Hydroponics gardening makes a great hobby anytime of year, but especially during those dark cold winter months. In this system of indoor gardening, plants are grown without using soil. Instead, they are grown in a growing medium, feeding off of nutrient solution. As with any type of indoor gardening method, hydroponics gardening requires the use of grow lights in order for the plants to be able to synthesize food, grow, and reproduce, producing flowers or fruit. HID lights are often used for this purpose. HID, or high-intensity discharge lights, come in several varieties, including metal halide grow lights and HPS grow lights. All HID lights require a digital ballast in order to control electrical current through the lamp and ensure its proper function. Most also benefit from being used in conjunction with a reflector, which will direct and intensify the light that the bulb produces. LED grow lights are also very popular. These lightweight lights, using light- emitting diodes, produce a lot of light in colors useful for plant growth, and are cost effective as well. All of these lamps make great grow lights for hydroponics.
Metal halide grow lights consist of an arc tube made of alumina, inside of which is argon, mercury vapor and a variety of metals. The different metals give color to the light the lamp produces. The argon gas is used to get the lamp going at first when electrical current is introduced inside the arc tube from electrodes on either end. The arc of current vaporizes the metals and mercury, and thus light is produced. The benefit of using these lamps is that for such small bulbs they produce a lot of light, and are efficient to run.
HPS grow lights are also called high-pressure sodium lights. Like the MH lights, HPS lights also use an alumina arc tube. Inside this tube you will find sodium, mercury, and the noble gas Xenon to get the light started. Like the metal halide lights, HPS lights also require a ballast for their use, to stabilize their operation.
LED grow lights are similar in function to the lights you might see on Christmas trees during holiday times. They are a small, efficient and very bright light. The diode functions as a semi-conductor, and there are two crystals in this type of bulb. LED bulbs light up when electrical current moves from one crystal to the other. The light produced is surrounded by a reflector and is used with a lens to emit the light where you want it to go.
All of the aforementioned grow lights work well to grow your indoor plants to full horticultural splendor. They are also economical to run, and can be selected in terms of the color spectrum of light they produce in order to provide your specific plants with what they need to thrive.
Hydroponic gardening is one of the most popular methods for plant production. This form allows people with no land, or land unsuitable for plant growth, to produce food and flowers with ease. As you go about building your hydroponics system you will will want to invest in excellent grow lights. Many gardeners choose HID, or high intensity discharge, grow lamps because they most closely resemble natural sunlight, and this is conducive to excellent plant growth in an indoor growing situation. However, not all grow lights are created equal.
There are five types of HID lights, and they include mercury vapor, low-pressure sodium, xenon short-arc lamps, metal halide and high-pressure sodium. Metal halide and high-pressure sodium make great hydroponic lights.
A metal halide grow light produces a light in the blue spectrum, which is useful to young plants to help them attain maturity. For this type of light to work, electricity flows through a mix of metal halides and mercury, as well as argon gas. The metal halides have an affect on the color of light the lamp produces as well as the strength of the light. Metal halide lights are made up of a metal base and a bulb made out of glass. Inside the lamp you will find wires, a quartz arc tube, tungsten electrodes, metals and gas. In order for a metal halide lamp to function properly, you must use an electrical ballast. The ballast controls the flow of electricity to the light bulb, and metal halide bulbs, when used with specially designed electrical ballasts, allow for dimming of the light as well. Metal halides offer a great deal of control over the color temperature, or the color of the light, produced, which is why hydroponic gardeners like these lights.
A sodium vapor light, on the other hand, uses sodium to produce light in the red spectrum. Unlike the metal halide lamp, the high pressure sodium light uses an alumina arc tube. Alumina makes use of a diffused aluminum oxide, which is necessary because of the great deal of chemical activity that occurs with a high pressure sodium arc within the bulb. A high-pressure sodium lamp also must use a ballast to control the flow of electricity to the light, much as it does in the metal halide application.
Indoor gardeners enjoy using both of these types of bulbs because they give off a very intense light, which is needed by plants to thrive. Blue spectrum light of metal halide bulbs is beneficial when plants are young to enhance growth, while red spectrum light provided by high-pressure sodium lamps helps plants produce flowers and fruit. Select both lamps to enhance your plants' entire lifetime photosynthesis needs.
Susan Slobac has sinced written about articles on various topics from Landscaping, Home Improvement and Home Management. As the owner of a hydroponics gardening supply store, Susan Slobac has a great deal of experience using grow lights for hydroponics gardening. She discusses the differences between. Susan Slobac's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.