Why can we eat tomatoes in winter? It relies on many modern technologies, one of which is greenhouse planting.Regardless of whether it is drought or long rain outside, the greenhouse always provide good conditions for tomatoes growth, etc.which can provide right temperature, humidity, fertilizer, etc.but wait…
If there is a lack of light, what should be done? So,you need some grow lights for tomatoes,which can replace of sunshine, used for greenhouse planting, flower planting, greenhouse planting and home planting,and what light can be used for tomato plant growth?
What LED light is best for growing tomatoes?
There are many light fixture on the market that can be used for tomato growing, and there are three main types: LED lights, HID lights and fluorescent lights.
LED includes various types such as full spectrum LED, Quantum ,COB, DIP and SMD, click here to view more:
What are differences between quantum and LED growth lights.
HID lights include HPS light and metal halide light, click here to view more:
What are differences between HPS and LED growth lights.
What are differences between HID and LED growth lights.
Fluorescence includes T5, T8 T12 series, click here to view more:
What are differences between T5,T8 and LED growth lights.
The T8 tube is very economic,and it is about 0.6 meters to 1.2 meters, and the power is about 9W to 36W. Since low power,this kind of light is commonly used in plant factories or home planting,and not suitable for the greenhouse.
For greenhouse planting, we should choose high-power, low heat, red-blue spectrum or full-spectrum plant light, such as: High bay lights,flying saucer plant light and UFO light,and LEDs etc. For example, the UFO high bay light for tomatoes has a power of 100W to 300W. It is waterproof and can be connected to the power supply in the greenhouse. The light can be adjusted according to the need.
As for which light is the best for growing tomato, there is no standard answer. It needs to be considered according to your actual needs, such as application, area, budget and other factors.
How many hours of grow light do tomatoes need?
Tomatoes are a type of crop that loves temperature and light. Although the requirements for light intensity are not very strict, the amount and time of light directly affect the growth of the seedlings, the level of fruit yield and the taste quality.
If insufficient light and poor light,it will cause tomato leaves to turn yellow and thin,resulting in poor plant growth or premature leaf decay and other issue.
However, if the too long or too much light for a long time, it will not only lead to the problem of dehydration of tomatoes, but also burning leaves or fruits.Therefore, We need to keep right light during the growth period to make tomatoes grow well, produce large yields and good quality.
So,How many hours of grow light do tomatoes need?It is recommended to keep light conditions for about 12-16 hours a day. Under the condition of reasonable temperature, sufficient light,which can greatly improve tomato leaves to produce nutrients and promote plant growth.
When encountering low temperature and rainy weather during the growing period, we should increase the amount of light by tomatoes LED growth lights.
How far should LED grow lights be from tomato plants?
Only right installation of LED plant growth lights,which can effectively improve tomato growing. We should place led grow light on the plant to ensure the light intensity, and the distance should be determined according to the power of the plant light.
In general, the closer the distance between the plant light and the plant, the higher the light utilization efficiency. If we use LED plant light, because LED is cold source,it will produce a little heat. So,the shortest distance can be 10 cm.
For the power less than 36W, the distance is 0.1 to 0.5 meters, and for the power more than 36W, the distance can be 0.3 to 1 meters.
How many watts to grow tomatoes
Compared with outdoor lighting, tomato growers should know the actual lighting that plants in their greenhouse can get, and then determine the LED or other light watts. The design, location, and equipment use of each greenhouse will affect the actual indoor lighting. Tomato growers should first know the average light parameters over the years.
If it is the insufficient sunlight or very short light time,we should meet photoperiod of the plant’s flowering and fruiting For tomatoes,it should be around 50-70 Umol, the light intensity should meet this value, so the watts required depends on the power, quantity and hanging height of your grow light.
In simple,for high-light plants like tomatoes you should make sure around 40 watts per square foot for growth and fruit production. When looking at your area don’t necessarily the actual size of the room. You only need to calculate the actual plant area. In other words, if the plant room is 5 x 5, but you only plant them in a 3 x 3 area,you only know the light watt of 3 x 3 area.
For example:
Width x Depth = Square Feet, e.g. 3 x 3 = 9 sq. ft.
Watts x Square Feet = Desired Wattage, e.g. 40 x 9 = 360 watts
We will place 360 watts up to 400 watts grow light…
How to right use Tomatoes LED growth lights
Plant grow light is based on the natural law of plant growth that require photosynthesis, instead of sunlight to provide lighting for plant grow,which are widely used in greenhouse.
To right use plant light for plants, we must first what is type of plant is a long-day plant or a short-day plant. For short-day plants, you can’t add too much light, otherwise it will affect flowering and fruiting; for long-day plants, you need to know the light time and light intensity it needs.
How to right use Tomatoes LED growth lights?It is not turned on indoors for more than 10 hours or for a few hours at night, or turned on for 24 hours. The right method of use it is based on the light time of the crop. For tomato in greenhouses,it need 12-14 hours of light during the flowering and fruiting period, If the sunshine time in some area is 5-7 hours. We should add about 7 hours by use LED plant growth lights to to achieve crop yields.
Adjust the temperature
The temperature requirements of tomatoes vary with each growth period. The right temperature during the germination period is 28°C-30°C, and it is not easy to germinate if it is lower than 10°C or higher than 40°C. The right temperature during during flowering period is preferably 15℃-30℃, it will affect the fruit if it is lower than 15℃ or higher than 35℃. The right temperature during the fruit coloring is 18℃-26℃. When the daily temperature is higher than 32℃,It will hinder to produce lycopene. When the temperature is too low, it will seriously affect the fruit coloring. When the temperature is lower than 12°C, it will not be able to color normally.
To prevent tomatoes from falling flowers and fruits due to wrong temperature environment, We can control temperature at 22-28 degrees during the day and 18-20 degrees at night during the flowering and fruit period. The highest temperature during the day should not exceed 35 degrees and the lowest temperature should not be less than 22 degrees. (Preferably 25-28 degrees).
It should not exceed 22 degrees in night temperature and should not be less than 15 degrees (appropriately around 18-20 degrees).Again,we should keep the temperature difference between day and night around 8-10 degrees.
Wrapping up
Tomato grower should consider whether need tomato grow light in the early stage of greenhouse construction, and know
What grow light is best for growing tomatoes, and how many watts to grow tomatoes according to the actual condition etc plant knowledge.
In term of grow light selection,high-pressure sodium light and LED light are good option.
Tomato grow light are very helpful for plant growing. Good growers should utilize these modern technology like plant light ,we can also adjust other factors in the greenhouse to make it perfectly to achieve higher yields.