What’s with the Purple Lights?
It may seem strange to see the “purple” lights, but they are a crucial part of the growing process for us. During these dark and dreary months of winter, we rely on these lights to provide supplemental light during cloudy days and to create days that are longer than 12 hours.
These lights aren’t actually purple but rather a mixture of red and blue (which together make purple). Plants photosynthesize (make food) in the visible spectrum of light, which if you think of a rainbow, ranges from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Blue light and red light have the most significant impact on plant growth.
Some plants are also sensitive to the amount of daylength they receive. They will start to flower if grown under short days (less than 12 hours), which we don’t want when they are small. We provide them with light to create long days (greater than 12 hours), so they grow bigger until they are the perfect size to start flowering. Other plants will only bloom if they are subjected to long days and so we light them to get them to bloom on time.
The next time you see the purple glow coming from the greenhouse at night know that our plants are hard at work growing big and beautiful for you to purchase in spring!
