Commercial cannabis grower chooses Heliospectra 'intelligent' lighting

12 Jul 2017

TruGanic Hybrid Cultivation's new Oregon facility sees $94,000 LED system as key to controlling medicinal profiles and quality.

Pinkhouse Blooms, Denver, another cannabis grower, uses Heliospectra’s LED system.

Heliospectra, a developer of intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, has won an interesting order from TruGanic Hybrid Cultivation (THC), valued at $94,000.

The indoor agriculture facility is investing in Heliospectra’s lighting system to control the consistency of its medicinal cannabis and standardize crop quality.

THC is building a growing facility in the Portland, Oregon area. The company plans to initiate an extensive breeding program and cultivate eight different strains using a double tier vertical rack system to optimize space.

The order includes Heliospectra's LX60 lighting solutions to give THCultivation an adjustable spectral range which can be used through the plant growth cycle from vegetation to the development of “a sea of green flowers”.

Bruce Caruso, Director of Cultivation at THC commented, "We want to focus on the vegetation stage with the goal of taking clones to one gallon (4.5 liter) plants in four weeks.

"The ability to establish strong, healthy plants from day one and dial in the light strategies by strain with granular control over far red wavelengths is critical. Heliospectra is the most advanced and flexible sole source lighting solution on the market for our indoor growing environment."

Competitive research

Heliospectra's LX60 reduces a user's carbon footprint while optimizing plant quality.

Experienced cultivars, Caruso and THC owner Ryan Miles conducted extensive competitive research on lighting solutions best suited for organic, no-till beds and indoor growing. They concluded that Heliospectra offers a robust, durable solution that is waterproof.

The lamps feature built-in fans to effect air movement and cooling. The proprietary optics ensure uniform light distribution with penetration to the bottom of the plant canopy or tier. Heliospectra's energy-efficient 600W LEDs will also deliver immediate cost savings on the construction of the THC facility.

"We realized that installing the Heliospectra lights requires far less HVAC infrastructure and reduces our upfront construction investment," said Miles.

"If you start to think about how our business operations will scale while utility rates continue to rise over the next 10 to 15 years, the opportunity to streamline the electricity demand without sacrificing light intensity also represents significant dollar savings."

Heliospectra's recently announced Cortex control software features energy consumption monitoring and interactive data visualization. THC and other commercial cannabis growers can use the platform's centralized management and scheduling tools to control and automate light strategies or group lights into zones for each stage of plant growth.

Video

The following video "LED Grow Lights: Behind the Scenes of a Commercial Cannabis Operation" details how PinkHouse Blooms decided to deploy Heliospectra's solution and the benefits they have identified.