Measuring Light in the Garden
Nearly all life on Earth requires light to survive, and cannabis is no exception. While cultivators can certainly grow a plant with any common light source, cannabis plants will only thrive under specific spectrums and wavelengths that need to change depending on the stage of growth. Fortunately, it’s not difficult to manage light for optimal plant health and a robust harvest. What is light and how do plants use it? Light is a form of energy that produces different wavelengths based on the activity levels of particles emitted from the light source. This energy is defined by photons moving at different speeds, which produce varying wavelengths that appear as different colors to the human eye. When we see all the colors together, we see a white light that can vary from a red to a blue hue. Plants have specialized pigments within cells to capture light that’s used to create chemical energy to help generate glucose, which is one of the key ingredients for new plant growth. They primar...