Cannabis

Legal disclaimer – MechaTronix LED grow lights for cannabis production are only sold to geographical territories where the growth of cannabis is legalized by local laws.

With the global trend towards legalization of cannabis growth for medicinal use, a new era of deeper research and knowledge in use and effects of phytocannabinoids as Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol (CBD) finds its strive.

▲ Chemical structure of a THC-type cannabinoid	▲ Chemical structure of a CBD-type cannabinoid

Recommended light levels PPFD and spectra at various cannabis growth stages and principles

Cannabis Seed Sprouts or Root Clones

Cannabis seed sprouting or root cloning in general don’t need too high light levels as the absorption capacity of plants in this stage is rather limited.
The lower heat signature of LED grow lamps allow close positioning of the lamps to the canopy what makes vertical farming at this stage a space effective solution.
Similar to most crops at this initial stage blue 450nm and red 660nm wavelengths give the best results, with a good balance between the energy levels of the two wavelengths to create an equilibrium of elongation and biomass production. The yellow/green spectrum 500-600nm has some effect but isn’t a real need as the leaf volume is still limited and the addressing of chlorophyll a & b and limited Phytochrome Pr are the main photoreceptors in initial stage creating photosynthesis.

Lights levels PPFD of 120 to 150µmol/sm² are sufficient at this stage but you might want to raise to 250µmol/sm² when you get closer to the vegetative stage to avoid too much elongation.

Advised spectra for cannabis seedlings and clones.

CoolGrow® RRB

CoolGrow® 3RBEQW

Cannabis Vegetative Growth

Blue 450nm mainly promotes more compact plants and stomata opening – we also recommend the use of far red spectrum 730nm at this stage as this triggers the phytochrome Pfr receptors and will tell your plant after the vegetative stage to go immediately into flowering mode.

The CoolGrow® 3REQWFR will give you strong larger plants with long internodes so more spindly crops.

CoolGrow® 3RBEQWFR

CoolGrow® 3REQWFR

Cannabis Flowering

PPFD level advised for cannabis flowering start at 650µmol/sm² up to 900µmol/sm² towards the end stage.

Advised spectrum for cannabis flowering CoolGrow® 3R2EQW.

CoolGrow® 3R2EQW

Cannabis cultivation with Sea of Green (SoG) methodology

When growing cannabis according the Sea of Green principles, there are a few important lighting parameters to take into account in order to decide on the ideal LED grow luminaire.

• Prepare your LED grow luminaires for the needs at the flowering end stage.
  Your overall grow light system will have to be designed able to produce a PPFD of up to 800-900µmol/sm² in order to achieve maximal yields.
  Take as example the CoolFin® advance horti LED top light, which produces a net PPF of 1.950µmol/s.
  For a required PPFD at flowering stage of 850µmol/sm² you can cover 2.2 square meter of growth area with even energy distribution over the canopy.


• Trim your light level to the growth stage over the weeks.
  While your luminaire setup can deliver 850µmol/sm² you don’t require and want to apply that energy level during the first weeks of the vegetative stage.
  First of all your plants won’t need that amount of micromoles, second it’s a pure waste of energy.
  So make sure your LED grow lights can be dimmed or trimmed to the light level you ideally require over time.
  Here again you see the major advantage of LED technology over HPS and Metal Halide, where flawless intensity controls is not an option.
  The CoolFin® LED grow lights can be seamless controlled with either 0-10V dimming, PWM controls, DALI interfacing or Bluetooth wireless mesh (this last one requires an optional controls module).


• Adapt your light spectrum to the progress of your growth.
  As explained in above chapters optimal results in each growth stage requires adaptive application of intensity and light recipe spectrum.
  While you want to add more blue 450nm and far red 730nm in the vegetative stage at lower PPFD levels, you want to promote your flowering at end stage with a much higher levels of red 660nm wavelength.
  This methodology can be achieved with any standard CoolFin® LED grow light by placing 2 CoolGrow® LED grow engines with vegetative spectrum + 2 CoolGrow® LED grow engines with flowering spectrum on the luminaire.
  Our dual drive technology allows you to address each cluster of grow engines separately, which allows you to apply the ideal light recipe and energy level in each stage of your SoG growth.

Recommended LED Grow Lights for cannabis cultivation

We differentiate our recommendation in function of the growth environment in which growers cultivate.
In indoor environments, both the CoolFin® and CoolStack® LED grow lights give excellent results.
Both luminaires deliver a stunning PPF up to 1.950μmol/s out of a 600 Watt grow light, all passive cooled by our advanced heat pipe technology.

When you grow in a greenhouse environment, you absolutely want to reduce the shade impact of the grow lights on you crops.
In that case the CoolStack® gives a perfect fit to the needs.
With a shade impact coefficient of just 100mm² per μmol this LED top light offers the lowest overall shading in greenhouse cultivation.

With the optical lenses you can adapt the beam angle to your practical growth room and required PPFD.
When you let us know your dimensions of the growth room, we will provide you with the optical simulation to get your lights right.

CoolFin® horticulture LED top light - Product Brochure

CoolStack® horticulture LED top light - Product Brochure

For personalized advise on your projects we recommend you to get in contact us.
Our expertise of over 20 years in lighting brings major technology driven advantages to the world of professional growers.