PAR sensor, LX5100

PAR light (Photosynthetically Active Radiation)The growth potential of a plant can be measured by the amount of PAR light it receives. CO₂ and nutrient water are of course important, besides which PAR light is the main component for photosynthesis.

In the past, horticulture often measured with a LUX meter. It has now been discovered that the amount of LUX says nothing about the growth potential: it is only part of the light that is important.

A LUX meter measures the 'total amount' of light. Ideal e.g. to measure whether a workplace or desk is sufficiently illuminated to carry out work, but useless for determining 'growing light'. A PAR measurement measures the light spectrum between 400 nanometres and 700 nanometres. Actually, a PAR sensor measures the ratio between the number of photons hitting a surface in 1 second and the surface in m2.

The quantity of measurement is: µmol/(m2 s-1). So measuring PAR light is important because it says something about a plant's growth potential. Not only when growing under sunlight, but of course also when using artificial light (model LX5100/LP471PAR02).

Statistics number: 9027.90.00