WHICH PLANTS ARE SHADOW-LOVING, LIGHT-LOVING AND SHADOW-BEARING – THEIR BACKLIGHT

Supplementing plants in winter

The period has come, when the number of sunny days decreased and daylight hours decreased markedly. But the development of our green pets directly depends on its length and light intensity.. By changing the time of the photoperiod (daylight hours), flowers can be maintained in a state of vegetative growth. How to properly organize supplementary lighting of indoor plants, experts will tell.

Useful Tips

1. To stimulate the flowering of chrysanthemums, kalanchoe, slum berger, punches, begonias Elatior, eternal, many orchids, it is necessary to reduce the length of daylight hours (no more 9-12 hours).
2. Supplementing the views of long daylight hours (eg, gibiskus), you can artificially prolong their flowering.
3. If the ornamental plant does not stretch and does not lose the color of the foliage, means, light is enough for him.
4. The distance from the lamp to the crown of the crown should be as small as possible, but not less 15 cm. When it is doubled, the amount of light decreases by 4 times.
5. Use a reflector, this increases the illumination of the collection.
6. Follow, so that the flowers do not overheat from the lamps.
7. Good, if artificial lighting is not a complete replacement, but only a supplement to sunlight.

Tatiana KUSHNIKOVA. plant protection specialist, r. Novosibirsk

SHADOW FLOWERS

Syngonium, epipremnum, scindapsus, philodendron, anthurium, ferns, aspidistra, aglaonema, dwarf ficus and others.

Can do without backlighting.

LOVE FLOWERS

Most of the succulents, almost all bulbous, gas, haworthia, aloe, milkweed, pachypodium, hippeastrum, strelitzia, rosemary, feijoa, laurel noble, citrus fruits, etc..

Requires mandatory backlighting in low light conditions.

SHADOW FLOWERS

Tree ficuses, avocado, eucalyptus, balsam, Saintpaulia, begonia, kalanchoe, callisia, dracena, Schlumberger, cyclamen, most aroids, etc..

Tolerate a temporary lack of light. Backlight is desirable, but not required. They will not die without her, but the crown may lose compactness.

LOAD FOR BALANCE

Artificial light must fall on the plants from above. In this case, they will not waste strength and energy to change the position of the leaves.. To keep growing and blooming, necessary 12-14 hours of continuous lighting. Light intensity, at which a balance is achieved between photosynthesis and respiration for different plants, not the same. for example, light-loving need 5000-10000 lx, shade-tolerant - 700-2000 lx. Create groups of plants with approximately equal illumination.

RECOMMENDED LIGHT FOR PLANTS

WITH EXCESS OF LIGHT

When plants are illuminated around the clock, the process of cell growth is inhibited by stretching.

A negative effect can manifest itself as the destruction of chlorophyll, yellowing leaves.

Some lamps increase the ambient temperature, exclude natural daily fluctuations, which also inhibits growth and development.

Unfavorable changes in external factors lead plants to a state of stress, for some species, such a factor is round-the-clock illumination.

© Author: Anatoly MIKHALTSOV. biologist, r. Omsk

AT NIGHT – ALL SLEEP

24-hour plant illumination is undesirable, in most cases even harmful.

for example, in adult specimens, the cyclic alternation of light and darkness is disrupted, what inhibits the process of transition from vegetative to reproductive state - flowering and fruiting.

Choose the optimal length of daylight hours based on the needs of a particular plant, roughly: for tropical species - about 12 hours, for subtropical - 9-14 hours(depending on the season and stage of development).

AVOID SHADING

Illumination intensity drops sharply as you move away from the light source. If there are many plants and they are of different heights, low ones will be shaded and their growth will slow down. What to do?

1. Trim the taller tops. This will promote the growth of side shoots.. If you want to keep it, bend with an arch and secure with rope. As soon as the buds hatch in the axils of the lateral branches, remove the rope, lest the stem breaks, reaching for the light.

2. Place low plants on stands.

© Author: Lilia MALTSEVA, agrochemist, r. Novy Oskol

LIGHTING AND LIGHTING OF PLANTS IN HOME CONDITIONS – FLOWER TIPS

Nuances of lighting plants at home

Creating a mini-vegetable garden on the window in winter, not to do without additional lighting. It is also important to observe the temperature regime.. Only onions and watercress grow well without a lamp.. But with supplementary lighting, vitamins accumulate in greens more.

1. Light is one of the main conditions for the life and development of plants, after all without it photosynthesis is impossible, when organic matter is formed from water and carbon dioxide. As soon as loops appear on the surface of the soil, urgently rearrange boxes with crops or cups under the lamp (it must be installed at a height 10 cm from plants). Raise the lamp gradually as needed..
2. The first 3-5 days seedlings need to be illuminated around the clock. Seedlings at an early stage of development do not yet have roots., which means, she cannot take food from the earth, but still has to get it from outside. It is at the expense of light that young sprouts will feed at the beginning of their journey., will form chunky. Roots are formed in a few days, and then the night light is not required. On average, the seedlings are illuminated to 14-16 hours.
3. After the emergence of seedlings, you need to reduce the night temperature.. Plants breathe at any time of the day, and a large supply of food is consumed in the process. Let's assume, that your seedlings do not have enough light, which means, that with poor photosynthesis, nutrients are not formed enough. At night, when breathing, they are quickly consumed., and nothing is left for growth (here's a frail seedling).

When the night temperature drops, we create conditions, in which the plant breathes less intensively, which means, and spends less food.

© Author: Marina RYKAPINA, TV presenter, r. Samara

WHICH LIGHTS ARE SUITABLE FOR INDOOR FLOWERS

pleases, that there are more opportunities to provide indoor plants with artificial lighting. But the more difficult it is sometimes to choose the best option for lamps. We have prepared for you a "guide" to the most common.

SELECTING LIGHTING

In autumn there comes a time of short daylight hours. Plants don't have enough light, what can cause them to stretch?, become weakened, metabolism is disturbed, increased risk of disease. therefore, to help green pets survive the autumn-winter period, I adhere to some recommendations.

I put plants closer to the windows (better for window sills), if they were away in spring and summer: on the shelves, tables, semi.

Many flowers (ficuses, succulents, tradescantia, pelargonium, etc.) can be moved from north to south, where the sun is not so warm, like in the summer. But then you need to carefully select the types.

Plants, located on the floor near the windows, I place it on different stands, to be higher and closer to the light.

OPTIMAL OPTION

It is better to illuminate plants with lamps.

If the collection is large, and many flowers have to be placed on shelves, away from windows (as, eg, I have), then special phytolamps are needed here. I use it with white and pink light, from 12 to 24 W. The power should be greater, the farther the plants are from a natural light source. I turn on the backlight: away from windows - from morning to evening (by 12-14 hours), on the windowsills - only in the evening, from 18 to 22 hours.

For a small collection, instead of expensive phytolamps, ordinary lamps are suitable (desktop, linear), to help support pets. for example, when I lived in an apartment, I had arrowroot growing near my aquarium. The lighting was only from a fish LED, plus moisture from water. As a result, the bush not only grew magnificently, but also bloomed often.

© Author: Татьяна СВЕТЛАНОВА, r. Rostov-on-Don

LIGHTING OF ROOM PLANTS IN WINTER – VIDEO