Growing mangroves under UVB lighting?

[Dave Legacy]

Hi,

I recently got involved in a new hobby of chameleon husbandry. When dealing with chams it's best to use live plants in their enclosures, but hobbyists are never concerned about meeting certain light requirements for one simple reason, UV Bulbs.

I understand that in aquariums one wants to block out the UV rays to protect thier inhabitants, so UVB bulbs wouldn't be appropriate for submerged plants. In this case, I've been growing out my red mangroves in a 25G Rubbermaid Container in the garage under PC tubes so UV rays are not a concern to me.

I was curious if anyone had any experience using UVB lighting when growing thier plants, or what you guys think about giving it a shot?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[el chupacabra]

It shouldn't kill the plants, but it wont be any benefit to them. Those are full sun plants right? If so they are used to UV rays that would natually come through the atmosphere. Just about all plants favor light in the red and blue spectrum. Plants usually have pigments that reflect light in the UV and green spectrum. The reason plants are green is they don't use green light for energy. Coral for example will flourece under black lights and even violet lights because their pigments are trying to block the violet and utra violet radiation.

 

[Samala]

I'm really not sure if there is a benefit or a drawback to using this type of lighting over the plants. Does it provide light in the other wavelengths besides UVb? Obviously, I dont know much about these lights!

>Sarah