Hortitek Far-Red Enhancer Bar - 30W | IP65

Far-Red
Grow bigger, flower quicker, and yield more.

Far-Red and Plant Growth:
The far-Red spectrum has three main effects that can be beneficial to your growth depending on your plant species.

Emerson Effect: Far-Red cannot drive photosynthesis by itself. Far-Red and Deep Red need to be used simultaneously to produce the Emerson Effect. This effect increases the rate of photosynthesis resulting in better plant
growth and yield.

Flower Initiator:

Sunrises and sunsets naturally produce a Red to Far-Red ratio. During Sunset, the sky changes from Red to Far-Red, and as Far-Red becomes more prominent a plant response is triggered. The plant's response is caused by photoreceptors called phytochromes, which absorb the red and Far-Red light. The phytochromes change the plant's state between active and inactive depending on the ratio of Red to Far-Red. Naturally, this process takes 2-2.5hrs to swap between active to inactive during times of darkness (lights off). By using Far-Red this process only takes 15-30min. Far-Red can then be utilized to put your plants into an inactive state quicker, tricking your plants into thinking it has had more dark hours. This allows
your plant to flower with fewer hours of darkness, therefore increasing the light hours and yield of your plant in flower.

Shade Avoidance Response:

Plant growth is dependent on light energy intake, which makes it competitive when neighbouring plant canopies block the light they need for survival. Plants have evolved mechanisms that enable a response to escape the shade. This mechanism is the phytochromes, which detect the red to Far-Red ratio. The inclusion of a high Far-Red to Red ratio to a full spectrum can have an expansion effect of increased leaf area, internode length and elongation. (Elongation is not desired by growers but has a trade-off to increase in light
interception, with larger leaf spans, to promote further growth). 

Far-Red Usage:

We recommend implementing Far-Red into your growth in two ways. The first way is to supplement Far-Red alongside your main fixture to get the expansive plant response (Emerson effect/Shade avoidance response). The second way is to use the Far-Red LED 20-30min after lights off to put your plant to sleep quicker, helping your plant flower with fewer dark hours and maximise daytime photosynthesis. Optimal plant growth is achieved by using well balanced complete lighting spectrum. This implies that there is no single wavelength that is the best for plant growth. The effects of one wavelength can be enhanced or counteracted by other wavelengths. Therefore, undesired results may be induced by improper usage and the incorrect ratio of the lighting spectrum. It is important to know the effects of the enhancers and how to use them to improve your existing lighting spectrum.