Welcome to the LEDs Magazine HortiCann Light + Tech Newsletter for Oct. 4, 2021. Well, the luck of the calendar worked out in our favor this month, with this monthly missive being scheduled just a few days after our HortiCann Light + Tech Conference took place. Indeed, I will spend most of this newsletter on the event. And remember that you can still register and catch the archived content for a couple of months.

For the second consecutive year, the Plenary Growers panel organized and moderated by Erico Mattos of the GLASE Consortium was a highlight of the event. Our Carrie Meadows covered the panel in her Day 2 story on HortiCann. The participants are long fans of LED technology for horticultural lighting. The discussion detailed advantages starting with shorter growth cycles and included incredible insights into the growing practice.

We also had an excellent keynote address although production difficulties delayed it to the second day of the event. Ricardo Hernandez of North Carolina State University discussed his research work with cannabis. The research was actually focused on hemp with low levels of THC as dictated by the university. But he said that testing of CBD levels in hemp would exactly parallel other cannabinoids such as THC in related cultivars.

Hernandez and one of his students tested supplemental LED lighting in a greenhouse setting. The work included varied levels of lighting applied constantly through vegetative and flowering stages and varied during the different stages. Moreover, the duo tested different light levels and compiled results relative to the capex and opex costs of buying and operating more lights to deliver the extreme levels used to supplement the sun. The results indicate that the highest levels will pay off in crop yield.

The message turned out to be a perfect follow-on to our keynote address from HortiCann 2020. Last year, Bruce Bugbee of Utah State University explained that most cultivars saturate at some level and photoperiod of light such that more light doesn’t further increase yield and actually can make the plant regress. That happens at relatively low levels for leafy greens and at relatively higher levels for tomatoes or cucumbers. But Bugbee said that cannabis thrives under extremely high levels of light. Hernandez, meanwhile, detailed how using such lighting is a business win.

Carrie Meadows also wrote a story on Day 1 of the conference, and she posted a piece on our blog covering the Bluetooth-centric presentation by Rafal Han of Silvair. Han made the point that many of the positive attributes of Bluetooth Mesh in commercial connected lighting also deliver significant benefits in CEA (controlled environment agriculture) applications. I would also recommend a listen to the Kurt Liepmann presentation from ams Osram. The presentation looked at the latest advancements in LED technology for horticulture and specifically at phosphor developments that make LEDs a better fit for the plant world.

There is lots more for you down below. Always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.

- Maury Wright, (858) 208-9442, mwright@endeavorb2b.com