Is the missing light in the sun’s spectrum important?

[TomH]

This is an astronomical spectrograph of our sun’s visible spectrum
Notice that there’s lots of missing light there, various fequencies that correspond to various atoms and molecules in the suns outer outmosphere. Those atoms and molecules absorb very specific frequencies and bands of frequencies (doppler effect also broadens some if not all lines and bands but that’s not important to this question).

There’s a lot of missing frequencies there. I remember reading about UV-A, B and C and the different effects that the different frequencies cause. I imagine that there are gaps in the non-visible ferquency bands just like the visible light gaps. Could we improve LED performance (or actually, plant performance under LED), if we could accurately replicate ^that fequency absorbtion pattern?

Is it possible that little short bands of radiation or gaps in said radiation is important to the plants? Kind of like certain nutrients and minerals can inhibit or enhance uptake of various nutrients, can absence or presence of certain light frequencies affect efficiency of other fequencies (almost an inverse to the emmerson effect).

 

[TomH]

This almost seems like a Dr. Busbee or a post-doctoral thesis experiment.
I’d love to partipate enough to watch and learn, but not enough to screw it up!
There’s no way this can be tested without tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.

It would be fun to be able to test with that level of control.

 

[TomH]

I guess one more variable to consider and possibly test for:

measure the spectrographs at multiple times during the day and throughout the natural growing season.

How much, if any, do those frequency absorption patterns change with the change in solar azmuth? Does late season (constantly lower azmuth) show a preference for certain reds while absorbing certain blues? How does that affect growth morphology?

Maybe it’s the weed, but there’s a lot of things to be tested here!

 

[Pipecarver]

View attachment 120125

This is an astronomical spectrograph of our sun’s visible spectrum
Notice that there’s lots of missing light there, various fequencies that correspond to various atoms and molecules in the suns outer outmosphere. Those atoms and molecules absorb very specific frequencies and bands of frequencies (doppler effect also broadens some if not all lines and bands but that’s not important to this question).

There’s a lot of missing frequencies there. I remember reading about UV-A, B and C and the different effects that the different frequencies cause. I imagine that there are gaps in the non-visible ferquency bands just like the visible light gaps. Could we improve LED performance (or actually, plant performance under LED), if we could accurately replicate ^that fequency absorbtion pattern?

Is it possible that little short bands of radiation or gaps in said radiation is important to the plants? Kind of like certain nutrients and minerals can inhibit or enhance uptake of various nutrients, can absence or presence of certain light frequencies affect efficiency of other fequencies (almost an inverse to the emmerson effect).

What I see is a lot of green compared to the other colors. I added a green led light to my grow for no good reason other than their promotional info and I had a few bucks to spend to get free shipping. Its good to see so much green I don't feel like I threw my money away.

I don't know about the gaps, could that not be just data loss from instruments that are not 100% accurate . Just spitballing, its far above my pay grade.

 

[Pipecarver]

Is the missing light in the sun’s spectrum important?


Yes, the "missing light" (known as
absorption lines or Fraunhofer lines) in the Sun's spectrum is extremely important as it acts as a fingerprint for identifying the chemical composition of the Sun and other stars across the universe.



What the "Missing Light" Tells Us

The dark lines in the continuous solar spectrum occur when a cooler, low-density layer of gas in the Sun's outer atmosphere (chromosphere and photosphere) absorbs specific wavelengths of light emitted from the hotter, denser interior. This phenomenon is crucial for several scientific reasons:

• Chemical Composition: Each chemical element absorbs light at a unique pattern of wavelengths. By comparing these dark lines to the known absorption spectra of elements studied in a laboratory on Earth, scientists can determine exactly which elements are present in the Sun and distant stars.
• Discovery of New Elements: The element helium was actually discovered in the Sun's spectrum in the 1800s before it was known to exist on Earth. Its name comes from the Greek word helios, meaning Sun.
• Understanding Stellar Physics: The presence and characteristics of these lines help astronomers understand the temperature, pressure, density, and even the movement (via the Doppler effect) of the gases in the stellar atmosphere.
• A Universal "Fingerprint": The pattern of spectral lines is a fundamental property of atoms and molecules throughout the universe, making spectroscopy a cornerstone of modern astronomy.

In essence, these dark lines transform the Sun's light from just a continuous rainbow into a vast database of information about the cosmos.

 

[TomH]

For a long time I’ve wondered why I can grow a plant in full foothills sun, all day long when the same plant under the same LED radiation would turn to a crispy ash.

Maybe those gaps are really important to the plant as the radiation levels increase?

 

[Pipecarver]

For a long time I’ve wondered why I can grow a plant in full foothills sun, all day long when the same plant under the same LED radiation would turn to a crispy ash.

Maybe those gaps are really important to the plant as the radiation levels increase?

This can be a deep hole with Ai I did another search adding Cannabis
The "missing" light in the sun's spectrum (wavelengths filtered by the atmosphere or specific absorption lines) is
not a hindrance to cannabis growth; in fact, the wavelengths that do reach the Earth's surface are those the plant has evolved to use optimally. Indoor growers, however, sometimes supplement specific parts of the spectrum (like UV) to intentionally stress the plant and boost cannabinoid/terpene production.

 

[Beachwalker]

What I see is a lot of green compared to the other colors. I added a green led light to my grow for no good reason other than their promotional info and I had a few bucks to spend to get free shipping. Its good to see so much green I don't feel like I threw my money away.

I don't know about the gaps, could that not be just data loss from instruments that are not 100% accurate . Just spitballing, its far above my pay grade.

In the old days we used to use green light in the grow room so we could work during the dark period, under the premise that plants can't see (use?) green light, and therefore it wouldn't cause Hermes.

 

[TomH]

In the old days we used to use green light in the grow room so we could work during the dark period, under the premise that plants can't see (use?) green light, and therefore it wouldn't cause Hermes.

I remember Dr. Busbee addressing green frequencies in one of his utube videos. It’s ingenious how the plants actually evolved to look for certain frequencies and what to change (hormonally) when they detect those frequencies for a specific period of time. They can freeking tell time!

 

[Pipecarver]

In the old days we used to use green light in the grow room so we could work during the dark period, under the premise that plants can't see (use?) green light, and therefore it wouldn't cause Hermes.

I had a green pen light I could use back then the few times I ran my lights at night. The green is supposed to penetrate deeper through the leaves and enhance spectrum coverage....lol what ever the fk that means...

 

[Pipecarver]

I remember Dr. Busbee addressing green frequencies in one of his utube videos. It’s ingenious how the plants actually evolved to look for certain frequencies and what to change (hormonally) when they detect those frequencies for a specific period of time. They can freeking tell time!

You see it at night when they are ready for sleep, a bit like me all saggy and not looking the best, not saying there's a lot of improvement in the am for me but my plants always look good standing up all perky.