Hobbies And Interests
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis takes place within specialized organelles within a plant's cells, called chloroplasts. Plants convert solar light, along with water and carbon dioxide, into chemical energy that the plant uses for growth and nourishment. The solar light consists of photons, or light particles, that have varying wavelengths. Each wavelength within the color spectrum is absorbed or reflected by the plant, depending on the individual color.
Blue Light
Blue light absorbs into a plant's chloroplasts, promoting leaf and vegetative growth, as opposed to green light, which reflects off of a plant's leaves. The blue light wavelength actually causes a plant to respond faster to light stimulation. The chlorophyll, or light-absorbing pigment, within the chloroplast becomes fueled and stimulated. As a result, more solar energy changes into usable chemical energy for growth.
Blue Light Mixed with Red Light
A mixture of blue and red light generates flowering in plants. The red light possesses more energy than the blue light because of the different wavelength values. Adding red light to blue light creates a high energy level, stimulating a plant to reproduce through generating a flower bud. Both of these colors are easily absorbed by a plant's chlorophyll.
Growing Plants
Many gardening enthusiasts enjoy growing plants indoors. Plants naturally clean the air by removing the carbon dioxide and providing expelled oxygen. Growing a plant from a seed requires quality lighting, specifically light that emits blue and red wavelengths. Fluorescent bulbs, with cool white light, have a high level of blue wavelengths that develop seedlings better than other wavelengths. In fact, many light manufacturers create specific grow lights with mainly blue and red wavelength outputs, imitating the sun's light rays. As an alternative, some gardeners use incandescent bulbs. Incandescent lights offer a red wavelength source coupled with orange wavelengths. However, these bulbs generate excess heat, negatively impacting a plant's growth.
Specific Plants
Lighting Laboratory reports that specific plants respond greatly to blue light stimulation. Radishes, spinach, lettuce and wheat exhibited greater growth production compared to other plant types exposed to blue light. In particular, blue light stimulated radishes by encouraging the movement of chemical energy from growing leaves to developing the radish tuber, or root.