Full spectrum T5 vs. Red/blue LED

[Shadeflower]

Originally Posted by Ray

Plants use the entire visible spectrum and then some.

Red/blue (often called "blurple") LEDs came into being when folks were illegally growing pot. The "criminals" were often caught by monitoring residential electric consumption.

The energy consumption is lower with LEDs than any other form of artificial lighting, and by concentrating the energy to the absorption peaks of chlorophyll, they were able to reduce it even more, in an attempt to evade the authorities.

Blurple LEDs work. A full-spectrum LED strip works better. Plants look alien under them - something a pot grower couldn't give a crap about, but an orchid grower might.

complete and utter nonsense.

Red and blue led's were primarily produced by the marine fish industry and the fact that the red and blue diodes were the cheapest LED's to produce out of all colors. They knew lights needed more than just blue and red but they claimed that is all plants needed and their lights were engineered to be the most efficient.

Did pot growers have anything to do with LED's getting developed? Certainly not lol.

Is red+ blue enough for plants? No they need full spectrum, red + blue does not provide all they need.

Is red + blue energy efficient? Yes use it to supplement sunlight which is already providing full spectrum and a red + blue light will be the most efficient additional ennergy you can provide.

red + blue comparrison to Full sprectrum:

White LED vs Red Blue White LED Grow Test w/Time Lapse - Lettuce Ep.1 - YouTube