Can ultraviolet kill plants

Absolutely. In my much more silly days as a young adult, I had a small marijuana grow operation for my own consumption. I somehow got ahold of an ultraviolet bulb and plugged it up in the closet. I knew it wasn't healthy for people but I had no idea about plants, so I limited my exposure to it.

Within about a day of using the bulb, the pot plants were all dead or dying.

I went on to research why, and discovered that UV damages all living things.