Does Infrared and Ultraviolet Light Matter When Growing Cannabis?

When plants are grown, the lighting and natural environment play a crucial role. And when plants are grown naturally, they receive a complete spectrum of solar radiation. These radiations include

• Visible lights like green, red and blue
• Ultraviolet light
• Infrared light

Just like humans, even plants require nutrients and appropriate conditions to flourish. But does the same apply to cannabis plants as well? Or it just applies to the general plantations only? Let us understand it all with the science behind it!

How does Ultraviolet light create an impact

Ultraviolet light comprises three types of light.

• UVC (100-280nm)
• UVB (280- 315nm)
• UVA (315- 400nm)

UVA and UVB light for cannabis are the essential types, as they make it past the ozone layer, while the ozone layer entirely absorbs UVC light.

How does Infrared light create impact?

The infrared and far-red light is found at the bottom of the spectrum. Here at the end of the spectrum, there are several types of light waves. These have a longer wavelength with very little energy. Some of its wavelengths of light may not be seen by the naked eyes but can be felt as heat.

When the red and blue light is united with the infrared or far-red rays (700-760 nm), the Emerson effect speeds up the photosynthesis process. This is the reason the Emerson effect leads to making plants proliferate. Phytochrome is the only protein that can sense infrared and far-red wavelengths. It generally aids the plants in knowing when to switch from being in the vegetative state to a flowering one.

Why does light matter?

In general, growing cannabis is not very different from growing other plants. However, the plants require very different things to thrive, live and grow within the house. These all essentials may include food, water, and light. But the question still remains the same: why is light essential for growing pot?

When a marijuana plant is in its vegetative state, it is known as “GROWING.” And when it is pretty ready to bloom, it is known as “FLOWERING.” The vegetative state of the plant occurs when the plant is getting ready for the flowering stage. This means this is when it is required to strengthen the roots, and leaf growth, and put more strength to the arms and legs.

Oh yes, plants also have legs and arms. And when the plant is in a vegetative state, it requires light in the 400 to 500 nm range to grow appropriately. In such a case, blue light is used. And talking specifically about the Cannabis plant, it can be kept in the vegetative state by giving more than 18 hours of light per day. This makes it look like summer and spring. Darkness and light can be anywhere from 18 to 24 hours per day. Botanists have diverse preferences, and other essentials can affect the split, like electricity cost, temperature, and cannabis strain being cultivated.

Marijuana plants must be kept in the vegetative stage for a particular time to cultivate stronger roots. Only then can they start the flowering stage, which is when they produce the buds. In order to make the cannabis plant go into the flowering stage, UV light during flowering requires cutting the light amount to about 12 hours a day and modifying the wavelength to 620-780nm.

Benefits of UV Lighting to the Cannabis Plant

To obtain a medical marijuana card in California, an applicant must be geared up with the following:

• The growers can utilize UV light to make the indoor plants act like they are still living in the wild.
• Pests have a lesser impact when there is UV light for growing weed available within the room.

Plants learn well from their surroundings and respond to what they see.

The UV light from the sun makes the plants liberate chemicals that protect the plants from pests. The defense compounds make the plant less pleasing to the pest, but they generally make the plant look, taste, and have more CBD and THC. Whenever a grower utilizes UV light, they can trick the plant into becoming more fragrant.
However, the growers can do the following:

• Enhancing the THC content
  Sunlight, which is high in UV rays, makes people get tanned easily. That is a natural way to protect from the sun.Well, similar is the case with the plants!
• Plants make their own sunscreen
  Talking about cannabis, it makes more chromosomes that protect the plant from the sun and store CBD and THC.
• Speeding up the growing plant’s process
  • UV rays also speed up the germination process, where the seed begins to grow in the soil.
  • They can do it to get plants prepared for the higher light intensity by moving the seedlings to locations with more intense light.
  • Exposure to UV light in the initial stages of development shortens the shock time while speeding up the growth process.

Benefits of IR Lighting to the Cannabis Plant

The smaller amount of Infrared grows light never harms the plant and its life cycle.
However, it can only be good. Whenever marijuana is grown in a natural environment, IR light is available all the time. And that is why we can say that IR light never harms the cannabis plant.

On the contrary, when it comes to cannabis growth, IR light helps them grow.

And not only helping with the cannabis plants’ growth, but IR light also offers several benefits to the cannabis plants. This includes:

• The risen production of cannabinoids
• A better way to make resin
• Better protection against bacteria and pests

Can you grow weed with a black light?

No! plants cannot grow under black light if black light is the only light source within the space. However, if the other light source is also present, they can grow under the black light also. But necessarily, it is not too strong nor too close to the plants.

Growing weed with blacklight has nothing to do with the plant’s growth.

Bottom Line!

Since it has been seen that UV Light and IR light both help the cannabis plants grow effectively, these two become essential for the proper growth of the plant. Only one thing that is essential to be emphasized here is that managing the amount of light that is essential for the plant to grow must be appropriate. So, you must have complete knowledge about it!