Can Grass Seeds Grow Under a Black Light?

Grass Germination

• Grass seeds contain basic elements that include the seed coat, storage tissue and dormant embryo. The seed coat protects the dormant embryo until the conditions are right for germination. Warmth, water and light provide the signal for the grass seed to begin germinating and sprouting. The lack of any one of these elements can result in the failure to begin growing. Once the seed receives the elements necessary for germination, it begins to use the storage tissue for fuel. Once the storage tissue is spent, the sprouting grass seed requires other sources of energy for continued growth, including light, soil nutrients and water.

Lighting Requirements

• Black lights can provide part of the light spectrum necessary for initial growth. Most grass seeds have thin coats that allow light to penetrate and reach the dormant embryo. A complete lack of light, a situation that can result from burying grass seeds too deeply, tends to result in seeds that fail to germinate.

Black Light

• Full-spectrum grow lights mimic natural sunlight by giving plants a full range of color. Black lights lack this full spectrum of rays and tend to result in poor germination and weak growth. Grass grown under a black light may germinate, but it tends to wither and die after using up its stored energy. Black light works best for sprouting large seeds with thick seed coats, rather than small grass seeds with thin coats.

Considerations

• Planting grass seeds in full sunlight or under indoor grow lights will encourage optimal germination and growth of these small plants. Although black light may provide enough light to signal germination and sprouting in grass seeds, this limited-spectrum light fails to produce an adequate range of light for optimal growth. Moving newly germinated grass seeds out from under black lights into areas with full-spectrum lights after sprouting helps to encourage continued growth.