How IR and UV Are Used in Horticulture and Vertical Farming

When most people think about growing food, they think about soil, water and sunlight. Light is the obvious ingredient — but which wavelengths of light, and why, is a conversation the horticultural industry is only just beginning to have at scale.

Infrared and ultraviolet sit either side of the visible spectrum. You can't see them work. But for growers — whether they're running a commercial greenhouse in the Fens, a vertical farm in an urban warehouse, or a propagation facility supplying the UK's garden centres — IR and UV are quietly becoming some of the most powerful tools in the operation.

We've been supplying lamps and fittings for specialist applications for a long time. Horticulture is one of the areas where we see some of the most compelling uses of the technology — and one of the areas where the potential is still being discovered.

Infrared Heating in Horticulture: Energy-efficient Warmth for Greenhouses and Vertical Farms

Infrared radiation is, at its most straightforward, a precise and efficient way to deliver heat. In horticulture, that precision matters enormously.

IR Heating for Propagation and Germination: Root Zone Warmth without the Energy Waste

Germination is temperature-dependent. Most seeds have a target soil temperature range for optimum germination — too cold and they sit dormant, too warm and you risk damage. Infrared heating allows growers to warm the root zone, the propagation tray, or the substrate directly without unnecessarily heating the surrounding air.

This is particularly valuable in the UK, where ambient temperatures for much of the year make maintaining consistent propagation conditions energy-intensive. IR heating delivers warmth to the plant and growing medium rather than the room — a meaningful efficiency gain when energy costs are a primary concern for UK growers.

Near-infrared light has also been shown to have a more direct biological effect on germination. Treatment of seeds with wavelengths in the 800–1000nm range has been demonstrated to improve germination rates and seedling vigour across a range of horticultural species — an effect that goes beyond simple warming.

Infrared Greenhouse Heating: Lower Energy Consumption, Better Heat Distribution

Conventional greenhouse heating circulates warm air or uses overhead pipe systems. Infrared heating works differently: rather than heating the air, it warms the surfaces and plants it reaches directly.

Research from the International Society for Horticultural Science has demonstrated that net heat consumption with infrared heating in greenhouses is measurably lower than comparable overhead pipe systems — with one study showing reductions of around 12%. In an industry where energy is one of the largest operating costs, that's not a marginal gain.

For UK growers managing heated glasshouses or polytunnels through autumn and winter, the efficiency case for IR heating deserves serious attention.

Infrared Heating for Vertical Farms: Zone-Specific Climate Control

In a vertical farm, the environment is entirely engineered. Every input — water, nutrients, CO₂, light and temperature — is controlled and optimised. This is where infrared heating comes into its own.

IR only heats the component or coating, not the entire oven chamber, which reduces start-up times and energy losses. In a vertical farming context, this translates to zone-specific temperature management across growing tiers without the inefficiency of heating large volumes of air. You can deliver precise, repeatable conditions at the canopy and root zone level — the variables that actually drive crop performance.

Ultraviolet in Horticulture: Plant Health, Crop Quality and Disease Control

UV's role in horticulture is more nuanced, and considerably more interesting, than most people assume. It isn't simply a disinfection tool — though it excels at that too. UV light has direct, measurable effects on plant physiology, crop quality and disease management.

UV and Plant Secondary Metabolites

Plants don't experience UV passively. When exposed to UV-A and UV-B radiation, they trigger biochemical defence responses — and those responses produce compounds that are highly valuable from a nutritional and commercial standpoint.

UV lamps have been set up in greenhouse cultivation to emit particular wavelengths that promote the generation of secondary metabolites such as anthocyanins in berries, improving their antioxidant activity. Flavonoids, phenolics and anthocyanins — the compounds associated with the health benefits of colourful fruit and vegetables — are produced in greater quantities under UV exposure.

UV-B radiation has been shown to significantly increase the overall antioxidant potential of lettuce through enhanced levels of secondary metabolites including total phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins, without negatively impacting photosynthetic activity.

For UK vertical farm operators growing premium salad leaves, herbs or functional foods, the ability to dial up the nutritional and sensory quality of the crop through controlled UV exposure is a genuine commercial differentiator. The produce coming off the line is more nutritious, more flavourful, and more distinctive — not by changing the variety, but by optimising the light environment.

UV-C for Disease and Pest Management

UV light, particularly in the UV-C spectrum, is emerging as a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides for managing plant diseases. UV light disrupts the DNA of fungi, bacteria and some insect pests, reducing their ability to survive and spread. The method is non-chemical, residue-free and environmentally friendly, making it an ideal fit for organic and residue-conscious production.

Powdery mildew is one of the most persistent and costly fungal diseases in UK horticulture — affecting strawberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, ornamentals and a wide range of other crops. Traditionally managed with fungicides, it's increasingly difficult to control as resistance builds. UV-C technology applied several times per week has been shown to effectively prevent powdery mildew in horticulture, with a treatment speed of around 2km per hour allowing a single UV application system to keep disease under control in a growing area of approximately 4 hectares.

The use of short-wavelength 222nm UV-C light has also shown promise in eliminating fungal pathogens and enhancing resistance against Colletotrichum and Botrytis infections in strawberry plants.

Beyond mildew, UV-C has demonstrated efficacy against grey mould (Botrytis cinerea), downy mildew, bacterial leaf spots and a range of other pathogens that cost UK growers significant yield and produce quality every season. For certified organic operations, or any grower working toward reduced-chemical production under evolving UK and EU regulatory frameworks, UV-C offers a credible, scalable and residue-free route to disease management.

UVA and UVB: Supporting Compact, Resilient Crops

Beyond metabolite enhancement and disease control, UV-A and UV-B play a role in photomorphogenesis — the way plants physically develop in response to light quality.

UV radiation can enhance plant growth, yield and quality, making it a valuable tool in controlled environment agriculture. Broad-spectrum lighting that includes UV has proven valuable for growers by promoting compact, resilient plants and enhancing metabolite production.

In a vertical farming context, compact growth habit isn't just an aesthetic preference — it's an operational necessity. Taller plants mean fewer tiers, less efficient use of vertical space, and more complexity in harvesting. UV exposure, properly managed, gives growers a non-chemical route to the compact, dense growth profiles that make indoor production economically viable.

IR and UV in Horticulture: How Infrared and Ultraviolet Work Together Across the Growing Cycle

One of the things we find most compelling about horticulture as an application area is that IR and UV aren't competing technologies here — they complement each other at different points in the growing process.

Infrared handles the thermal side: propagation warmth, root zone temperature, energy-efficient greenhouse heating, and the precise climate management that vertical farming demands. Ultraviolet handles the biological and plant health side: secondary metabolite enhancement, disease suppression, and photomorphogenic effects on plant development.

Used together, across a well-designed growing environment, they give growers a level of control over crop quality and operational efficiency that simply wasn't available a decade ago.

Why We're Talking About This: IR and UV Lamps for Commercial Horticulture and Vertical Farming

The UK is home to a growing vertical farming sector, a substantial protected horticulture industry, and increasing pressure on growers to reduce chemical inputs while maintaining yield and quality. Light-based technology — infrared and ultraviolet specifically — is a direct response to all three of those pressures.

We supply specialist lamps and fittings for industrial, heating and processing applications, including horticulture. Whether it's IR emitters for propagation bench heating, UV-A and UV-B lamps for quality enhancement in controlled environment agriculture, or UV-C systems for disease management, we can help you understand what's technically possible.

If you're working in commercial horticulture, CEA (controlled environment agriculture), or vertical farming, and you want to understand what IR and UV lamps and systems could contribute to your operation, we'd like to have that conversation.

Talk to our technical team about IR and UV for horticulture

You can also explore our full lamp and fittings ranges below, or download datasheets to share with your growing team or equipment supplier.

Browse our infrared range
Browse our UV range