# Grow lights in enclosure?



## Chasen (Feb 1, 2019)

I've got plants growing in the enclosure, but think they might do better if I added a grow light. What is the general consensus on whether or not this is harmful to the torts?


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## DanB (Feb 1, 2019)

I got this a week ago and my plants are doing better, Only difference I see in my Tort is he is more active and spends more time rooting around and tasting all the plants. Its only $15 so if it doesn't work no big loss.

LINK


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## Markw84 (Feb 1, 2019)

I like grow lights for tortoise enclosures if you get the full spectrum type of grow light. The provide good light and weight it towards the blue spectrum a bit more. That is more of a summertime color. With the added colors of the basking bulb, it provides a good ambient light. The added brightness is good for most species especially if you are growing plants and thereby providing added shade and cover in a more natural way.

I do not like using the grow lights that are not full spectrum and tend to cast a much too violet color as the balance is skewed way too much to the short wavelengths for ambient light in an enclosure. Tortoises have vision that sees much shorter wavelengths of light than humans do. I can't help but believe these types of lights would make things look quite weird to a tortoise.


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## Chasen (Feb 1, 2019)

Markw84 said:


> I like grow lights for tortoise enclosures if you get the full spectrum type of grow light. The provide good light and weight it towards the blue spectrum a bit more. That is more of a summertime color. With the added colors of the basking bulb, it provides a good ambient light. The added brightness is good for most species especially if you are growing plants and thereby providing added shade and cover in a more natural way.
> 
> I do not like using the grow lights that are not full spectrum and tend to cast a much too violet color as the balance is skewed way too much to the short wavelengths for ambient light in an enclosure. Tortoises have vision that sees much shorter wavelengths of light than humans do. I can't help but believe these types of lights would make things look quite weird to a tortoise.


What do you look for that signifies full spectrum? Does it say on the packaging or is there some wattage difference? LED right?


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## Markw84 (Feb 2, 2019)

Chasen said:


> What do you look for that signifies full spectrum? Does it say on the packaging or is there some wattage difference? LED right?


The problem is that in marketing grow lights, when they use the term "full spectrum" they are using it as it applies to the spectrum needed for plant growth/flowering. Therefore, the issue we have with grow lights is that in order to make them more efficient, they eliminate "wasted" wavelenghts. The most energy efficient grow lights really minimize the middle wavelengths (yellow-green) as very little is used in plant growth. So a full spectrum grow light does include all the wavelengths, but the amounts in the middle of the spectrum are dramatically reduced.

If I am looking at grow lights I look for the ones that do include white LEDs. Not just the blue and red as some do. These white LEDs can be considered wasted energy for growing plants, so they are minimized. For our application, I like to see the ones with more of them. Typically the white LEDs are listed as 6500K white for the ones I am looking to see.

When I add grow lights, I do mix lights. I also have a UVB light. That is actually quite harmful to plants as the reptile UVB lights put out way too much UVB and UVA and will damage plant growth. So I try to place growing plants away from the basking zone/ UVB. That is good for us as we normally are using the plants for shade cover and hide areas. The light under the UVB will have a much different color balance that an area only with a grow light. I also always have an incandescent basking light on when the grow lights are on. The "far red" and IR-A is actually providing some benefit to the plant. But it is really adding a lot of yellow/green back into the overall lighting as well.

Don't mean to confuse, by all this, but I feel i would like to explain that I am adding grow lights because I am currently working on and believing that natural plant hides are a needed feature for optimal tortoise health. So the grow lights are to keep the plants as healthy as possible. Without the plants in the enclosure, I would not bother with trying to balance a grow light spectrum in the mix. I would simply use a good 5500K-6500K light source with a CRI of 90+ You can get LEDs and T5 tubes that fit that.


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## Chasen (Feb 2, 2019)

Markw84 said:


> The problem is that in marketing grow lights, when they use the term "full spectrum" they are using it as it applies to the spectrum needed for plant growth/flowering. Therefore, the issue we have with grow lights is that in order to make them more efficient, they eliminate "wasted" wavelenghts. The most energy efficient grow lights really minimize the middle wavelengths (yellow-green) as very little is used in plant growth. So a full spectrum grow light does include all the wavelengths, but the amounts in the middle of the spectrum are dramatically reduced.
> 
> If I am looking at grow lights I look for the ones that do include white LEDs. Not just the blue and red as some do. These white LEDs can be considered wasted energy for growing plants, so they are minimized. For our application, I like to see the ones with more of them. Typically the white LEDs are listed as 6500K white for the ones I am looking to see.
> 
> ...



What??  I had to read this a few times. LOL I think that the moral of this story is that I will look for a grow light with white LED's and reposition my UVB. Thanx for your help.


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## Madkins007 (Feb 5, 2019)

This is a rather technical topic to get a good answer on. I linked an older article I wrote about it- and you really kinda gotta dig into the links to get a full answer. 

Most modern bulbs are specifically tuned to achieve specific results. They emit on wavelengths to stimulate plant growth, or to emit UVB, to trick the human eye into thinking it is 'bright or true white'- but few of these are really full spectrum, nor with the right color temperature.

If you want to try to find a good bulb, look for one with these characteristics-
- Color Temperature of 5,000 to 6,500 Kelvin. Few bulbs reach this, but the closer the better.
- Color Rendering Index (CRI)- the closer to 100% you can get, the better. 
- Color Spectrum Range from 760 nanometers (the red end of the rainbow) to, ideally, between 315 and 280 nm. If you can only get to about 380nm, that will cover the visible light element, but not the UV, and especially not the UVB range. If it stops at 380nm, as almost all do, you'll still need UVB lighting.

Here is a page of full spectrum bulbs. It is a commercial place, but I am offering it as an example of what I mean. - https://www.topbulb.com/light-bulbs/full-spectrum-bulbs


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## Chasen (Feb 5, 2019)

Madkins007 said:


> This is a rather technical topic to get a good answer on. I linked an older article I wrote about it- and you really kinda gotta dig into the links to get a full answer.
> 
> Most modern bulbs are specifically tuned to achieve specific results. They emit on wavelengths to stimulate plant growth, or to emit UVB, to trick the human eye into thinking it is 'bright or true white'- but few of these are really full spectrum, nor with the right color temperature.
> 
> ...


Thank you


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