Marijuana Business Magazine May-June 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | May-June 2019 134 I n addition to water and nutrients, indoor-grown cannabis plants need the proper amount of light to grow and thrive. Ensuring your marijuana receives optimum light allows plants to conduct photosynthesis efficiently and produce healthy, robust flower. Other factors need to be accounted for, including temperature and humidity. But you can gain an edge by perfecting your techniques in certain areas related to proper lighting, including: • Pruning • Plant arrangement • Light levels • Lighting type “Lighting is critical to your success,” said Gord Kline, head of cultivation at High Street, a vertically integrated cannabis company based in Canfield, Ontario. “It’s a combina- tion of picking the right spacing, the right lighting, the right environmental controls and the right pruning.” Pruning Perfection At Shift Cannabis in Boulder, Colorado, Director of Cultivation Cody Monroe defoliates his plants and removes the fan leaves to increase light penetration into the canopy. He does this once in the initial growth phase, after he plants his clones into 1-gallon containers. Monroe also will prune fan leaves during the flower stage, about two weeks into the cycle and again around four weeks. Light Speed How to ensure your marijuana plants receive an optimum amount of light in an indoor grow Best Practices In Cultivation | Bart Schaneman Indoor cannabis growers searching for the best methods to ensure their plants receive optimum light can take several steps to maintain proper lighting: • Correct pruning can ensure proper plant shape and flower growth. • Space your plants to prevent un- desirable plant height. If one plant senses it’s touching another, it will start to shoot up rather than out, something you want to avoid in early development stages. • Tightly controlling light levels and temperatures will keep cannabis from getting stressed. Drooping leaves are a sign your plants have received too much light. • Tweaking blue- and red-light spectrums will help achieve desired results. Cultivators commonly use cooler lights such as metal halides in early, vegetative stages and switch to hotter, red- spectrum, high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights during flowering. Cody Monroe is director of cultivation at Shift Cannabis in Boulder, Colorado. Courtesy Photo

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