There are many challenges presented when growing non-native species. Climate requirements vary greatly by endemic region, and factors such as temperature, sunlight, and humidity can greatly affect a plant’s ability to thrive or even make it so it can’t grow. This is where indoor grow rooms steps in. With their ability to create a controlled microclimate, they can reproduce the conditions present in the plant’s region of origin.
Located in Central California, Sunburst Nurseries grow dragonfruit plants for sale at Home Depots all over the Western US. As Dragonfruit is a tropical plant, the initial planting is done indoors to replicate its home conditions more accurately. However, some potential problems are presented when trying to do this, as imperfect technology can often cause issues. Below we’ll explore how Sunburst Nurseries created a 21st-century indoor grow full of modern technology that decreased the time it takes their plants to root.
The Humidity Problem
As tropical plants, high humidity levels are required for successfully growing dragonfruit. The central valley of California, not being known for its high natural humidity, necessitated the use of indoor grow rooms for a project of this type. About one year ago, Sunburst Nurseries took over an old citrus fruit processing facility and converted some of it into indoor grow spaces. After installing a sprinkler system to simulate rain approximately once a week, the humidity levels rose appropriately.
However, the target humidity levels presented potential issues for lighting. Traditional grow room lighting requires power drops and power supplies on each individual fixture. In addition to being costly and inconvenient, these elements can be negatively affected by moisture. Sunburst’s solution was to use MegaDrive Linear 400 fixtures throughout the grow rooms. Up to 27 can be operated from a single power supply that, in this case, was placed outside the building to avoid the humidity issue altogether as well as avoid uncontrolled heating. The fixtures themselves are IP 65 Rated against dust or water contamination, providing further defense.
Effortless Wireless Control
Sunburst equipped the grow room with modern sensors that measure humidity, temperature, and other key factors. With watering scheduled and a robust, mostly automated temperature control system in place, the lighting represented one last element that traditionally required hard wired operation. The MegaDrive Linear 400s, operate from an easy-to-use wireless app available on both Android and iPhone. With a clear and intuitive graphical interface, including two-channel control for white and red spectrums, and a sunrise/sunset simulator, dialing in your lighting requirements has never been easier.
Results With the MegaDrive Linear 400
Due to the increased spectrum control and the ability to perform well in wet conditions, the addition of the MegaDrive Linear 400 system led to decreased rooting time for the dragonfruit plants, allowing for quicker turnaround between planting and transport to Home Depot, thus increasing profits.
Conclusion
The MegaDrive Linear 400 system is an excellent addition to any indoor grow operation. It offers features and flexibility not typically seen in LED fixtures, allowing for greater spectrum control from its easy-to-use app. Eliminating the need for power drops, it drastically lowers installation costs as well as getting rid of unnecessary complications that can result from individual power supplies on the back of each fixture, including those that are caused by humidity and other environmental conditions.
Even better, California LightWorks makes delivery and installation easier than ever, so you can start experiencing the powerful benefits of this system in record time. Every MegaDrive system is custom-designed and computer-simulated to ensure the lighting will work as expected upon delivery. You can rest assured that all of your components will come simultaneously to allow for easy and fast installation so you can quickly get back to your normal operation.
To learn more about what our MegaDrive Linear 400 system can do for your crops and operations, reach out to us, and we’ll be in touch soon.
