Hi-tech farmers have remarkable results using different LED "recipes" to grow plants

Innula Zenovka

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I found this really interesting -- by growing plants with no natural light at all, exposing them only to different "recipes" of RBG LED light, farmers are seeing dramatic results.


This presumably means it's only a matter of time until there's a reddit somewhere devoted to heated arguments on the best LED recipes for growing weed.
 

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My brother lives in a semi-basement with little natural light (cheap rent/expensive neighbourhood) which has a built-in shelving unit in one wall. He's thinking of growing sprouts/herbs along one shelf using LEDs just to add some "nature" in the place, and why not, some crunch and vitamins in his sandwiches.

He buys his pot at the local pot shop. 😁
 
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Casey Pelous

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I found this really interesting -- by growing plants with no natural light at all, exposing them only to different "recipes" of RBG LED light, farmers are seeing dramatic results.


This presumably means it's only a matter of time until there's a reddit somewhere devoted to heated arguments on the best LED recipes for growing weed.
Reddit? Heck, drop by the garden department of our local Ace Hardware on a Saturday morning!
 

eku zhong

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I found this really interesting -- by growing plants with no natural light at all, exposing them only to different "recipes" of RBG LED light, farmers are seeing dramatic results.


This presumably means it's only a matter of time until there's a reddit somewhere devoted to heated arguments on the best LED recipes for growing weed.
LEDs have been used a LOT and researched a LOT in the 'erm' ... stealth growers communities. Different wavelengths are used for different stages in growth.. another when the flowering begins etc. This has been years and years .. (more than a decade) in the making.
At first they were used because they didnt throw out a heat signature that police could spot from helicopters using infrared heat detecting cameras, but they have now come into their own for many reasons .. effectiveness for good growing being one of them
 

Innula Zenovka

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At first they were used because they didnt throw out a heat signature that police could spot from helicopters using infrared heat detecting cameras, but they have now come into their own for many reasons .. effectiveness for good growing being one of them
I'm not sure if it's a statutory obligation or if it's simply policy, but I know a lot of raids on indoor cannabis growing operations in the UK happen because the power company tip off the police to the suspiciously large amounts of electricity being used in a farm outbuilding or empty warehouse or industrial unit.
 

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Kara Spengler

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LEDs have been used a LOT and researched a LOT in the 'erm' ... stealth growers communities. Different wavelengths are used for different stages in growth.. another when the flowering begins etc. This has been years and years .. (more than a decade) in the making.
At first they were used because they didnt throw out a heat signature that police could spot from helicopters using infrared heat detecting cameras, but they have now come into their own for many reasons .. effectiveness for good growing being one of them
Next up: the best sensor array to optimise the perfect lighting for changing conditions.
 
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eku zhong

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I'm not sure if it's a statutory obligation or if it's simply policy, but I know a lot of raids on indoor cannabis growing operations in the UK happen because the power company tip off the police to the suspiciously large amounts of electricity being used in a farm outbuilding or empty warehouse or industrial unit.
That too, LED growlights use very little power, especially compared to the 1000W mfers that traditional growers used to use.
Even legit commercial growers use LED more often than not now.
 

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Not something I've looked into deeply. But, are they working with specific wavelengths of LED emitters or relying on off-the-shelf RGB components? I see the article shows 2 bands of red describing "far red" as a 'barely visible' option... Meaning to me their edging toward infrared.

I'm curious because LEDs of certain colours use very very narrow bands of the spectrum. Our eyes technically only perceive 3 narrow bands and are easily 'fooled'. So, there's a significant difference between 580nm and 520+640nm which we're relatively unable to perceive.

I'm overthinking this, ain't I? (o_O)

Yes, I know my maths is wrong. It's all Greek to me. (-_-)
 

danielravennest

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Not something I've looked into deeply. But, are they working with specific wavelengths of LED emitters or relying on off-the-shelf RGB components? I see the article shows 2 bands of red describing "far red" as a 'barely visible' option... Meaning to me their edging toward infrared.

I'm curious because LEDs of certain colours use very very narrow bands of the spectrum. Our eyes technically only perceive 3 narrow bands and are easily 'fooled'. So, there's a significant difference between 580nm and 520+640nm which we're relatively unable to perceive.
The pigments in plant leaves have specific wavelengths they are most sensitive to (upper graph). Since sunlight has all the wavelengths, some parts of the spectrum are more useful than others on a relative basis, due to the relative amounts of the pigments (lower graph). An ideal grow light would supply light at just the peak sensitive wavelengths in the right proportions, so the leaf can most efficiently use it. The parallel for humans would be a diet that had just the right proportions of the right nutrients and vitamins for optimum health.



Since the main wavelengths are blue (440 nm) and red (680 nm), most grow lights supply two colors rather one for each pigment. The combination ends up looking purple. The wavelengths leaves are lousy at absorbing are green and yellow, which is why leaves look that color. That's also why the human eye is most sensitive to the middle colors - our ancestors lived in forests, and that's the light they had to work with.

 

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