US (MI): Meadowridge saves power and costs with boom lighting

Pioneering new growing techniques have facilitated an impressive level of efficiency at Meadowridge, Inc. While many growers are beginning to consider the possibility of boom lighting for night interrupting, photoperiodic lighting for flowering control, production manager Scott Gruppen is improving upon years of experience by upgrading to TotalGrow Night & Day Management Lights. The end result is highly reliable and effective initiation of flowering in long day crops like petunias, fuchsia and calibrachoa using less than 10 amps per acre.

The benefits are compelling. The previous system of incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs used 10X more power, and about half of the bulbs failed every year. The resultant risk of production delays required multiple nighttime visits to the greenhouse each week to ensure that all lights were functional. Gruppen shared of his relief after switching to the reliable, LED-based TotalGrow technology that removes this worry and time drain:

“The Night & Day bulbs are the perfect boom lights. I no longer waste time replacing burnt out bulbs or worrying about when a light failure will delay my production. The plants look great, and the costs are tiny for the area covered! I like knowing that all of the energy from the TotalGrow bulbs goes into the light plants need most, not wasted for human eye light.”

Testing of the system involved four 11W TotalGrow Night & Day Management Light bulbs hung above the irrigation line, 2-3 feet above plant canopies, of a 14 foot boom arm covering 135 feet of grow area. Speeds were set to expose plants to light every 15-25 minutes for four hours of night interruption.

Meadowridge also uses 155W TotalGrow Broad Grow Spectrum Light fixtures in their propagation zone with great success and very helpful power savings compared to their preexisting HID lights. Gruppen shares, “I hesitate to turn on my HID lights due to the energy costs, but I don’t think twice about turning on my TotalGrow lights due to their efficiency and longevity.”

For more information
TotalGrow
Jeff Mastin
Email: jeffm@venntis.com
T: +1 315-373-9716
www.totalgrowlight.com

Publication date: Tue 9 Aug 2016