| MadSci Network: Botany |
Dear William,
As with anything in nature, take a look at how it normally lives its life. Plants normally live their life by absorbing sunlight. Sunlight is white light. Whether you are working with tomato plants, or anything else, natural sunlight is the best, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the lack of it will definitely affect plant growth and development.
What usually happens, under inadequate artificial light conditions, is that you usually wind up with a dead plant, or a plant that is not growing properly. Under inadequate artificial light, expect a tomato to grow very tall and lanky. No Good!
The most adequate artificial light would be a lamp whose rays most closely simulate the sun's light. You can buy a product called a "gro-light." They're pretty expensive. The good news, though, is that you don't need one. An ordinary fluorescent light will do exactly the same thing. It will simulate the sun's light quite well. You can also leave it on 24 hours a day, if you want to. It won't hurt the tomato, or any other plant for that matter, to receive light for 24 hours a day.