leaf lettuce is significantly increased by 20h light treatment.
By above knowable, different light formula on the photosynthesis of different crop types, light morphogenesis and carbon and nitrogen metabolism in the body has different effects, such as how to get the best illumination formula, light source configuration and intelligent control strategy as the breakthrough point, need to plant species and horticultural crops should be based on demand for goods, production target, factors of production conditions, such as proper adjustment, to achieve energy saving light environment intelligent control under the condition of the target of high quality and high yield and horticultural crops.
Existing Problems and Prospects of LED Grow Lights
The significant advantage of LED supplementary light is that it can be intelligently combined and adjusted according to the demand spectrum of photosynthesis, morphological construction, quality and yield of different plants. Different kinds of crops, the same crop growth period are the requirements of light quality, light intensity and photoperiod, which requires further development and improvement of formula research light form large light recipe database, coupled with professional lamps and lanterns of research and development, to achieve the LED on the agricultural application of maximum value as the fill light, to better save energy consumption, improve production efficiency and economic benefit. The application of LED supplementary light lamp in the facility horticulture has shown great vitality but LED supplementary light has a high price and a large one-time investment, and the supplementary light requirements of various crops under different environmental conditions are not clear, the supplementary light spectrum, intensity and supplementary light time are not reasonable, which inevitably leads to various problems in the application of supplementary light lamp.
However, with the development and improvement of technology and the reduction of production cost of LED supplementary lighting, LED supplementary lighting will be more widely used in facility horticulture. At the same time, the combination of the development and progress of LED lighting technology system and new energy will enable the rapid development of factory agriculture, family agriculture, urban agriculture, and space agriculture to meet the needs of people for horticultural crops in special environments. I believe that LED Growing Lights will be more recognized and a broader consumer market.
Agricultural Robot
The world bank estimates that 50 percent more food will be needed by 2050 to sustain a growing global population. As a result, global agriculture is now facing a huge labor shortage. Through the use of robotics, many technology companies are trying to change traditional agricultural practices from planting, fertilizing, spraying, soil loosening, weeding, and harvesting, especially in areas that used to require a lot of labor. Apple picking robot: this robot USES machine vision technology to accurately identify ripe apples on the tree and sucks them down from the tree with a mechanical front like a vacuum cleaner. This way not only can pick the apples completely but also will not cause any damage to the apple trees.
The robot can also harvest apples at night and work 24 hours a week, greatly improving efficiency. Fruit farmers can view fruit growth in real time through image tools, and remotely operate the robot to pick fruit. The robot can pick apples at an average speed of 1 per second.
Besides apple picking robot and weeding robot in the field: the field weeding robot powered by solar energy, the work time can be up to 12 hours a day, through the machine recognition technology, can accurately identify weeds, through the mechanical arm to herbicide spraying of weeds, the herbicide use reduces 20 times than traditional way, greatly save the cost of agriculture, to ensure the pollution-free fruits and vegetables. At the same time, the robot weighs only 130 kilograms, far less than traditional agricultural machinery, minimizing mechanical damage to the soil.
Agricultural Plant Protection Drone
Eppo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, it is used for agriculture, forestry and plant protection work of the unmanned aircraft, the type of unmanned aircraft by the flying platform (fixed wing and helicopters, multi-axis vehicle), navigation, flight control, spraying mechanism of three parts, through the ground remote control or navigation flight control, spraying to implement, can be sprayed, seeds, powder, etc. Small unmanned helicopter has low operation height, less drift, hovering, takeoff and landing airport, without special rotor of downdraft has helped increase the penetrability of fog flow on crops, control effect is high, long distance remote control operation, the personnel to avoid the risk of exposure to pesticides spraying, spraying to improve the security, and many other advantages. In addition, electric unmanned helicopter spraying technology can save at least 50% of pesticide use and 90% of water consumption by using spray spraying, which will greatly reduce resource cost. Compared with oil moving, electric UAV is small in overall size, light in weight, with lower depreciation rate, low labor cost per unit operation and easy maintenance.
Experts estimate that by 2020, demand for UAVs will have skyrocketed, thanks to the world's advantage in plant protection.
Plant Factories
Have you ever seen a greenhouse? I'm sure most people have but have you ever seen a greenhouse with 50 or 60 stories?
Plant factory is a new indoor planting method, which is to solve resources and make full use of space. It adopts the soilless solution cultivation method, which can convert sewage into electricity, greatly reduce energy cost and provide more food.
Plants in plant factories grow almost unrestrained by natural conditions, and the growth cycle is shortened. With the use of LED grows lights, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, etc. can be harvested in about 20 days, while it takes from one month to 40 days if cultivated on the open ground.
Plant factory is the advanced stage of modern facility agriculture development, are a kind of high investment, high technology, and equipment of the production system, biological technology, engineering, and systems management at an organic whole, make the agricultural production out from the bondage of natural ecology. Anniversary of sex as planned plant products production factory farming system is in the process of agricultural industrialization absorbing achievements of application of high and new technology one of the most dynamic and potential field, represents the development direction of agriculture in the future.
Space Agriculture
Growing vegetables in the space station, this technology has been achieved.
In 1997, Russia successfully planted "moon lettuce", "cosmic carrot" and "outer space tomato" in the simulated space vegetable hydroponic experiment. In the same year, the Russian Academy of agricultural sciences and the national space agency successfully planted "space wheat" in the space greenhouse on the Mir space station.
In December 2017, foreign media reported that the United Arab Emirates recently announced its plans to plant palm trees and strawberries on Mars and announced that it expects to send a space monitor to Mars by 2020.
Space Agriculture is a new agricultural field after earth Agriculture and Marine Agriculture, which is based on Space technology and develops and utilizes Space environmental resources. These include the use of satellites or high-altitude balloons to carry crop seeds, microbial strains, insects and other samples, and induce chromosomal aberrations under special conditions such as space radiation, high vacuum, and microgravity, which will lead to the variation of biological genetic traits, so as to quickly and effectively select new varieties for space mutagenesis breeding. Using satellites and space stations to grow to produce directly in the space environment, it is used to solve the food source of space personnel, and even sell back to the ground to make up for the shortage.
Agricultural Internet of Things
In today's agricultural science and technology, agricultural iot technology is undoubtedly an important application of science and technology.
It will through a large number of sensor nodes constitute a monitoring network, through a variety of sensors to collect information, to help farmers find problems in time, and accurately determine the position of the problem, so that farming will gradually from human-centered, depends on the production model of isolated mechanical steering mode of production, for the center with information and software to use various kinds of automatic and intelligent production equipment, remote control.
Agriculture is the foundation of a country's development, and it is also related to the survival of everyone. I believe these five agricultural black technologies will bring us unexpected surprises.
With the development of science and technology. SinJia LED Grow Lights also hopes to contribute its own strength to the development of agriculture through high-quality advantages, so that more agricultural practitioners can get greater returns through LED Grow Lamps.
