Why Are Grow Lights Purple?

Grow lights are an essential piece of kit for your lighting setup. If you want to ensure that your cannabis crop grows healthily, then you need the right grow lamps.

Grow lights come in all shapes, sizes and colors but why are grow lights purple? These types of lights are a combination of blue and red light which creates a bright purple shade.

Why Are Grow Lights Purple

In this article, we take a closer look at purple growing lights and what you can use them for.

What Are Purple Grow Lights?

Purple LED grow lights are made up of two different light colors: blue and red. Both these individual colors are essential for the different growth stages of your marijuana plants.

Blue light helps your plants to develop strong stems and leaves, while let light is vital for the reproductive phase of your plant, including flowering and fruiting.

As purple grow lights combine both red and blue, they are popular with growers.

Why Do Plant Lights Appear Purple? 

All LED grow lights are made up of multiple diodes that emit a single color of light. Some have red diodes, while other diodes are blue, green, orange or yellow.

The combination of these diodes makes up the color that we see in the light. Purple grow lights contain a lot of blue and red diodes.

If your grow light has a small ratio of blue to red, then the light appears a bright purple. On the other hand, if the ratio of red and blue is larger, then you will see a strong pink.

As a rule of thumb, red wavelengths are essential for a plant’s growth. This is the reason why many purple grow lights have a 5:1 red to blue ratio.

This is also why you may notice that your purple grow lamp is typically more pink than purple.

Are Grow Lights Always Purple?

No, grow lights aren’t always purple. You can also find growing lamps that emit blue, red, green or other colors.

The color of a grow light depends on its wavelength and what you want to use the light for. Grow lights with a purple color combine the benefits of red and blue color helping indoor plants grow and bloom.

Benefits Of Purple Light

Purple grow lights are popular for a number of reasons. They are ideal for young, vegetative plants as well as flowering plants.

Promotes Overall Plant Growth

Purple LED growing lights are ideal to support your young cannabis plants during the growing phase and later flowering stages.

Purple lights only emit a limited number of wavelengths which helps the plants to grow strong stems and large flowers. A purple LED grow light can also contribute to more fruits.

Plus, the plants can grow a strong root and vascular system with purple light. This makes them more resistant to pests and diseases.

Ideal For Cloning

Purple light promotes a good root system in plants and that’s essential for the health of your cannabis clones.

This type of grow light increases the root size which allows your marijuana plants to absorb more nutrients from the soil.

Why Are Grow Lights Purple (1)

Increases Flower Yield

Providing a lighting system with purple lights for your cannabis plants can increase your overall flower yield. Just make sure that you set the light up in the early flowering stage.

Produces Less Heat

Unlike white light diodes, purple-tinted LEDs don’t produce a lot of heat. This means that you don’t need fans or a large ventilation system which saves you power.

More Energy Efficient

Purple LED grow lights are more energy efficient than their white counterparts. This is not just good for the environment but also saves you a lot of money.

Stimulates Photosynthesis

Plants that grow in enclosed spaces still photosynthesize. They also produce chlorophyll which is essential for healthy growth.

You can stimulate photosynthesis and chlorophyll production by providing LEDs with a purple shade.

Disadvantages Of Purple Light

While purple grow lights have a great range of benefits, there are also a few disadvantages that growers should be aware of.

Doesn’t Mimic Sunlight

Purple grow lights are by nature not the same as sunlight but they don’t even resemble the same wavelengths of natural light.

This means that your cannabis plants may be losing out on some of the non-essential frequencies that they would naturally get outdoors.

Difficulty To Assess The Plants

Another disadvantage of LED grow lamps with a purple tint is that the color makes it incredibly difficult to assess and inspect your plants.

As purple grow lights don’t have any green light wavelengths, your plants won’t look green. This makes it challenging to find out if your plants are really healthy.

Plus, with the dark purple light on the leaves, you won’t be able to spot any issues with your plants, such as common diseases, mildew or pests.

Are Purple Or White Grow Lights Better? 

Purple grow lights combine both blue and red wavelengths which help your cannabis plants grow. However, these plants also need other light wavelengths to support flowering and fruiting.

That is why white grow lights are better than purple-colored grow lights. The white light has a full spectrum of colors that you can use for all the different growing phases of your plants.

What Color Is Best For Grow Light? 

Cannabis plants need a good amount of blue, red and white light to thrive. Ideally, you want to have five times more red as blue to ensure that your plants get enough light during the growing season.

Make sure that you buy an LED grow light that has mostly blue and red diodes with a good amount of all-white diodes (Also check out Are Spider Farmer Lights Any Good?).

Final Thoughts

There is a good reason why purple grow lights are popular. They are the best lights that allow your weed plants to grow and flower effectively (Also check out How To Hang Grow Lights).

Keep in mind that not all plants need a purple color wavelength, so make sure that you check your plant’s requirements before buying a purple light.

Zack Finch

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