Lamp for the greenhouse: an overview, views, description, features and reviews. Lighting of the greenhouse with LED and sodium lamps

Today, many Russians who have household plots or country plots are thinking about building greenhouses. This solution allows you to diversify the diet - it is nice to see fresh vegetables and herbs all year round on your table, and also significantly support the family budget in our difficult times.

So, let's assume that your greenhouse is ready: a foundation has been erected, a frame has been erected, there is glazing (cellular polycarbonate or film), soil has been filled, beds have been created. The questions of irrigation and heating are well thought out. It would seem that everything is taken into account. However, this is not quite true. Have you thought about lighting? And whether it is necessary? After all, natural light is enough during the day, and at night the plants need to rest. For what plants need additional lighting and what it should be, what kind of lamps for heating the greenhouse today exist, we will try to tell in this article.

For normal development and intensive growth, plants require a large amount of energy. It is obtained from light rays: it is the sun in nature, and in the case of greenhouse growing - special lamps.

What should be the light in the greenhouse?

Undoubtedly, solar illumination is most useful for agricultural crops, therefore it is necessary to use it as much as possible. However, the duration of a light day (in autumn, winter and spring) does not allow the cultivation of crops fully - plants need solar energy at least ten to twelve hours a day. In any season (except summer), you will need to use lamps to illuminate the greenhouses.

To create comfortable conditions for the growth of cultures, it is necessary to follow simple rules.

1. Artificial lighting of the greenhouse with LED lamps (as, indeed, any other) should not completely replace sunlight. It should serve only to prolong the light day. Therefore, the lamp for the greenhouse must be mounted in such a way that it does not restrict the penetration of sunlight.
2. In a greenhouse, lighting can be intense up to 16 hours a day (this depends on the crop being grown).
3. Illumination of plants should not be throughout the day: instead of growing crops you will get the opposite result - weakening and depletion of sprouts.
4. Plants need rest and darkness for 6 hours a day.

What light do plants need?

All crops can be divided according to the principle of photoperiodicity. This means that each culture for the formation of fruits requires a special duration of daylight hours. According to this principle, plants can be divided into:

• Culture of a short day - they need less than twelve hours (light) per day;
• A long day - plants need more than twelve light hours.

How to choose lamps?

Usually, crops grown to produce flowers and fruits require more light than those grown for leaves and stems. This must be taken into account when deciding which lamp for the greenhouse you need. Today in the trade network there is a huge selection of lighting devices for greenhouses. They are characterized by energy saving, the spectrum of light emitted, the cost and some other parameters.

What should I look for when choosing lamps?

First you should ask the lamp manufacturer. Famous brands guarantee quality, service (which sometimes costs a lot). Chinese lamps are attractive mainly for their low price, but, unfortunately, you will not get any guarantees or service.

Lamp power (W)

This indicator shows how much energy a lamp spends for a greenhouse per hour of operation.

Radiated energy

Knowing this parameter, you will be able to calculate how many lamps are needed for sufficient illumination of the greenhouse.

Light spectrum

Admittedly, the lamp for the greenhouse, which is capable of transmitting the spectrum of the sun's rays 100%, has not yet been created. Therefore, experienced owners often combine lamps to achieve the best result. Scientists-biologists managed to establish that different light spectrum influences cultivated crops in different ways.

For example, purple and blue rays accelerate photosynthesis - the plant strengthens and grows faster. Yellow and green rays slightly inhibit photosynthesis. In this case, the stems of the plants are stretched out and thinned. Orange and red rays are the best energy for fructification and flowering of plants, but it is necessary to know that with their overabundance the plant can even die. Resistance to colds increases the ultraviolet rays, they also form in the fruits and leaves of plants vitamins.

Types of bulbs for greenhouses

And now we will introduce you to the types of lamps, and you will determine which lamp for the greenhouse you need. We hope that the information obtained will help you make the right choice.

Fluorescent lamps

This kind of luminaires is most often used in small greenhouses or greenhouses. They are universal in value, and in application - many can approach. The ideal quality of light can be achieved by combining the lamps of warm white light with a cold one.

Such a lamp for a greenhouse can work for about 2000 hours. Often for complex effects on plants, an ultraviolet lamp is additionally installed , which prevents the development of harmful bacteria on plant leaves and in the soil. But we must admit that for large greenhouses it is better to choose another kind of lighting, since luminescent will take too much.

Benefits

1. First of all, the efficiency of the device. Radiation of light of almost full spectrum. Therefore, they can be used at every stage of the culture development - from growing seedlings to full ripening of the crop.
2. Affordable price.
3. High brightness.
4. Such lamps do not heat up, therefore, they do not disturb the microclimate of the greenhouse.
5. Do not require special technical skills for installation.

disadvantages

1. The fluorescent lamp for the greenhouse is too large and can block the access of natural sunlight during the daytime.
2. Has low luminous efficiency.
3. It reacts to changes in the outside temperature - for its normal operation it needs a temperature of +25 degrees. When it is lowered, the lamp can simply go out.
4. Does not withstand high humidity (no more than 70%).

Lamps are attached above the plants in a horizontal position, fixed in a rectangular reinforcement made of metal. They are located at an altitude of up to fifty centimeters for plants photophilous, and at an altitude of fifty centimeters and above - for plants that prefer not too bright lighting.

Mercury lamps

For growing plants in greenhouses and greenhouses, mercury lamps are produced - DRLF, which promote active plant photosynthesis. Their spectrum of radiation is close to red, so it is better to use them during the ripening of the fruit.

Nevertheless, one should know that there are more drawbacks to such devices than merits. These include:

• Danger of exploitation. Having broken such a lamp, you can not collect mercury balls. In this case, it is necessary to change the soil and destroy all the plants.
• Such a lamp can not be discarded at the end of its useful life. For this purpose, there is a special method of utilization.
• It is characterized by too intense ultraviolet radiation.

High-pressure sodium lamps for greenhouses

They are referred to the category emitting the red and orange parts of the spectrum. Experts suggest that the blue part of the spectrum of culture will receive from natural daylight.

Benefits

• The main argument in favor of such lamps can be considered their profitability. Such devices consume a small amount of electricity and at the same time are cheaper than analogues for efficiency, for example, LED lamps. This is very important if you need to illuminate a large greenhouse.
• In addition, sodium lamps for greenhouses work up to twenty thousand hours.
• Light output significantly exceeds the performance of fluorescent lamps.

disadvantages

• Sodium lamps for greenhouses produce a lot of heat. This can be considered both an advantage and a disadvantage of the device. On the one hand, such lamps are quite effective for a greenhouse in winter. They can become an additional source of heating. But in the spring, autumn, and, of course, in summer such heating can damage plants, and the owner will have to constantly monitor the temperature in the greenhouse.
• Such lamps adversely affect the development of young plants - the red part of their spectrum causes the seedlings to stretch, the stems become thin.
• Sodium lamps can attract harmful insects.
• Inside these lamps is a mixture of mercury and sodium. Therefore (like mercury lamps) they are not safe to operate.
• Sodium lamps can not be connected if fluctuations in the voltage network exceed 5%.

LED bulbs for greenhouses

More often they are called LED-lamps. Despite the fact that they are quite expensive, this type of lighting is becoming more popular. Composing a combination of these lamps, you can achieve light with the right spectral composition - use individual lighting for any plant variety. Lighting the greenhouse with LED lamps allows you to adjust the intensity of light , depending on the height of the placement of devices and their number. For example, during the growth of plants, you can give them more light with a blue spectrum, when ripening fruits - with red and orange.

Benefits

1. Efficiency of electricity consumption.
2. Work at very low voltage.
3. Long service life (up to 100 thousand hours).
4. Do not heat up - the microclimate of the greenhouse is not violated.
5. The possibility of getting burns by plants is excluded, even in the case of the closest possible distance to them.
6. LEDs are resistant to moisture, temperature changes and mechanical damage.

disadvantages

1. There is only one drawback with such lamps - high cost.

Infrared lamps

Such a lamp for heating the greenhouse in winter is ideal. I must say that today more and more greenhouse owners prefer new infrared systems. These systems are efficient and economical, able to create conditions in the room that are as close to natural as possible.

Benefits

• Infrared lamps for the greenhouse warm up the plants and the soil well.
• The air temperature rises from the energy released by the walls of the greenhouse and the ground. This is the main difference between IR systems from electrical and convective methods, in which air (heated) rushes upwards, and plants and soil remain in the cool.
• Such heaters, if desired, can be equipped with thermostats, which at some point stop the supply of heat and resume heating when the temperature decreases.
• Rapidly warm up the air. Radiation from infrared radiation does not pose a threat to humans or plants.
• Do not dry the air.
• The system is almost noiseless.

As you can see, today there are many lighting fixtures for greenhouses. Having become acquainted with their shortcomings and advantages, each owner will be able to select a suitable source for his greenhouse lighting source.

Greenhouse owners reviews

According to people who grow vegetables in greenhouses, you can use different lighting. For this, both fluorescent and LED lamps are suitable. In the first case, low cost of lamps is attracted, in the second - fast growth of plants. However, most greenhouse owners prefer light-emitting diodes, despite their high cost. Their price is fully justified by low power consumption and long life.

From mercury lamps, many refuse because of the fact that, breaking up, such a lamp can bring a lot of problems. If additional heating is required, experienced vegetable growers recommend using infrared lamps.