Researchers have so far found that the flowering of short-day plants such as chrysanthemum, kalanchoe and poinsettia could be prevented with white, red, yellow and green LED light as long-day treatment. Herbs and sunflowers could also be grown in a cold frame with LED light as the only light source. White light gave the highest fresh weight, closely followed by blue light. In green light the plants grew longer but had a lower fresh weight. Experiments continue.
Light emitting diode technology changes electricity into light efficiently, without the presence of ultraviolet or infrared light or thermal radiation. The lamps can therefore be placed near the plants they are to illuminate, in contrast to existing greenhoue light fittings with discharge lamps (SON-T) or fluorescent tubes.