Learning about Artifical Light: The Colour spectrum & Indoor Growing.
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back. Today, we’re diving into an exciting topic one that touches every part of life as we know it: light. But more specifically, artificial light, and the fascinating ways it can impact not just our vision or atmosphere, but the growth conditions of plant life. This has been a real journey for me. After learning about LEDs and how they can be used in creative displays or visual indicators, I became curious about something deeper could these lights be used to grow life itself? Could they be adapted into something practical, like growing plants indoors or even establishing a mini eco-system in a small space? That curiosity turned into a hands-on project that’s taught me a lot about light, colour, measurement, and planning. Like many of my LOLACRAFT projects, this one didn’t start in a lab or with expensive gear. I looked around the house and gathered what I could an old power bank, a few spare LED strips, some reflective materials, and of course, a couple of seed trays. The goal was simple: grow and sustain a small group of bell pepper seedlings using only artificial lighting. I didn’t expect it to be easy, especially with power sustainability in mind, which is definitely something to consider in the long-term. But this wasn’t just about success it was about learning, measuring, adjusting, and seeing what could happen when light was understood, not just switched on. To my surprise and delight, the plants grew strong. With the right positioning, exposure, and distance, the lights helped the seedlings grow vibrant and green. It really was incredible to witness a clear sign that when you understand the spectrum of light and how to use it, you can achieve great results. It showcased to me the importance of thorough planning before production, especially in a space as delicate as indoor agriculture. Now, I won’t go into every detail of the setup here, but what I will say is that the spectrum of light plays a much bigger role in both our routines and the natural world than we often realise. Whether it’s helping plants photosynthesise or regulating our body clocks, light shapes everything.
Light: Understanding the Measurements
Through this project, I learned that light isn’t just something you can see it’s something that can be measured and tuned. That’s where things started to get really interesting. One important term I discovered is LUX, which measures how much light is hitting a surface. It helped me understand how intense my lights were and whether they were strong enough for the plants to respond. Then there’s Kelvin, which measures colour temperature not in degrees, but in visual warmth or coolness. A candle might be around 1,800K (a warm, golden glow), while daylight sits closer to 6,500K (bright, cool white). That colour temperature can actually influence the stage of plant growth warmer light is great for early root development, while cooler light supports leaf growth and structure. Another thing that caught my attention was foot-candles, which is kind of like LUX, but more common in plant lighting and design. They help you understand how spread out or focused your light really is over a surface area. But where it got truly fascinating for me was discovering the Munsell system a way of describing colour in terms of hue, value, and chroma. Hue is the colour family (like red or green), value is how light or dark it is (think of black to white), and chroma is the intensity or purity of that colour. This system helps visualise how colour works beyond just brightness, and it’s often used in soil science, design, and even lighting analysis. All of these measurements and systems helped me get a better picture of what was really happening inside my grow setup. It wasn’t just a case of pointing a light at a plant and waiting it was a balance, a dance between distance, duration, and frequency.
From Indoors to the Wider World
This project was a success, but more than that, it sparked questions about what comes next. If artificial light can help us grow plants indoors, how might it be adapted for outdoor or woodland use? Could we integrate light into community spaces, or even into rewilding initiatives that lack sunlight during colder months? Could we use LED-based tools to support seedlings in shaded areas? As we move further into the year and spring begins to bloom, I find myself thinking more about how technology can be respectfully woven into the practices of Lunacare Cymru: Research & Rewilding. LOLACRAFT has been a beautiful project so far, one that reminds me constantly that repair, learning, and invention can go hand in hand. Whether it’s fixing what was broken or nurturing new growth through light and care, each small experiment teaches me something bigger. Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope this blog helped shed a little light (pun intended) on how artificial lighting works, how it's measured, and how it can be used to grow life right from your windowsill. Until the next time Ladies & Gentlemen… Take care.
Michael “Druid” Thomas
Lunacare Cymru | Media - Blog
