Is green part of the spectrum really useless ?

[eminor]

Hello, i was once growing plant indoor, they was light called "burple" light which contain only red and blue part of the spectrum. The growth was okay, i know that plant reflect the green spectrum, that's why we see them green, at least that was i learned about. I keep wondering if green doesn't matter, why is it there ?

Let say that a light have a big spike in the spectrum @ 530-550 nm, how the plant will respond to it ?

 

[Hanuman]

It's not entirely useless, however not being a light expert I'll let the actual expert talk and explain. Have a watch at this video by Shame from Migro.

 

[oreo57]

Green light isn't as photosynthetically efficient as red/ blue but it penetrates deeper into the "canopy" ( if one can call it that)
Soo some is transmitted vs reflected.

Second you need green to make white.
This helps in viewing any plant issues.

The blue/red lights were fine when LEDs were very expensive. The concept has generally been abandoned.

Green light: Is it important for plant growth?

Green light is considered the least efficient wavelength in the visible spectrum for photosynthesis, but it is still useful in photosynthesis and regulates plant architecture.

www.canr.msu.edu

Green Light Drives Leaf Photosynthesis More Efficiently than Red Light in Strong White Light: Revisiting the Enigmatic Question of Why Leaves are Green

Abstract. The literature and our present examinations indicate that the intra-leaf light absorption profile is in most cases steeper than the photosynthetic cap

academic.oup.com