The use of LED grow lights to produce direct or indirect sunlight caught my attention on Reddit.
While reading about how to care for plants and seeing articles that address it, some indoor gardeners wonder if plants need direct or indirect sunlight. They were unable to distinguish between direct and indirect light from the lights to help plants grow indoors.
Are you confused about this? Keep reading; we’ll help you find the solution.
Is Direct Light or Indirect Sunlight Better for Plants?
The amount of light required for plants to thrive varies depending on the type of plant and is always determined by the lighting needs of your specific plant.
While some outdoor plants prefer partial sun or complete shade, many need direct sunshine. Bright indirect light is best for the majority of indoor plants.
Is A Grow Light Considered Direct Sunlight?
Many beginner plant growers typically use grow lights that provide indirect light. However, for experienced farmers and dedicated hobbyists, there are grow lights available that are powerful enough to replicate direct sunlight.
Plant lights are definitely not direct sunlight. I mean, they’re not from the sun. But they are specifically designed to mimic the wavelengths of sunlight that plants need to grow.
In a way, grow lights can be compared to indirect sunshine because they give plants another source of light.
The type of indoor grow lights, the distance between the light and the plant, and the level of light intensity all play a role in the answer.
What does direct sunlight mean? Direct sunlight refers to a strong light source, and even a very low-powered plant light can achieve this at close range.
For example, an ordinary home light bulb with an output of roughly 800 lumens will create “indirect light” at a distance of 10 inches (25 centimeters) and “direct light” at a distance of 2 inches (5 centimeters).
However, based merely on where the plants are positioned and how the sunshine strikes them, sunlight can also be categorized as direct or indirect.
Even if the window does receive direct sunshine, sheer drapes can diffuse the brightness and make it appear indirect.
What Does Bright Indirect Light Mean?
Indirect sunlight refers to light that is not directly from the sun, but instead, it is reflected or filtered through other sources.
While searching for plant care tips, you may have encountered the term “bright indirect light”.
The morning is sunny, so you decide to open the window and let your houseplants bask in the positive sunlight.
Do you believe that the refracted light coming in at this time is sufficient to provide all indoor plants with bright indirect light?
In fact, bright indirect light is the level of light intensity that plants need to grow and photosynthesize. It is equivalent to about 800-2,000 FTC, which is bright enough for this purpose.
In order to understand light, you can’t just consider the presence or absence of the sun; you also need to think about the angle of visibility from where the plant is located versus how the plant looks at the sky.
- Your plant is at the top of a shelf, it has a small view of the sky.
- Beside a window with a sizable portion of the sky visible, your plant has a wide area of the visible sky.
To significantly enhance the growth of your houseplants, try seeing the sky from their viewpoint. This will help you understand their field of vision and the considerable difference in angles.
Click and View this video. It shows the view of the plant seeing the sky from the shelf versus the view of the sky from the ground by a window, as well as test proofs using a light meter.
Are LED Grow Lights As Good As Sunlight?
In general, sunlight emits a better quality of light for plants. This is because plants can get the light they need to grow in the blue and red spectrum of light necessary for growth from the sun.
However, the light filtered through windows (indirect light) is not as strong or consistent as direct sunlight.
Indoor gardening can be done with LED full-spectrum plant grow lights, which provide high-quality light that is almost equivalent to natural sunlight.
This allows plants to thrive even indoors. Additionally, these lights provide a broad view of the sky for your greenery.
For your plants, grow light like a tanning bed. It provides them with a more focused spectrum and certain wavelengths of radiation. A small solar spa for your seedlings, if you will!
If you have an understanding of how LED grow lights work, you are more likely to learn that full-spectrum plant grow lights can also do a better job of providing ideal light intensity than direct sunlight.
Sun vs Grow lights? Indirect vs Direct light?
Direct sunlight and grow lights are two different light sources, but both can be considered direct or indirect light. Here are some of the differences between the two.
- Spektri. Direct sunlight provides all light, which includes all the colors of the rainbow. LED lights for growing plants indoors provide the specific wavelengths of light that are most beneficial to plant growth.
- Valon intensiteetti. Direct sunlight has a higher light intensity than your lights. Plants get more energy from sunlight than grow lights, but this also means that direct sunlight is too intense for some plants.
- Availability. Direct sunlight is limited by the season and weather. Grow LED lights for indoor plants can be used at any time of the day, regardless of the weather.
- Controllability. You can control your lights to provide a specific amount of light at a specific time, whereas humans cannot control nature.
- Distance. Direct sunlight can be more difficult to control in terms of distance, while you can adjust the distance between your grow lights and your plants to provide the right amount of light.
Lämpimiä vinkkejä
If you’re looking to promote plant growth, it’s not advisable to use fluorescent bulbs that only emit blue light, incandescent lamps that only emit red light or lamps that emit only purple light.
Kun choosing an indoor grow light LED, various factors come into play such as the type of plant, the growing conditions, and the grower’s specific goals.
Is Indirect Sunlight Enough For Indoor Plants?
Each plant has different light requirements, but for small houseplants, indirect sunlight is sufficient.
Please take care to provide low, indirect light for your plants. Even indoor plants require sufficient light to finish photosynthesis. When necessary, it also needs to be combined with LED grow lights to assist growth.
Is Morning Sunlight Better Than Afternoon Sunlight?
Indirect light is ideal for many indoor plants. They are too sensitive to the strong direct sunlight in the afternoon.
Certain indoor plants can benefit from this soft direct light because morning sunshine is not as intense.
Wrapping It Up
You are better knowledgeable about what is indirect sunlight and what is the difference between direct and indirect sunlight. By choosing the best location for your plants‘ lighting needs, you meet the primary requirement for growing beautiful, healthy plants.
Investing in LED grow lights is a wise choice for any plant owner. They can help plants not only survive but also thrive in growing environments that are less than optimal.
There will also be those who insist that only natural sunlight is considered “real” sunlight.
But in my opinion, as long as the plant light also gives energy to the plants as sunlight does and makes your plants happy, that’s enough. It doesn’t matter if it is direct light or indirect light.
Go ahead and let your plants bask in the glow of the LED grow lights.
Jayes
AUXGROW:n digitaalisen markkinointipäällikkönä Jayes yhdistää intohimon hydroponiikkajärjestelmiin ja asiantuntemuksen LED-kasvatusvaloista. Käytännön kokemuksella ja syvällä ymmärryksellä Jayes opastaa sinut kestävän viljelyn maailman läpi.
