[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: lumen ratings, watts/gallon
On Thu, 12 Mar 1998, Frank Reiter wrote:
> >
> > But... Amano claims that green light is most beneficial to aquatic
> plants,
> >
> > and he uses only tubes with strong output in the green band! And who
> > wouldn't envy his results. So maybe the PAR formula should be
> redesigned.
>
> It seems to me that plants look green because they are reflecting green
> light rather than absorbing it, and that if green light is what they need,
> then they are the exact wrong colour to get it. (Not likely)
>
> Am I over-simplifying?
A little, but not a lot. Chlorophyl reflects green light, so it doesn't
use green light. Chlorophyl is the dominant antenna pigment for
photosynthesis so usually photosynthesis doesn't use green light.
But there are other pigments in plants that use different colors of light
for various purposes. I don't know of any that use green light, but I
have read that some plants adapted to life in forest understories (where
light is very green) have adapted somehow to use green light for
photosynthesis.
Mostly I think green light is beneficial to the sale of lights, because
greenn light looks bright to the human eye. It may not look so bright to
plants, but then, the plants aren't carrying the bank roll, are they?
Roger Miller