Are You Still Using LED Floodlights for Your Weed Growing?

Regular LED Floodlight not Good Enough

Not long ago, I had a conversation with a client from Africa and learned that they were still using floodlights to supplement the light for their cannabis plants. I informed them that while floodlights can be used for supplemental lighting for cannabis, the effect is not good enough. If they want to improve the efficiency of using the lighting, they would need specialized grow lights for cannabis plants. 

LED Spider Grow Light

Check PPFD is Vital

Cannabis is a light-loving plant that not only requires long periods of light exposure but also needs a certain light intensity to better promote its growth. For example, most cannabis requires 18 hours of light and 6 hours of total darkness during nourishment, compared to 12/12 during flowering. Having a grow light allows you to better control the growth cycle of your cannabis.In addition to the duration of light exposure, the intensity of light is another very important factor. Light intensity is measured by PPFD, which stands for Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density. PPFD represents the PPF (Photosynthetic Photon Flux) within a square meter area, indicating how many photons are hitting a square meter per second, measured in micromoles per square meter per second (umol/m2s), denoting a density concept. PPFD is the most crucial number for growers, indicating how many photons are reaching the plants. If we liken the light beam to a stream of water and photons to water molecules, it's like calculating how much water can be held in a pot of one square meter over a certain period. PPFD varies depending on the size of the light fixture and the distance between the light and the plants. The longer the distance, the lower the intensity density. Measuring the PPFD values in multiple growing areas and averaging them is fundamental and necessary to determine if the grow lights are sufficiently effective.

Take Spectra into Consideration

What’s more, different growth stages of cannabis require different spectra of light. While floodlights can serve as supplemental lighting, the significant difference in spectral composition between floodlights and grow lights for cannabis plants makes it difficult to achieve the desired results. In the same power consumption scenario, the energy efficiency of using regular floodlights is clearly inferior to that of cannabis grow lights.

A floodlight shown by a client for their cannabis

The client was very interested in my explanation and expressed that we could share this knowledge with her and the local cannabis growers.

The client showed interest in the knowledge of LED grow lights

We are certainly willing to collaborate with clients who are interested in trying out our products.

In fact, Goldenbuds is not just a manufacturer of grow lights; we have also been dedicated to sharing knowledge of controlled environment agriculture(CEA) through collaboration and communication with clients, growing together in business development. Our products cover not only for cannabis but also economic crops such as lettuce, herbs, cherry tomatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, flowering plants and small plants for home and office cultivation. Our overseas clients are mainly located in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, and Germany. This year, we are starting to explore the markets in South America and Africa, hoping to exchange experiences in the use of grow lights with more clients.