Lightshade Adjust Lights to Enhance Cannabis Yield
Denver-based Lightshade made the switch from high pressure sodium (HPS) lighting to LED technology to evaluate the difference in cannabis cultivation quality. In order to do this, they had to retrofit their entire operation. Dan Banks, the VP of cultivation at Lightshade had determined that the light provided by HPS illumination is simply insufficient to successfully grow large quantities of cannabis.
They installed roughly 200 LED light fixtures in addition to the existing HPS lighting. After observing a significant increase in efficiency and growth, they switched entirely to LED lighting. In order to select the correct VYPR of LED, they tested numerous LED lights, trialling through a huge variety of light options to find the most appropriate. They were specifically impressed by OSRAMs fluence lights and their full spectrum white light. Since Lightshade originally supplemented its HPS lights with LED fixtures before converting all of its lighting to LEDs, the company was able to conduct R&D with light intensity to first test the fixtures’ specifications on a smaller scale.
By changing the lighting, and increasing yield, they had to go through their whole growing process. Increased yield and decreased humidity resulted in needs for adjustment to water scheduling and quantity. Changes in temperature led to needs for changes in monitoring vapor pressure deficit and CO2 levels. Ultimately, they had to optimize their whole process to respond properly to the great increase in yield brought on by LED lighting. R&D like this goes a long way in optimizing and enhancing a process in any industry. Cannabis is still a relatively new industry as far as commercial quantities goes, so R&D is essential to industry growth.
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