What Does the Future Hold for Marijuana Horticulture...???

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
In 2013 I returned to an old dream of growing after an absence of 17 years.
Back in 1996 I had built and equipped a grow room, but pressure from an extremely law abiding girlfriend had persuaded me not to start.
Back then the lights were usually stolen from carparks and warehouses. They were Metal Halide, Mercury Vapour or HPS (we knew about Blue/red spectrum) but they were not specifically made as horticultural grow lamps.
No one had thought of growing in a tent inside a house.
And I knew NO ONE who had, or used, a inline fan and carbon filter.
In fact, occasionally, when you knew that a grow was on a certain street, you could locate the actual house just by following the smell
(and that's NOT hyperbole - that is fact!).

The FUTURE
Energy prices will only go higher so efficiency will become more and more of an issue and a selling point.
LED (and, to a much lesser extent, LEP) lights are already starting to replace HID's with the more technologically adventurous growers.
For me personally the big draws are
LESS ENERGY USAGE and
LESS HEAT SIGNATURE.

The minus's are
THE EXPENSE
THE LACK OF A RECOGNISED STANDARD
(every seller can make whatever claims they please and never need prove them)
Although less heat would be a BIG BENEFIT in UK, at this time of year, the heat helps to keep the tent at an appropriate temp/RH for the plants.
It's during the DARK CYCLE that I must watch the temp dropping TOO LOW.
In the warmer months this issue will of course reverse.

Apart from LIGHTS I think that, as MARIJUANA BECOMES LESS ILLEGAL and MORE ACCEPTED that CUTTINGS/CLONES will become easier to buy.

Maybe, like picking out a LOBSTER in a RESTAURANT TANK it will be possible to pick the branch on a LIVING MOTHER?

Different strains and crosses will continue to appear.
They are good business but, really, the available genetics now are not really that different from the ones you could buy in 1993.
No 'ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND' type advances,,,,

More ENTIRE ENVIRONMENT CONTROL packages.
Thermostat, humidistat readers that cause fans to speed up/slow down as well as controlled temps of reservoirs (and oxygenation levels)
EC and pH readers built in to allow automatic adjustment of nutes (et al) dependent on the signals of the plants.

FULLY MECHANISED, FULLY AUTOMATIC growing environments.

WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR FUTURE GROWING ADVANCES???
 

budbro18

Well-Known Member
Very cheap complete controlling cpus/systems for grow rooms. People are already making them in their garages. Systems with arduinos and other things like raspberry pies.

They control everything. All the fans, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, pumps, timers, lights, co2, and even control the ph of your rez. Built out of very simple and cheap things. We just need someone to come along who doesnt want to make millions off of us to come out with that system. Hopefully itll be soon.

Along with higher efficiency LEDs. I think leds are around 30-50% efficient and with new tech theyre developing is supposed to be around 90%+ which will change the game for LEDs even more.

That along with just more knowledge and facts being shared with the legalization and what not will help alot.

I didnt think id see a state legalized for a long while. A solid 10 to 20 years so were already ahead of the game in my eyes.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
Very cheap complete controlling cpus/systems for grow rooms. People are already making them in their garages. Systems with arduinos and other things like raspberry pies.

They control everything. All the fans, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, pumps, timers, lights, co2, and even control the ph of your rez. Built out of very simple and cheap things. We just need someone to come along who doesnt want to make millions off of us to come out with that system. Hopefully itll be soon.

Along with higher efficiency LEDs. I think leds are around 30-50% efficient and with new tech theyre developing is supposed to be around 90%+ which will change the game for LEDs even more.

That along with just more knowledge and facts being shared with the legalization and what not will help alot.

I didnt think id see a state legalized for a long while. A solid 10 to 20 years so were already ahead of the game in my eyes.
Tolerating cannabis use under MEDICAL RESTRICTIONS worries me.
Marijuana needs to be NORMALISED not MEDICALISED.

LED's ARE the future - NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.
It's just the timescale that's unsure.

WHAT DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT LEP's?
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
LEDs are viable NOW.

Let's use A 51s 2014 190 panel ~ $600 for a ligit multi-featured panel designed by growers for growers: 65/130/190- yep 3 switches

This panel should last at least 5 years of constant use, with 10 quite likely, or, ~ $50-$100 per year amortized

Running an average of 16 hours/day X 5 years= 29,200 hours, I think you can comfortably expect double that with ~ 20% loss during the second 5 years

Seems like a sound investment to me

http://a51led.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=181

You might also consider California Light Works, or Apache Tech. They are more expensive, but they, too, are quality products/companies
 

budbro18

Well-Known Member
Yeah theyve been on my list but too too pricey for me right now.

As for the tech being there we know its there its just too expensive for 90% of the growers to justify buying. We were more talking about in the future when either LEDs are so advanced that the ones that are expensive now will be dirt cheap, or that the new ones will be so efficient that theyll be more worth the money.

Just imagine all the LED panels out there now and just think in 5-10 years theyll all be running at around 75-90% efficiency, compared to between 40-50% like we have now. And thats on top of the line panels.


So well be using the same power with twice the results. Maybe then LED manufacturers will be right when they say that a "600w LED replaces a 1000w HID"


As for marijuana laws/regulations, i dont care how or why or when but i want it to be some kind of legal in my state ASAP. Hopefully near near future for that one.

I dont care what the govt tries to put in place limiting us or shit. People are always worried about it going legal and the govt taking over and not letting anyone grow.

MY response to that has always been, "oh, so id continue doing what im already doing now? Itd just be illegal like it used to be X amount of years ago...." haha.
 

Prince Albert

Active Member
I think solar panel kits are going to come down dramatically in price in the very near future. I give it less than 5 years for the industry to explode into every major home improvement store.
 

dannyboy602

Well-Known Member
led's are absolutely the future. i'm psyched because they use so much less electric and already 1% of energy usage in the usa goes towards indoor grows. its a disgrace. except my grow which doesn't count:)
 

PetFlora

Well-Known Member
In the mean time you can get a sine-wave inverter + marine battery(s) + new high storage capacitors and run off the stored energy. You need all this for solar anyway.

I think solar panel kits are going to come down dramatically in price in the very near future. I give it less than 5 years for the industry to explode into every major home improvement store.
 

budbro18

Well-Known Member
Unless the Koch brothers start getting laws passed making people like that get fines every month from the electric companies because solar/wind/hydro power is taking pennies from their pockets. Its already happening in some states so watch out.
 

NorthofEngland

Well-Known Member
We used to use street lights back on the day. Got them from city workers.
Same in UK
We'd get HPS, MH and/or Mercury Vapours from car parks or shop frontages
We knew the difference between the MH/Merc V - SPRINGTIME BLUE and
The HPS - AUTUMN RED
But the idea of lamps specifically made for horticulture was not in our knowledge.
This was about '88 - '90
By '93 a few guys had bought GROW BULBS to put in there (stolen) ballasts.
 

Travis9226

Active Member
The future of lighting is in induction lighting. Its old Tesla technology but it far surpasses led

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Rollitup mobile app
 
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