Many cannabis grow businesses trust HPS or LED grow lights to help them get a great yield. The problem is both HPS and LED grow lights have their limitations. HPS grow lights tend to be more powerful for cannabis grow businesses, but they don’t last as long as LED. LED lights are much more expensive upfront and can be more power-efficient in the long run (up to 50% savings), but don’t have enough punch for many growers.
Newer technologies like LED lighting offer some interesting possibilities but have yet to prove themselves in larger-scale operations such as those found in commercial grow facilities. LED lights are more expensive up front, but they last much longer and emit less heat. But what if you could combine the best of both worlds?
What more cannabis growers are finding is that a hybrid approach, specifically a ceramic metal halide or CMH grow light can create the exact results you’re looking for with your cannabis business. These three types of grow lights HPS, LED, and CMH have been used to grow cannabis successfully throughout history. If you want a light that is both cost-effective and efficient with your electricity bill, then a CMH grow light may be the exact answer you need.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the benefits as well as disadvantages of different types of CMH lamps so you can make an informed decision about which CMH grow light is best for your cannabis business. We’ll also share the CMH grow light that impresses us the most and why it’s the best CMH grow light for cannabis businesses today.
Related Article: Best Tax Rebates and Incentives for Cannabis Growing Systems
Top Questions to Ask When Choosing a CMH Grow Light for Your Cannabis Business
When it comes down to picking the right CMH grow light, there are several questions to consider:
- How many watts should I use per fixture to be efficient with a given space, and what are some other considerations when choosing my wattage needs? If you are using CMH you may be able to use only a 315W fixture for your veg phase but for the flower phase of growth, you will want to choose a 630W fixture.
- Which color spectrum is best for my exact set of cannabis strains? A good CMH grow light has what we call full-spectrum lighting meaning that it has all the necessary wavelengths in just the right proportions. You want a full-spectrum CMH grow light that is best suited for your cannabis strains if you’re unsure about which spectrum to choose.
- How much money do I have to spend on CMH lamps now that they’re so expensive to buy new lamps? A good brand-new CMH grow light can cost you well over $600, but think of this as an investment. The right lamps with the right strains can increase your yield by as much as 30%. And that’s just for one harvest. Compound that 30% across five harvests and you’re looking at a significant growth rate compared to settling for an underperforming HPS or LED grow light system.
Related Article: HPS versus LED versus CMH: Which Grow Lighting Is Best for Cannabis Businesses?
What to Look for in a CMH Grow Light for Your Cannabis Business
The best type of ceramic metal halide lamp for growing cannabis is the one that will maximize your yield and cut down on costs. Cannabis growers must be careful when choosing a light to use indoors because there are many different options available.
If you have HPS or LED grow lights already installed, then it might make sense to replace your current grow lights with the best type of ceramic metal halide lamp for optimizing your harvest yield. The costs that are associated with this upgrade will be offset by the energy savings of CMH and increases in potency and yield. There are also a variety of tax rebates and incentives available to help reduce, if not eliminate all of your lighting materials and installation costs when switching to a more energy-efficient set of CMH grow lights.
When choosing a CMH grow light, you need to factor in the following parameters:
- Aspect ratios for optimal coverage on your plant canopy. If you are growing high-density, or full-propagation plants, then the best type of ceramic metal halide lamp with an increase in intensity is recommended to produce large yields.
- Intensity requirements and spectrum needed for your specific strain needs. Of course, no two strains are exactly alike, which is why you need to know the exact lighting needs for each specific strain. That said, the right type of CMH grow light can give you enough latitude with a true full-spectrum lighting approach to help a wide variety of strains reach their optimal output.
- Size and weight capacity that your current electric infrastructure or ‘grid’ can handle. Simply having a larger grow space doesn’t guarantee your electrical setup is built to support that much energy draw.
- One final factor to consider when choosing a CMH grow light is the different light spectrums for details like blooming (flowering) and vegetative stages of growth. This is important because when plants are growing they go through two distinct growth stages: the vegetative state and the blooming stage. A majority of grow lights will use some combination of blue, red, and white lights to provide a full spectrum for your plants, but you can also find CMH lamps that are just tuned towards one particular color or another.
It’s up to you what kind of CMH grow light is best suited for your specific strains.
What’s the Best CMH Grow Light on the Market Today?
After consulting a variety of grow light specialists, we can confidently say that the gGRO™ 630W Ceramic Metal Halide fixture is without a doubt the best CMH grow light available right now.
For starters, the gGRO™ 630W Ceramic Metal Halide features an exclusive dimming feature that maximizes PAR output while saving electricity; the bulbs are rated to last for up to 20,000 hours (about three years of continuous use).
And finally, this amazing grow light is engineered by innovators led by Jeff Nall, Chief Technology Officer at gGRO™, who has earned multiple master’s degrees and 25 issued lighting tech patents as an inventor. He leads design and development across gGRO™’s entire product portfolio. Mathieu St. Germain, Chief Cannabis Officer at gGRO™, is also heavily involved with the development and scientific analysis of this grow light among other gGRO™ products. St. Germain, a sitting judge for the Emerald Cup, an event that Rolling Stone Magazine labeled the “Academy Awards” of the cannabis industry, provides expert insight on the specific chemistry that the gGRO™ CMH grow light is designed to produce.
Related Article: Introducing gGRO: The Future of Cannabis Grow Lighting
The gGRO™ CMH grow light is engineered to enhance terpene and THC production for the most sought-after strains of cannabis. The plant needs high levels of UVAB and Far Red (FR) for flower production and for maximizing potency. With this specialized spectrum, gGRO™ is able to maximize cannabinoid synthesis without compromising any quality or potency.
We’ve seen how the gGRO™ CMH grow light produces 19% more growth productivity compared to other leading CMH grow lights. It fully optimizes standard 5×5 grow spaces with no wasted light zones, with custom-designed optics to reduce wasted light in aisleways. The gGRO™ CMH grow light also produces over 14% more ‘reds’ and over 102% more ‘far reds’ compared to its competitors. It generates higher UV and activation of halides within the spectrum than traditional CMH or HPS grow lights – a remarkable achievement for an already impressive innovation.
How to Switch from HPS or LED Grow Lighting to CMH Grow Lighting for Your Cannabis Business
For most growers, the gGRO™ CMH grow light will be the perfect fit as it can be tailored to produce a high yield and maximum potency from many different strains. If you do have an existing grow light system in place, you may have concerns about switching to CMH grow lights. The transition is worth the effort.
The good news is gGRO™ CMH lamps are well-designed and easy to use. They have excellent versatility that will help you plan out an efficient and effective crop cycle from start to finish.
We have a team of Grow Lighting Specialists who can help you make a smooth transition to the gGRO™ CMH grow lighting system. Even better, we know the exact tax rebates and incentives that can help you not have to pay a fortune up front while making the switch. See what’s possible by talking with our team today.