The upcoming Cannatech West conference on January 25 features speakers from across North America who will provide advice and tips on biocontrols, emerging diseases, and nutrient management.
They’ll also discuss lighting, a variable that makes cannabis production one of the most energy intensive crops in the country. Studies in Colorado indicate that 1,200 kWh are required to produce just one pound of cannabis. More than half the energy is used to mitigate the effects of waste heat from lighting.
The demo stage at the Lift & Co. Cannabis Expo in Vancouver on January 13 shone a light on ways growers could make better use of lighting.
Ihor Lys of California-based Agnetix, for example, showed how his company’s LED lighting system – touted as the most powerful horticultural grow lights in the world – can reduce energy use by 48%. The lighting provides brightness without the heat that can affect the growing environment.
Opportunities exist to tailor the spectrum of light to the cannabis plant, said Melanie Yelton, vice-president of research with another California lighting company, LumiGrow.
Its sophisticated lighting systems are well established at Rainbow Greenhouses and elsewhere in BC, where they’ve improved flower production.
Yelton is exploring the potential tailor lighting to the needs of specific strains of cannabis to optimize vegetative growth and cannabinoid production.
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