7 Lighting Tips For Indoor Cannabis Plant Yield
No matter how sturdy and scintillating your plant production is, there are a significant amount of changes one can make to assist indoor growth. And, it is always worthy enough to seek contemporary and state-of-the-art techniques to maximize cannabis yields. When push comes to shove, a considerable yield is aligned with seamless cultivation and profitable figures.
The higher your sales figures, the more scope you need to increase profits, rake in more money, expand your operation, and then lather, rinse and repeat.
Whether you’re stuck in the middle of a trench or want to ensure that the yields are the best you could grow, here are some of the ideal lighting tips for indoor cannabis cultivation. However, before making significant adjustments to indoor lighting, one should know that light is perhaps one of the most necessary variables.
Designing efficient and functional lighting systems in controlled surroundings can prove to be tricky and touch-and-go. Besides lighting, there are several other considerations you might have to adhere to, such as budgeting, infrastructure, and plant growth before moving on to choosing adequate lighting levels.
While designing a lighting system for indoor cannabis cultivation purposes, growers should contemplate on numerous benefits and drawbacks of various technologies. In addition, some essential grow lights available on the market are metal halide (MH), fluorescent, double-ended high-pressure sodium (DE HPS), single-ended high-pressure sodium (SE HPS), and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
And worse case scenario, if you can’t find the right lighting solution to create the high quality plants you want to grow, you can try ordering mail order marijuana Canada. But otherwise, here is what you want to consider:
1. Dimming Capability
Apart from selecting a suitable grow light, it is also imperative to understand that a grower needs to install grow lights with a dimming capability of 0-100%. Since light control plays a quintessential role in indoor cultivation, one must control the grow light as and when required. That is because plants need less exposure to light while in the application of pesticides and foliar.
If you opt to incorporate such control, you can ensure that you’re offering a suitable amount of light in all the yield stages. In case this isn’t possible, adjust the light and move it away from the growing plant. Make sure that the grow light is not too far or near the plant. This gets relatively inconvenient when a grower performs it manually. This is why experts suggest the use of dim controllers assisting the grow lights.
2. LED – Right Distance Rules
It is essential to know that LED schematics run relatively cooler than HID bulbs. However, they still require cooling to prevent plant burning. On the other hand, The LED panel 62×62 offers a suitable light pressure, even at low temperatures. That being said, such an amount of light too can lead to leaf bleaching and light burn. So, begin with a moderate distance and stay within the range. Observe the plants for some days and move the lights away to observe pale leaves or burned tips.
High voltage panels with 300W should be placed at a minimum of 70cm from the canopy. As a standard reference, a grower can position 200-350W LED around 30-60cm away from the growing crop.
3. Par, Light Spectrum, and Lumens
Light comes from photons that are meager particles traveling at the speed of light. Another notable factor to consider is the wavelengths and frequencies at which photons vibrate. The photonic radiation is visible to the human eye within wavelengths of 380-680nm. Nevertheless, not every wavelength with this specific spectrum generates similar effects on photosynthesis. Furthermore, a grower can measure the light in photometric figures derived from the color sensitivity of a human eye, or the radiometric quantity concerning the light beams’ energy transportation.
4. How Much Light Is Required?
To institute the right amount of light for the cannabis yield, a grower needs to multiply the grow room area by its width to acquire its growing surface. Post that, one can multiply the acquired figure with a preferred PPFD level. If the grow box is 80cm wide and 250cm in length, the grow space would be 2m². Consequently, if you want to expose your crop to 2 square meters and experiment with 500μmol PPFD level, you require 1,000μmol/m²/s.
5. Follow The Watts Per Square Meter Rule
LED light panels tend to produce relatively more PAR than HPS, MH, and other types of lamps. Besides such a fact, the crop may require similar amounts of watts per square meter to obtain a perfect yield. As a result, follow a thumb rule of 32 watts of wattage per square foot amid the growing space to cultivate indoor cannabis plants.
6. When Maneuvering Light Intensity, Consider Growing Surrounding Parameters.
Before increasing the intensity, one should account for other factors like humidity, temperature, nutrients, and irrigation. A grower can yield twice the amount of crops commercial growers have managed to yield through this process. Moving on, ensure that the vapor-pressure deficit is watched closely not to impact the intensity negatively. Keep the VPD between .9-1.3 kPa.
7. LED Light Per Stage
As soon as the seedlings begin to sprout, they will require more light to grow. During such a phase, consider providing a dimmer light. Set up the light for eighteen hours a day and let the crops stay in the dark for six hours. Moreover, it is ideal to buy LED lights with vegetation and flowering modes to switch on and off whenever you intend to.
Final Thoughts
Cannabis crops love the light. This is why growers tend to mimic the surrounding conditions in which they can thrive. When balanced adequately, grow lights can stimulate exceptional growth and trigger vital life cycle changes.