Blue light produces more lush greenery. Blue light is necessary for plants to regulate plant growth, as it helps to create strong stems and also helps create the chlorophyll necessary for plant processes. Red light is needed by plants to flower, but if a plant receives too much red light it will become brittle and die.

Each plant is exposed to an equal amount of sunlight, so sunlight is the control variable. They are also grown in the same sized pot and given an equal amount of water. Both of those are also control variables, or constant variables.

The color of light DOES affect plant growth, but the effect is more noticeable under low light intensity. Red & blue light are most effective for plant growth, while yellow & green have minimal effect. UV light can damage plants, causing leaves to burn. Growers often use supplemental light to optimize plant growth.

LED lights are more energy efficient and emit much lower levels of heat than other types of lighting. But can you use any led lights to grow plants? Generally, yes. White light contains a great mix for plants, so white LED bulbs will work to grow.

Xanthophylls can function as accessory light-harvesting pigments, as structural entities within the LHC, and as molecules required for the protection of photosynthetic organisms from the potentially toxic effects of light. There are several mechanisms by which carotenoids function to protect plants against photodamage.

During the summer, there is so much chlorophyll in the leaves we simply cannot see the other pigments. But as the daylight shortens, the tree does not make as much chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll starts to fade away, we are able to see the other colors (pigments) in the leaf, mostly yellow ones.

The most soluble pigment in the ether/acetone solvent traveled the farthest, and that is the carotene. The least soluble pigment traveled the shortest distance, and that was the chlorophyll b. The chlorophyll a molecule was in the middle of the other two and showed an intermediate solubility.

Plant pigments are classified into four main categories: chlorophylls, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and betalains. They account for most of the naturally derived colors from plants.

• Carotene: an orange pigment.
• Xanthophyll: a yellow pigment.
• Phaeophytin a: a gray-brown pigment.
• Phaeophytin b: a yellow-brown pigment.
• Chlorophyll a: a blue-green pigment.
• Chlorophyll b: a yellow-green pigment.

Chlorophyll is the primary pigment in plants; it is a chlorin that absorbs blue and red wavelengths of light while reflecting a majority of green. It is the presence and relative abundance of chlorophyll that gives plants their green color.

The most common pigments in flowers come in the form of anthocyanins. These pigments range in color from white to red to blue to yellow to purple and even black and brown. A different kind of pigment class is made up of the carotenoids. Carotenoids are responsible for some yellows, oranges, and reds.

More complicated diagrams will be displayed to illustrate the structures of the three types of pigments that are present during the aging of leaves: chlorophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins.

Other plants, like a red-leafed tree, have plenty of chlorophyll, but the molecule is masked by another pigment. So a plant with red leaves probably has higher than usual amounts of anthocyanins, Dr. Pell said. But chlorophyll is still present and at work.