Professional Marijuana Grower September-October 2017 Issue

(Continued from page 24) plants. To maximize production, many growers typically try to get the plants as large as possible. HID lighting is perfect for cultivating large monster plants because their intensity allows large plants to develop more fully. When using other lighting technologies on tall, monster plants the top portions of the plants will develop properly, but much of the undergrowth will never mature. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Unlike other lighting technologies used in marijuana hor- ticulture, LEDs are a solid state device which makes them extremely durable. LED fixtures usually consist of a panel of LEDs and a circuit board (generally housed within the lighting fixture). Many horticultural LEDs contain a heat sink and/or fan to help dissipate heat and increase the fixture’s life span. The biggest advantages of LED technol- ogy are longevity and the ability to customize the light spectrum. Plants have a heightened response to particu- lar light wavelengths and LED technology has the ability to provide higher amounts of the particular wavelengths plants desire. LEDs are the only technology that has the potential to manipulate the ratio of these wavelengths into the perfect ratio for photosynthesis. In other words, LEDs are more efficient at converting electricity into the light energy most used by cannabis plants. When flowering, marijuana plants prefer a higher ratio of red light to other spectrums and LED lighting systems are capable of providing the ideal light ratios for the final stages of growth. Although large plants can be grown under LED fixtures, the most efficient use for this lighting technology is a SOG, or sea of green, method. This method utilizes many small plants which never reach a tall stature. Instead, the entire light system’s footprint is filled with small flowering plants. SOG growing is one of the most efficient ways to maximize the given light energy. When teamed with 28 • Professional Marijuana Grower LED lighting systems, the overall efficiency of the yield (gram of finished material per watt of energy consumed) is virtually untouchable by any other lighting technology. Fluorescents High efficiency fluorescents, like the T5 style, are very popular among indoor horticulturists for vegetative light- ing or for seedlings and clones. However, in particular situations, they can be used as an effective flowering lighting system. As with LEDs, if a SOG style garden is implemented, T5 fluorescents can produce extremely im- pressive yields in terms of grams of finished material per watt of energy consumed. However, if large plants are grown, fluorescents typically lack the punch to deliver enough light energy to the lower sections of the plants. One of the most efficient marijuana garden operations I ever saw utilized T5 fluorescents with a series of shelving racks. This allowed the grower to have multiple gardens stacked upon one another and was an extremely efficient use of floor space. Induction Fluorescents Unlike HID and standard fluorescents, which rely on elec- trodes to bring electricity into the bulb, induction lighting utilizes microwave or radio frequencies to pass through the sealed bulb and excite the metals and gases sealed within. Induction fluorescents can be used to flower mari- juana in the same way as standard fluorescents, but they have one large advantage: longevity. Because of their unique design, induction fluorescents break down very slowly. This allows them to retain a high CRI (color ren- dition index) and high amount of PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) for an extremely long time. What this equates to is more uniform growth in the garden over the course of multiple years. Like LEDs and T5 fluorescents, induction fluorescent are best for SOG type gardens. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Professional Marijuana Grower September-October 2017 Issue | Page 28