Academic research into HPS vs. LED for cannabis cultivation

DinoTech

Member
Cannabis cultivators find themselves in a dilemma called HPS (high pressure sodium) lighting versus LED (light emitting diode) lighting. On the one hand, HPS has been around in agriculture for a long time and has proven that it can successfully grow a wide variety of plants. On the other hand, LED, as the latest entrant to the horticultural lighting market is living up to its hype. What cannabis growers are concerned with are quick growth cycles of cannabis plants that yield many large flowers, containing high levels of THC (Δ-9-Tetrahydroannabinol), CBD, and other valuable secondary metabolites. Furthermore, growers need a lighting system that produces consistent results time after time as well as proven light recipes. Up to recently, no academic research had been done to compare the capabilities of these two lighting sources for growth of cannabis.


Photo taken at MJardin, Denver, CO. Plant grown under the Valoya NS1 (sunlight) spectrum.

An academic research titled ‘The Effect of Light Spectrum on Cannabis Sativa Morphology and Cannabinoid Content’ (G.Grassi, G.Magagnini, S.Kotiranta) has been presented at the Cannabinoid Conference in Cologne in September 2017 which presented a two-year long comparative study of HPS versus LED lighting for cannabis cultivation.

The results show that the morphology of Cannabis sativa can be manipulated with light spectra. Plants under HPS treatment were taller and had more total biomass dry weight than treatments AP673L and NS1 (spectra by Valoya, the Finnish manufacturer of LED grow lights). HPS light spectrum is low in short wavelength irradiation (blue and UVA) and rich in green, yellow, red and IR in 800-1100 nm irradiation. This type of wavelength combination resulted in longer internodes and therefore taller plants with more stem dry weight. As for the compound accumulation in the flowers, treatments NS1 and AP673L had higher CBD and THC concentrations than HPS treatment. Treatment NS1 had the highest CBG Level. Spectrum NS1 is rich in short wavelength irradiation (blue and UVA) and had the highest R:FR ratio of all tested spectra. In addition to high cannabinoid content, spectrum NS1 enhanced the compact growth habit of the measured plants. The research suggests that the lower wavelengths, blue and UVA, could contribute to the higher cannabinoid yield in treatment NS1 compared to AP673L and HPS, respectively. In the rounds of the research the amount of THC produced under LEDs ranged from 26-38% more than compared to the HPS treatment.


Three light sources were compared to each other. Spectra of the used light sources from left to right: HPS, AP673L and NS1.


Plants under LED spectra were more compact and produced more cannabinoids than the HPS light source.
 

DinoTech

Member
this was taken from cannabis tech todays website....

In addition to increasing THC content, LED lighting requires half the energy of HPS systems. Though they may require more investment initially, the long-term savings are significant. Quality LED lighting systems can function for 25,000 hours or more, nearly 25 times longer than traditional light bulbs.
 

growingforfun

Well-Known Member
Shill for what? Did he mention what lights he's using?

Pretty sure he's not using those NS1s from Valoya.
I'm betting it's a "long con"
His trying to build a base of bad information for the Google results. In this con it doesn't matter if he pushes a brand, he is pushing burples in general, he, or other poster can push a burple brand working together.
 

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
I'm betting it's a "long con"
His trying to build a base of bad information for the Google results. In this con it doesn't matter if he pushes a brand, he is pushing burples in general, he, or other poster can push a burple brand working together.
I think it's just ignorance on his part.

I'll believe your sock puppet account theory over the idea that this is some elaborate shill plot.
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
The future is LED. I'm anxious to get some. Just as soon as I can get the quality I get from a cheap HPS while equivalent LED is over a thousand.
 

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
The future is LED. I'm anxious to get some. Just as soon as I can get the quality I get from a cheap HPS while equivalent LED is over a thousand.
It cost a bit to get all my lights built/bought but even I’m amazed at the spectrum on the cmh lights and run about the same wattage as good leds.
 
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