[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: color of light and color of plant leaves



>>That doesn't mean that plants don't react and respond to radiation in
these
>>ranges - it just isn't involved (beneficially) with photosynthesis.

".. and that what was I was referring to. I have managed to trigger
anthocyanin with a Hagen Reptiglo 5.0 bulb and L. arcuata, L. inclinata, P.
palustris all got deep red and almost black with a couple of days. I don't
care about photosynthesis really. I care about color and the pigments that
is responsible for the colors and what to do to trigger them."

How do you know that anthocyanin was what was responsible for the color
change? I'm not saying that it wasn't, just wondering how, exactly, that you
came to the conclusion that anthocyanin was present in your plants? I
suppose that you could have a lab confirm the presence (or absence) of
anthocyanin if you were willing to sacrifice the plants and part with a few
dollars.

"So my question was: Should we try to get closer to sunlight by using UV-A
and UV-B also?"

I suppose that SOMETHING was responsible for the color change, and if that
change occurred shortly after you changed to the Repti glo bulb, I can see
how you might think that it was responsible. I've looked at Hagen's website,
and they have graphs for the spectral output of the tube. I notice that the
"peaks" for UV-a and UV-b are so minute that they had to use a second chart
to magnify that section of the spectrum. But then, maybe you don't need much
to elicit the response.

Hagen, as far as I know, is a marketing company, they don't manufacture the
stuff that they sell. I think that there are only a handfull of actual
manufacturers of fluorescent tubes - they just put other people's labels on
them for them.

Did you have any other tubes over the tank where this color change occurred?
Were they close to any other tanks or any other light sources? It might be
interesting, if you have two empty 15 gallon tanks to set them up in the
same manner in two different closets. Light one with a Chroma 50 and light
the other one with a Repti glo. Make sure that there are NO other light
sources falling on the tanks (hence the closets). You wouldn't even need to
go to the bother of full substrates in the tanks - use bare tanks and go to
a dollar store and get a couple of plastic food containers to hold the
substrate. I think that most aquarium shops sell Flourite in bulk now (I
know that one close to me now sells it by the pound), get enough to fill
both containers and then plant them with a selection of cuttings (use the
same mix of species in each container). Add a complete fertalizer
(NPK+Traces). Throw in a small powerhead (for circulation) and add CO2 if
you can, trying to keep the lighting as the only difference between the two
tanks.

One "test run" certainly wouldn't be conclusive proof, but if you were to
see a diference in the plants in the two tanks, it would be evidence to
support your hypothesis. Switching the lights and watching to see the
effects (i.e. did the "colored" plants revert back to green following the
removal of the Repti glo? Did the green plants in the other tank "color up"
after the lighting switch too?) might add useful information.

A lot of people would criticize the "experiment" (I'm sure) as not
statistically signifigant (one is the loneliest number.....) but it is
better than nothing and might be taken more seriously if more than one
person tried it. Just so long as everyone used the SAME two brands of
fluorescent tubes. Hmmmmm......I do have a couple of empty tanks.....and a
big walk in closet.......

James Purchase
Toronto