How does light affect plant growth?

Light affects plant growth in three ways, including quality, quantity and duration. All of these must come together in the proper balance to ensure optimal growth of a plant.

Quality addresses the wavelength or color of the light that hits the surface of the plant. Sunlight may be a prism of different colors, including red, yellow, blue, violet, orange, green and indigo. Weather events such as rain can work similar to a prism and cast different colors. Quantity means the concentration or intensity of the sunlight the plant is receiving, and duration refers to how long the plant is getting sunlight.