Page 17 - Griffin Gazette
P. 17

For CEA growers, lighting is critical to achieving consistent yield                          Warehouse herbs: Lower-intensity LED
and product quality for year-round production. While some lighting                           light bars are great choices for the tiered
products bring flexibility for use in several different CEA applications,                    production systems most often used for
the best solution will be tailored to the production scenario.                               plant factory production of herbs and
                                                                                             leafy greens. These fixtures generate less
µmol/J relates only to the cost of operation   Greenhouse high wire crops: For               heat, allowing crops to get closer to the
and does not consider how the light hits the   tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers that          lights without risk of damage, and reduce
crop.                                          require supplemental lighting, the idea       HVAC needs. As described above for
How the light hits the crop, the uniformity,   is to simply supplement the natural light     leafy greens, light quality can be used to
is the last consideration. Uniformity can be   to increase DLI. This goal is traditionally   manipulate crop quality.
good or poor with any fixture and is driven    accomplished with HPS fixtures. If            Warehouse medicinal crops: Propagation
by the installation. Specifically, uniformity  choosing LEDs, select full-spectrum           and early growth requires lower PPFD and
is impacted by the fixture dispersal pattern,  options. Intra-crop lighting (ICL) has been   can be managed with LED light bars, T5
the spacing of the fixtures and height at      shown to be beneficial in some situations.    LEDs/fluorescents and dimmable LEDs.
which they are installed. A well-developed     Another good idea: Consider light-            However, when it comes to flowering
light plan will deliver a uniform PPFD to      diffusing greenhouse coverings.               and finishing, high intensity LEDs are the
the crop across the production space.          Greenhouse leafy greens: If the goal is       obvious choice to provide high DLI while
Be careful about focusing solely on the        simply to increase DLI in the greenhouse,     minimizing HVAC needs.
average PPFD over a production space;          then HPS, MH and full-spectrum LEDs           While lighting technology can seem
also consider the difference between the       are all useful. LEDs offer several benefits.  complicated, a basic understanding will
high and low intensity areas over the crop.    First, they produce less waste heat, which    help you understand your options. From
With that basic knowledge in place, let’s      reduces heat load on the crop. Second,        there, Griffin can help you build a tailored
address some common crop scenarios.            LEDs allow narrow- spectrum treatments        solution for your needs. Contact your
Keep in mind that every situation is           to develop red leaf color in some lettuce     Griffin salesperson for more information on
different and each production scenario         varieties following relatively short          how to start the conversation.
will have slight differences. However, some    treatments (higher blue light enhances
commonalities do hold true.                    anthocyanin production).
   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22