Thoughts On LED Lights In Greenhouses

Q: I have learned that the Netherlands exports a lot of excellent produce by growing it in greenhouses using red, blue, and white LED’s. Has anyone researched and written about how these lights could be used for homeowner greenhouses? I would like to grow tomatoes, squash, lettuce, dwarf lemon, lime, and mandarin trees.

A: There is a huge amount of research being done on greenhouse LED lighting, particularly with cannabis that’s grown indoors Big greenhouses are common in the Netherlands because the land is so expensive and because vegetables can be produced in winter using supplemental artificial light. But growing vegetables in a greenhouse in Georgia is a mighty expensive way to garden. Summertime cooling is very problematic. In the winter, heating costs for vegetables will be high.

On the other hand, growing citrus can be fun and you don’t have to heat the greenhouse quite so much as with vegetables. Heating and pest control still be a problem though. I have lots of information on homeowner greenhouses at bit.ly/GAgreenhouse.