Fluence by OSRAM (Fluence) recently released its sixth annual "State of the Cannabis Lighting Market" report in partnership with Cannabis Business Times.
The results from this year's report create another invaluable layer of research supporting the efficacy of LED lighting as a solution for full-cycle cannabis cultivation. The report utilizes data collected from cultivators throughout North America following an in-depth survey by Readex Research, a nationally acclaimed, third-party research organization.
"In recent years, not only have we observed the meteoric rise in LED adoption, but cannabis cultivators in particular are realizing the benefits of LED lighting strategies at each stage of plant production," says Fluence CEO David Cohen. "At Fluence, we are led by science in our exploration of the interaction between light and life to yield a healthier, more sustainable world."
The report provides a holistic view on the connection between different lighting solutions and plant growth across all stages — propagation, vegetation, and flowering — analyzing which solutions note upward trends of adoption by cannabis cultivators and why. Key findings include:
LED lighting is the top-preferred lighting method among cultivators throughout North America, leading across all categories: propagation, vegetation, and flowering.
LED usage for cannabis cultivation has increased more than 45 percent for all stages of growth since the initial report in 2016.
Recent surges in LED adoption are partially attributed to the increasing implementation of vertical racks, which saw slight increases across vegetation and flowering.
63 percent of growers who are not currently using LEDs during flowering are considering implementing the solutions in the next 12 months
Survey results reported 60 percent of participants indicated that lighting fixture dimming capabilities are as important or very important to their cultivation operations.
15 percent of cultivators said managing energy costs is the greatest challenge when considering LED lighting.
"Under LEDs, we were seeing buds that were tighter and terpene tests that were higher than what we'd see with traditional HPS lights," says Matt LaBrier, Chief Operations Officer at Proper Cannabis. "As power becomes more of a regulator in the indoor farming space and farmers educate themselves, everyone is going to go to LED in vertical farming."
The report includes a comprehensive overview into lighting trends in cannabis cultivation, including conversations with cannabis cultivators and thought leaders throughout North America from organizations such as Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation (TOCC), Fog City Farms, Resource Innovation Institute (RII), Columbia Care, and more.
