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I want to grow basil. A lot of it.

Unfortunately the winter is coming, and my plants won't be able to survive outdoors. Beeing an electronics engineer, i decided to DIY an indoor growbox, so that in one device i can integrate timers, sensors, an efficient LED driver and so on.

I've started reading papers about mixes of wavelength for basil growth.

While everyone seems to agree that adding some wavelenghts other than the blue and red (from the absorption peaks of Chlorophyll) can be beneficial for the plant, nobody seems able to agree on the extra wavelengths.

Somebody says green, other papers say yellow, or far red/near infrared, or UV, some others mention the white LEDs (even though the spectrum of white LEDs is not very white).

So i'm left with some questions: Is the light mix dependent on the specific plant i'm trying to grow, or can i just look for generic information?

Does anybody have more meaningful informations on the wavelength mix or some reputable sources where i can look?

My sources for now:

https://www.growing-basil.org/artificial-lighting-for-growing-basil/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5007804/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423815302892

http://www.hortorumcultus.actapol.net/pub/13_2_3.pdf

quantif
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valerio_new
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  • Maybe it is my background but it seems there is more information on growing light for aquarium plants. I know I have seen the 2 primary wavelengths/frequency but do not remember them. – blacksmith37 Oct 03 '19 at 00:24
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    As an engineer, I can tell you: in gardening there are no hard rules, you should try different setup. What work for you (also on such controlled experiment) will fails on other people. The human factor is smaller then the natural factor (and you cannot use the excuse: ehi plant: I told you to read the manual!). -- and second point: why to eat an "artificial" basil? "Optimal" for plants is often not ideal for eaters. -- Experiment, check, correct. Basil will not die for just few week of wrong light, but you will already see if it is good for taste or for the plant. – Giacomo Catenazzi Oct 03 '19 at 12:07

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