Ornamental plant seedlings grown with LED lights at Purdue

Purdue University researchers’ success in using red and blue LEDs as the only source of light to grow ornamental plant seedlings indoors has led to a new phase of determining whether they can reduce production time with more colors. The research is important because most seedlings are grown in greenhouses in the late winter and early spring, a time when sunlight with enough growing power is low, especially in northern states. Seedlings need to grow at that time to meet spring and summer sales of bedding plants, so supplemental lighting from electric lamps is typically needed.