Why is lighting so important in the growing process? You don’t necessarily need the best lighting to grow a good crop but maximizing your lighting will increase the yield and potency. Consider that when the plant is in the vegetative stage, it needs at least 18 hours of light a day to progress properly. When the plant enters the flowering part of the process, it needs 12 hours of light per day paired with 12 hours of darkness.
Since you can’t depend on sunlight to provide the light you need, you have three lighting options, each with their own set of pros and cons:
Fluorescent Grow Lights – these are affordable and don’t use a ton of electricity. If you’re looking to produce a high potency crop, however, there are better options.
High-Intensity Discharge Lights – more powerful and intense than fluorescent bulbs, they are ideal for increasing THC potency, but these lights tend to get very hot.
LED Lights – these are the most popular option when growing cannabis plants. They are versatile as you can plug them into your wall and hang them over your plants. Because of this advantage, some growers feel that LEDs help create more resinous plants. The downside is that you need to make sure you create the right amount of space between the lamp and your plants.
In addition to lighting, there are other best practices you can use, such as timing as to when you harvest, curing, the types of soil you use, the seeds, and more. That said, the right amount of lighting at the right time is by the far the most important part of the cannabis growing process.
Sources: The Washington Post, Leafly, NY Times
