How would black light effect a plant in comparison to sun light?

Trying to see if science experiment results are correct, had some unexpected variables, such as starting a week before its due!!!!!!

How would black light effect a plant in comparison to sun light?
Depends on whether the black light you get is one of those cheap dime-store black lights (a regular light bulb with dark purple gel on it), which will give mostly the higher energy end of a regular light bulb, or a real UV light generator. If it is a dimestore type, it will simply not grow as well, basically behaving as though it were in the dark. If you get an actual UV light, it will damage the plant and it will die. UV light has a lot more energy than regular light, so not only can the plant not absorb it and use it, it will damage the DNA of the plant and cause it not to grow as well.





Yes, regular sunlight has UV in it, but a UV light bulb has it in much higher concentration. I work with UV light for isolation of DNA, and if you expose bare skin to the light of a UV bulb, it will burn brick red within ten minutes exposure.
Reply:I don't think that the plant's pigments can usefully capture UV light.





So since black light bulbs are pretty dark in the visible spectrum, they may not do so hot.
Reply:Black light? That would be "dark" then.