LED Grow Lights Make Your Basil Grow Better
As an annual culinary herb, basil is popular with consumers because of its intense flavor and fragrance. Its large crinkled leaves are edible. The sweet sense of leaves makes it perfect for cooking and salad use. Many growers cultivate basil and hope they can reap profits. However, the absence of sufficient sunlight during the winter or cloudy days is a huge challenge for the quality, production, and market values of basil. Luckily, LED grow lights can make the basil grow better. Different light spectrums of LED grow lights help basil grow better by providing sufficient lighting, contributing to better taste and flavor, and improving growth and morphology.
Provide sufficient lighting
A successful basil cultivation requires a sufficient amount of light, including the light spectrum, intensity, and photoperiod. Basil requires at least six hours of full sunlight to thrive. But basil grown indoors is hard to get six hours of light. For basil grown in open fields, it is tough to reach sufficient light during the dark winter months. But it doesn’t mean basil cannot survive in the lighting condition for less than 6 hours. The short-term or winter light is too low and short to support the growth of basil. You may harvest weak, spindly, and tasteless basil plants. In other words, basil grown in insufficient lighting conditions has lower market values. LED grow lights are beneficial for basil simply because they can provide sufficient lighting. Basil can grow strong, healthy, and successful with adequate light.
Better taste and flavor
Basil is popular because of its special taste and flavor. According to the survey focused on different ratios of blue, red, and white light on basil, certain light spectrums can achieve better taste and flavor. This survey used LED grow lights as the sole light source for basil and kept the light intensity and photoperiods in optimal and constant conditions. Other environmental factors like humidity, temperature, and water were maintained for all treatments. It showed that 32% of the blue treatment had the best results of taste, aroma, and spiciness, while the 24% blue treatment got the poorest tastes and flavor. It also showed the possibility for growers to customize the taste and flavor of their basil plants with different ratios of blue, red, and white light, and meet the changing market needs.
Improve growth and morphology
The growth and morphology of basil plants are highly affected by the lighting environment they are grown. Several studies have shown that LED grow lights can improve the growth and morphology of basil plants. The combination of red light, white light, and far-red light was more effective in increasing the dry weight of basil plants than blue light. Red lights were efficient in forming taller plants and bigger leaves. LED grow light with a blue ratio higher than 90% increased plant height but reduced the dry mass to leaves. Since the leaves were the edible part, the light spectrum with a high ratio of blue light was not suitable for bail growth. In contrast, the addition of far-red light increased the dry mass of leaves and stems. Another survey showed that 32% blue light treatment increased the plant height, stem diameter, and the number of branches significantly.
In conclusion, LED grow lights can make your basil grow better. They provide sufficient lighting, forming better taste and flavor, and improve the growth and morphology of basil plants. The programmable light spectrum of LED grow lights enables you to set the desired growing conditions for your basil. Whether you are a grower selling basil for bunches or by weight, you can get the best result with the optimal light spectrum. Moreover, you can meet various market needs with the customizable LED light spectrum.
Want to get better growth of your basil and reap more profits, contact us. We provide LED grow lights with customized light spectrums. A light plan is also available for your greenhouses, vertical farms, and grow tents to help get the most efficient grow lights.
