Harborside Farms LED Grow Lights - California LightWorks

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[Case Study]

Harborside Farms

SolarSystem® Series

Based in Salinas, CA, Harborside Farms
is one of the most respected growers in the industry

At California LightWorks, we have a true passion for cultivation and for supporting dedicated growers as they nurture their crop and perfect their product. That’s why we love to check in on growers . . . find out how their grows are doing, learn about their goals and priorities, and discover how their operation has been influenced by the use of California LightWorks products.

We recently visited FLRish Farms, a converted, 52,000 square foot greenhouse facility in Salinas, California. As a long-time major supplier to Harborside—one of the oldest and most respected cannabis companies worldwide—the team at FLRish Farms hold themselves to the highest professional standards. Their reputation and continued success depend on their ability to keep up with the latest innovations in cultivation. So we at California LightWorks were especially proud when these industry leaders chose to equip their greenhouse operation with 2,250 of our SolarSystem 550 LED grow lights.

We were even more thrilled when we visited FLRish Farms and saw how their product flourished under our supplemental lighting. And, as is often the case, we were inspired by the exceptional work the team is doing to cultivate a quality product.

FLRish Farms and Harborside Farms

FLRish Farms represents the cream of the crop when it comes to greenhouse production facilities. As one of the state’s largest multileveled integrated cannabis companies, FLRish cultivates, processes, manufactures, distributes, and retails products in multiple facilities all over California. Their greenhouses rise to the highest standards for indoor cultivation, including sanitary conditions, procedures, pest management, and environmental controls.

The team at FLRish Farms had been supplying quality products to Harborside for quite a while. Named “The Best Dispensary in California” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Harborside has become a well-known brand within the industry. The company was originally founded in 2006 as a nonprofit dispensary and has been a pioneering force at both state and national levels. Harborside was granted one of the first six medical cannabis licenses awarded in the United States. They made the first legal cannabis sale in California.

SolarSystem® Series

Business and Cultivation Goals

Harborside is expanding quickly. With the reverse takeover of FLRish Farms, the company has gone public, representing another pioneering move in the industry. They are now planning to open three new stores and a new grow facility, which means their growers have to keep up. That is the challenge presented to FLRish Farms: continual expansion and higher yields while maintaining the quality, organic product that has made Harborside so successful.

As FLRish Farms general manager Doug Brothers explains, “We want to be a high yield producer but also low cost, and that’s going to be key in the next 12-24 months . . . being a high yield producer of quality, organic, boutique, high end flower. You can’t do that outdoor. You can’t do that with Mother Nature.”

Brothers and his team have clearly mastered indoor greenhouse cultivation and all the benefits it provides. They’ve carefully engineered the space for optimal environmental control, and their decision to equip their greenhouses with the SolarSystem 550 has been part of their strategy for maintaining their position within the industry.

“When you talk to some growers out there in this valley . . . they’re trying to do it without putting in the higher end stuff,” Brothers says. “But you have to look at this as growing an indoor crop.” He argues that cutting corners is a sure-fire way to become an extraction company in the long run. “We want to be a little more boutique,” he says. “Hence why I went with your lighting. I want the light to complement flower. Not complement leaves.”

Supplemental Greenhouse Lighting with the SolarSystem® 550

FLRish Farms is located in the Salinas Valley, which means the operation already has the distinct advantage of access to California sunlight. But even in this ideal location, there are serious pitfalls to relying on natural light alone. Yields can decrease by as much as half when the light diminishes in the winter season, and the Salinas Valley is covered by a coastal fog almost every morning. In order to achieve even light levels and consistent production throughout the year, supplemental greenhouse lighting is a must.

By choosing California LightWorks grow lights, FLRish Farms has achieved 500 umols and gained total control over their crop. Specific benefits include:

100% digital spectrum control for optimal growth and chemical profiles
Heavy red lighting for fruit and flower yield
Manual or digital controller mode
High efficiency Osram LEDs
888 PPF light output
3.3 amps drawn at 240 volts
Automatic voltage recognition from 90 to 277 volts
Maximum heat output at 1200 BTU (Compared to 2000 BTU with 600 watt HPS)
50,000-hour rated LEDs
Water-resistant fans

But perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of California LightWorks supplemental greenhouse lighting (other than digital spectrum control) is the photosensor feature of the digital controller.

The photosensor reads the available light in any given moment and automatically balances the supplemental light to pick up where the sun is leaving off. This is the key to achieving even light levels year-round. The grower can set the desired light levels and pre-program the spectrum for the entire growth cycle. Then it’s hands-off so the team can focus on the other demands of cultivation.