Good discussion people! Thanks!
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Indeed. You're of course totally correct. My response was initially a bit fueled by what I interpreted as a bit dismissive on your side ("no reason" etc.), I must admit, and I'm sorry for that.
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You will hit diminishing returns and the increase in electricity could end up not being affordable for you or economically unsound if you're a professional, depending on your setup. In my case I am willing to pay a bit more for faster growth and larger yields, but this is because pepper growing is a hobby for me and I would like to see them thrive as fast and fully as possible. There's a reason I've bought my soil components, prepared them carefully and not just picked it for free from outside. There's a reason I bought horticultural oil and did not end up using straight vegetable oil. And so it goes. It's more than cost saving and frugal priorities for me and more about caring the best* for my pepper plants. Again, to each their own.
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* Well up to a point of course. I'm
not rich!
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Indeed it's not linear. I would however like to add that even for a professional, non-linear increased yields might be worth it. Why? Because electricity costs might not be the only, or even a, cost-limiting step (depending on setup). It might be space or overhead, where acquiring more square feet or plants might be way more costly. Of course, more light (e.g. the increase in starch and soluble sugars during the day) could also lead to other benefits (e.g. better pest resistance or root system), which are not immediately obvious from a single trial.
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Regarding your comment on artificial lights versus the sun, I must strongly disagree there. It's all just numbers. On the equator you got 1 kW pure light per square meter. Let's be generous and say, maybe 30% is usable by the plant (e.g.Â
see chlorophyll absorption spectra). Pepper plants can't handle full equator sun but needs some shade, so let's take it down to by a third. 200 W per square meter (about the efficiency of a modern solar panel, btw)? Easily done with LEDs since they are nearly 100 % efficient and the wavelengths of the light can be tailored to be fully ideal.
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I'm not saying most setups are like this, where they can match the sun in terms of light, but I'm saying that this is achievable with some care and planning. That it would be impossible is a myth. It's a bit non-trivial when you discuss what light spectra is truly the best etc. (e.g. LEDs might not be the best if you're not spot-on here and without LEDs you loose a lot of efficiency) but light is not magic. It's just electromagnetic radiation at certain frequencies at certain intensities. We can reproduce it.
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Indeed it would be interesting! There might be something of that kind out there so it could be worth looking for.