Far-red: The Forgotten Photons
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video, Dr. Bruce Bugbee reviews recent research on the powerful effect of far-red photons on plant growth and development. The summary includes the evidence for the direct value of far-red photons in photosynthesis as well as their value in promoting leaf expansion rate in lettuce. The evidence indicates that we need to redefine photosynthetic photons to include wavelengths beyond 700 nm. The availability of efficient far-red emitting LEDs means that there are immediate commercial applications of this research for indoor agriculture.
VIDEO CONTENT
03:22 Far-red photons are right on the edge of visible light - 700-760 nm.
04:02 We typically break up light into three categories: blue, green, and red.
04:45 A story on Dr. Shuyang Zhen's research with four growth chambers measuring canopy photosynthesis with different lights.
06:06 The results of the study are opposite from what you would assume because of adding far-red photons.
07:53 Do white lights grow plants equally well compared to red/blue lights?
09:49 A summary of the spectral effects of different colors of light: blue photons, green photons, red photons, and far-red photons.
10:50 Bright white light is excellent for human vision to diagnose plant health to find insects, nutritional disorders, etc.
12:36 How well different colors of photons penetrate leaves.
13:33 Why did adding far-red light cause better growth in Dr. Zhen's study?
14:32 A history of the classic PAR curve from Keith McCree's research. McCree only had primitive tools to develop his curve. He had to measure each color of light separately. We have better LEDs and better tools to measure light and combinations of lights now.
15:47 A diagram of what happens with photons in the light reactions of photosynthesis.
17:53 Far-red photons all by themselves are not effective. But they work extremely well synergistically with all the other colors of photons.
18:26 There's a law that relates to photosynthesis, solar panels, and human vision: The Stark-Einstein Law. One photon excites one electron.
19:35 Is our definition of photosynthetic photons correct?
21:12 The effect of far-red happens in every plant species is the same. Far-red photons are equally valuable as the other photons.
21:53 The commercial implications.
23:03 The response of plants to shade/far-red and the effect on plant shape.
26:59 Historically, we have quantum sensors to measure PAR, but they don't measure far-red. You need an Apogee PAR-FAR sensor that separately measures PAR and far-red photons.
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I wish I could thank you all personally for your work and dedication. Thank you professor B, Shuyang Z, and Paul K for your research. It’s greatly appreciated.
Congratulations, Professor Bruce. You were my phD advisor and I see you're still brilliant as usual.
NILTON NÉLIO COMETTI @ I want to know which white LED has been used in this experiment ? Is it cool white or warm white ? Which kelvin light is best as grow light ?
This dude sciences
@@aayatwomenchildrenshospita6179 3k-4k with far reds. Some growers say the far red does not make more yields just more frost.
Nice
Aaa aaaaww qaqqq
As said before by others it would be greatly appreciated if there could be a cheaper model for us at home growers. Not that your companies prices are outrageous but they are outta reach for most small time home growers just starting out or even the hobby growers who still want to do it right. You are the best and that's why we ask, of course we could buy from inexperienced companies who just wanna make a buck but have no quality because they wouldn't even know how to make a quality product but that's why many like myself wish you could help. Know you need to make a profit so maybe just a cellphone connection or app, or cheaper quality device but still with Dr. B's approval so all are happy. Know I should just save up but it's truly hard RN. Thank you tho as always and it's very appreciated that you took so many years learning than kind enough to share so much knowledge. The fact that you give props to everyone along the way shows great character as week. You're a great man Dr
Incredible. I was taught photobiology using the old handbook. Many thanks for the update, Bruce.
Very clear overview of the testing methodology, results and implications.
That photosystem infographic is amazing! So succinct and intuitive to understand
I've watched this a few times over the past few years. To you and all contributees of accelerated plant growth, you are doing extraordinary things. Tell us how to clean our tap water next? We know, you know..😅
This is a great educational video! Many parts intrigue me! I'm now curious about nutrition density. Take for example the lettuce exposed w/wo far-red photons. The far-red exposure grows larger, but it may also not be as nutritious. I have read and heard of other studies on blueberries, strawberries, etc. (now versus 50 years ago) and how sizes have increased, but nutritional densities have decreased significantly (obviously some factors like over-farming, soil nutrient depletion, ultimately under fertilizing contribute - who knows...). I guess one would also have to consider a plant has a theoretical limit of growth versus time + far-red exposure - that even if more fertilizer was supplied to assumingly keep up with growing demand, there may still be some nutrient density depletion. Super interesting to ponder!
Wow some great research based presentations; this whole series is pure gold. I love that you explore each paper and their methods, such as using a single color of light at a time to study PAR and the flaws etc. Could watch these all day again again, may things I've hypothesized about are covered in these lectures.
this is the best most informative video i have seen on light.
Correction: most informative channel I've seen on light
Hey! In conclusion far-red is not good for the early stage on cannabis right?
@@tolksam1291 yes that is right. Far red is the best for flowering.
@@Trrenik0kb thanks
True science is always in revision and reconsideration. Science is never settled as much as some would like it to be. Great video!
So invaluable, can't help but get excited for what is to come. 🙏 Greets from Guatemala 👍
Thank you so much for letting me understand stuff about lights and the effects of differences you are really appreciated over here!! :D
Horticulture is such a small field, I never expected to see Paul being mentioned! I was in undergrad with him
Thank you professor Bruce.
Your research just arrives in Brazil, and I’m so grateful to learn more about !
To me personally, it's incredible how fast this knowledge from a few years ago, has already been implemented into modern grow lights, which are also getting cheaper by generation!!
Thanks to ANY proper scientist in this world ❤
Please, Dr Bugbee, make the sensors a little cheaper as we are millions of micro growers around the world that we would love to have Apogee Par and light spectrum sensors but they are expensive. Help Apogee "lift off" (pun intended if someone knows the meaning of the word) and become the only name among growers as your instruments are scientifically calibrated and therefore give accurate results that can be used for comparisons and benchmarks. Greetings from Greece!!!!
Making very high quality, well calibrated and very accurate equipment is expensive. Especially when there isn't demand for millions of units.
@@derp195 That's pretty much what he's implying : a lower cost and lower precision tool designed to be cheaper and reserved for personal and hobby use would make the market much larger, selling millions. Doesnt detract from the high end scientific precision tools they can sell to professionals as they do now. I'm sure they could pull that off without sacrificing much in the way of usefullness for amateur growers.
@@sirzebra and aquarium guys too. Id love one. I wonder how much of these videos are applicable to aquatic plants? Especially pigment production is what im interested in, and spectrum for optimal plant growth with good forms under water , which is quite different to light through air.
@13thExit Strategy It's mainly two things. It's expensive to make very precise instrumentation, and it's expensive to produce small numbers of things.
If millions and millions of the things were being sold, the price could come down a lot because of the economy of scale.
I got u buddy. SpotOn Quantum PAR meters are now $300US. Sorry professor...
You can make a spectrometer yourself very cheap. All you need is an old DVD, webcam, a little box, and open source spectroscopy software for free online. There are you tube videos on how to make it. Very easy.
Thank you again for sharing your knowledge with us Dr.B!
Damn. Learning so much over here. Thank you Dr Bugbee!
We're actually now working on supplementing our LEDs with the far red spectrum. I'd love to send you one as a gift for inspiring us to produce one.
We manufacture LEDs and we focus on lighting that is optimal for mother plants.
Can you say what is the brand name of your lights?
If you want a hit video, make a perfect spectrum and PPFD recommendation for different ftxft areas FOR Cannabis, because there are huge online communities all debating over this topic and you have the means and evidence to give a very good answer. There are a lot of companies offering custom LED chip setups and your recommendation would definitely help a lot of people and give people a bit of courage to try it and then we could end up with a lot of free research out there.
This research shows great benefit for plant manipulation, but what i would find really interesting is to use it for nutritional value instead of crop weight! Any current research on this? Keep at it
Were you able to find any times throughout the lifecycle where far red was beneficial in cannabis, and at what % far red was the benefit found?
I really appreciate all of the great information your channel puts out, and these latest talks from Bruce are invaluable. Looking forward to fitting a greenhouse with your sensors and meters to inform my practices.
Right near the end of the video he does give a few tips for when to use it.
My takeaway was to use it for seedlings, which makes sense to help them get up from the soil, but I wouldn’t use it for more than a few days. Also, use it during flowering. Since it helps enhance cell expansion, that effect would most likely apply to the growth of the buds causing them to grow larger (albeit possibly less dense) since during late flower most cannabis plants are focusing on reproduction priority during that time.
It’s also important to note near the end when he points out the single flower on the tomato plant. I believe he’s implying that the use of far-red during a plants normal veg state can trigger flowering.
@@stewskinner5717 the tomato at the end was used to highlight the fact that far red can induce earlier flowering in plants, a desirable trait if you're trying to produce bigger crops faster. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Hi Bruce,
Could you get Apogee to make an entry level meter for those of us setting up indoor grow setups. Most of us can’t drop $585 to adjust our lighting when growing, during cold/dark months. $585 is almost as expensive as buying 2 x 550w Shenzhen Quantum Boards.
I picked up a Lux meter, but that just gives me basics.
All of this is very interesting for those of us that love to grow, especially our own medications. We will be sure that growing and harvest are done right.
I don’t know anybody with an Apogee unit, but we would all drop $250, in order to get the proper setups during each grow.
I agree 100%. It would be excellent if they do such a thing. Hell, i would give 250 for a par meter.
I want to grow the best for myself. This info is invaluable. Thank you to all involved for your work.
can you come out with a video on UV light next? "The Other Forgotten Photons"
haha i was thinking of the same thing
Bud growers haven't forgotten.
He said in another video that this is what he is researching right now.
Wow. Just wow. Thank you very much for this knowledge bomb!
I think I'll have to watch this a few times
Thank you for such an educational video. I had no previous knowledge on the subject, your clear explanations and visuals, especially your photosystem diagram made it easy to follow along.
FANTASTIC..., Congratulations Dr. Bruce & Postdoc scientist....Brazil UFRRJ
Wow. What great research. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication. You're brilliant, and I appreciate your life's work.
Thank you yet again for another Wonderful Lecture / Class ... Each and every video you've put out is greatly appreciated Sir
The comeback of incandescent light bulbs, after "phantom photons" and it's sequel "bulb wars" now comes "revenge of the wire".
Silly joking aside this IS fascinating and greatly appreciated! Makes me want to make some experiments straight away. Thanks for SHARING!
Dr Bugbee drops a Pink Floyd reference right out of the gate, we know what he was doing in college... Love the vids Bruce
Hello from Prince George B.C Canada. I`m an old disabled mechanic/welder, country boy, I never smoked cannabis till i was 59ish, for the pain i had to. I have a medical grow license, but never started to grow yet but read what comes up on Utube. I told a friend of mine a few years ago as an experiment i wanted to use Christmas led string lights so i could basically bring the lights close to the plants and wrap the lights around the plant in a fashion that would provide cool light along all leaves and of different colors, so i thought a wire surround simular to tomato plant supports but adjustable {chicken wire} but close to plants and lights on the inside of the wire support. This should supply light with less heat, color control, can be plugged into timers, cost-effective if enough light is produced. As a mechanic, i viewed your light graph the way i do a hp/ torque graph, so lower light output but closer to each leaf, and i have the outdoor led Xmas lights as they are higher wattage. what say you sir just a thought experiment, i will hopefully get to doing but i hope this is worth you time to try as i have no meters and far less knowledge, PS thankyou,
This is absolutely moronic. Not hating, just saving you some time. Literally a terrible ignorant idea.
@@DR-br5gb lmao I was thinking the same thing. I'm weak haha
Thx:) very important and intresting information on your chanel!
nice lecture. nice graphics for understanding. nice guy. great video. Thanks for your explanation.
This was a fantastic video, thank you Dr. Bruce!
Why was cannabis not included in the final examples :(
Great video and information, but can someone confirm what type cannabis is? thanks!
I would say it becomes bigger, but also higher.
Absolutely amazing research and knowledge. thanks you so much for sharing
Got to love this science / hobby / cure / fun thing to learn and do!!!
Thankyou. It is a very nice presentation.
Excellent video, thank you!
Thank you for sharing this cutting edge information . i figure i better subscribe . I for one am extremely interested . I enjoy the way you present it as well , your very easy to follow lol thank you once again. Take care
This is an extraudinay video series. Thank you.
Loved the video and the work you guys are doing over there in Utah, makes me want to pursue a PHD and work under you. Quick question, would you recommend doing the veg stage with LEDs with far red or just white light??
7:46 "So what's up with that?" I love that.
Great science work. I, and many, are looking forward to getting some far red for our cannabis girls :)
@TFLlighting on instagram, they gave 660+730 nm
I'm already using far red on 13 of my plants.
Superb research! Will use that in hemp research at the indoor farms.
I love this....Im hungry for more...I will be watching you for the rest of my life.....so get ready for me.
you have made me want to study this .... the way you teach ..
Love these videos. Very informative. Thank you.
I had a brilliant idea many years ago and now get to finally see IF; feral hemp can be pushed to produce 1-20% thc...without cross and back crossing. Not many studys out there and would love the opportunity to share my results!
How long do you provide plants the Far Red spectrum? All day just like the other lights or is there a specific time of day and how long one provides Far Red light?
This was super amazing & insightful. Thank you Doc!
The lettuce grew bigger but did the taste change in any way?
Thank you for your help.
Wow I learned so much I will have to watch a few time to remember all hahaha. I added an extra basic red light to my cannabis plants about a year ago be for I watched this vid. from a gut feeling. I have full spectrum lights but just wasn't getting the Big buds you see in pic. Wow double the size with the red added. Wasn't sure if it was the light because I had just started Monster Bloom, I have had 2 crops with out red light but With Monster Bloom and buds smaller again. Monster Bloom gave me better results than not buds were denser but not much bigger. So with this info from Dr. Bugbee confirms to me my own test the red light is best!! Thanks Doc going back to red.
Would you share what periods you used and what spectra?
Good job! Thanks for sharing the knowledge sir.
You do great explaining things and was an excellent presentation. Thank you.
DR BUGBEE- When cannabis growers use Far Red in grow lights, do they get that additional mass (growth) at the expense of thc potency? Or does the potency stay the same? I realize that a lot of cannabis growers put volume as a top priority. But as a hobby grower, I would rather have a smaller, more potent plant than a larger, less potent plant. Also, how do we regulate the light so we get a bushier cannabis plant instead of longer internodal spacing?
I also have done several experiments where I gave cannabis plants florescent light that was predominant in red light(2700k) on one day and then predominant in blue light (6500k) light the next day, switching back and forth like that every day through out the grow and I WAS ABLE TO CONSISTANTLY MATURE PLANTS THAT NORMALLY TAKE 8 WEEKS TO MATURE TO FULLY MATURE IN 5 1/2 TO 6 WEEKS. I CALL THIS 'LIGHT PHASING'. I BELIEVE THAT THIS STRESSED THE PLANTS INTO A MUCH QUICKER FLOWERING PERIOD, ALL WITHOUT CAUSING THE PLANTS TO TURN HERMAPHRODITE. THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE REALLY INTRESTING TO YOU.
No you didn’t. If it was possible to cut 2.5 weeks off of a cycle that way every grow facility would be doing that
I love getting the Deep info, and this guy surely gets far beyond the mere Surface on a subject...
Is love to see Dr Bugbee get with Dr Kruse
Just one question, in the NASA experiment with 300+50FR vs 350, is this PPFD level constant during the whole experiment? Since the FR will cause taller of the plants which might increase the canopy PPFD if the light position is fixed.
Over my head first watch, going to watch again - very interesting .... Dude is a genius!
Interesting to see monochromatic LED's becoming more like sunlight. A far remove from the original "white" LED's that were blue and green combinations.
All about those kelvins and I'll say lumens, same measurements as par. Grew an entire garden indoors hydroponically in every medium during Dec. 2200 lumens/5k kelvin T5s did the trick. Budded 8 girls on one nute through rigorous training too just because I could or got dared..lol
Thank you for sharing such wonderful content 🙂
Thank-you for this information...I am a home grower of salad greens, vegetables, and fruits....
Thank you Bruce
Great talk BUT, what is the bottom line regarding adding the far-red to indoor cannabis grows? More weight or stretch-ola?
You can control stretch using metal halide the first 10 days of flip to keep the inter nodes from stretching. Red spectrum isnt very important during that time frame.
@Mark P. What's the point of your "speculating" without any evidence? It's waste of time.
Great Professor ❤
Fantastic info! like serious amounts within the 27min.
Have you though about the light colors as seasons, and changing the colors from blue to red as the plant ages?
Hi there Dr Bugbee. You have stated that green light is as good as red and blue. Since it does not interfere with phytochromes, would be possible to push photosynthesis throughout the night time with the right amount of green light without compromise to the photoperiod?
you are a true gentleman, sir. thx 4 your lessons
China gonna watch this and we're going to see red/green lights out in 2 months. 🤣😂
😂
LED:s mimicking HPS lights, hell yes.
Already tried one, giixer made one
they've been doing this..
China's going to Harvest your Organs, bra...
Thank you. Everyt tme I watch one of your videos I become a better grower. Now if you can make a par meter I can afford is the only way I think you could improve the apogee company. God bless you and your company
man, i love your way to explain. thanks.
Wow amazing prof.
At the time I was growing using the SCROG method. The canopy of buds were only about 4 to 6" tall and about 2" from the CFL's. I also had a lot of air movement between the buds and the lights. I was using 12- 23 watt CFL's in a 2' x 14" cabinet with 3 shelves and 2 bloom chambers. Every other light was 2700k. Each day I would turn the scrog screen and plant 180 degrees so that each spot where the plant was getting 2700k the day before, it was now getting 6500k light. Several different cultivars did exactly the same thing. White Widow, Jack Herrer and Blueberry. I hope someone else try's this to confirm my findings. Maybe it will be useful to the indoor cultivation industry.
love the vids youve done on your work.
made me buy a light measurer, temperature measurer and 2500 limen white light bulbs to experiment growing weed with.
I have a question If you have a green house with the Lima bean green canopy will it allow the other colors to penetrate into the greenhouse or only green light? Thank you for your video and look forward to your response.
take the hot mirror out of a cameras lens pack and photograph your canopy to see what its really doing
Best video yet! Love these
rock on dark side of the moon reference! i love your videos, thank you so much for the effort.
Bruce, would you say, I shouldnt use blue photons at all for best plant growth?
Cold weather crops do better with far red then?
Did you all measure BRIX levels and compared that in the plants under far red vs no far red? Thank you for a great presentation.
Which white LED has been used in the experiment ? I just want to know kelvin of white light used here. Is it warm white or cool white ?
nice content!
excellent communicator
Thanks Dr. Bugdee. Muito obrigado!
This was eyeoprning. I look forward to the uv (sub 400nm) talk. If possible it would be great to know how this applies to corals
What a great educational video!!!
Thank you for all the valuable information. What about the UV from 300nm to 400 ?
Yeah I wanna hear this guy tell me how UVa UVb and UVc effect hemp growth, since he could give real useful info.
What about crop yield will far red make a plant focus on stem growth over crop production ie tomato production
Wonderful class!!!!! Pure applied science
Thanks for this explanation! 👌 Your Apogee Sensor meassures from 400 - 700. But Far Red goes up to 720 nm.
Is it neglectable to let them unmeasured?
In the case of lettuce with supplemented IR @ 730nm is there a correlation with the nutritional values as when compared with in the absence of IR?
Hi Dr.B,
So the next question is if far red causes stem elongation in cannabis plants?? It seems that it could boost photosynthesis... increasing yield, perhaps partially due to further leaf expansion but if stem elongation was significant then this could also be undesirable...any thoughts or new data on this topic yet?
You’re blowing my mind. Love it.
lilac color, aqua green, and blood red. Full spectrum photography shows the best color choices in my opinion for optimal growth.
Thank you, Sir. Just massive thanks for that knowledge. You are great.
Where do I buy these fred photons?
Fascinating.
So would auto flowering be better with far red