According to urbandictionary.com, if you flip something you make a profit out if it. The same could be said in our industry for the term flip. There are a several good reasons to operate your grow on a “flip.” This basically means to never run all your grow rooms on the same schedule. Why is this important? To understand this, we must understand peak energy times.
Hydroponic systems are becoming increasingly popular in the industry as they’ve been shown to produce greater yields with less pest and fungal issues. We’ve been talking with many cultivators recently who are using hydroponics and need a nutrient cooling solution but are uncertain about how to go about it; so we’ve decided to share what we think are the best practices to grow big, healthy plants in a hydroponic system.
The temperature of a cultivation room plays a large role in determining how plants grow and the quality of the final yield. For this reason, it is important to have a reliable climate control system and frequently check the temperature of each cultivation room. However, it is very easy to incorrectly check the temperatures of these rooms.
In a commercial cultivation facility, the ultimate goal is to produce the most of the best quality crop possible for the lowest cost. There are numerous elements that factor into each part of this goal and when trying to improve yield or reduce costs, it can be necessary to take a second look at every element of the facility. Including the growing medium.
The Surna Reflector includes a glass lens, as do most reflectors designed for indoor cultivation. Before you decide to remove that lens let’s look at the reasons why, in this case, the glass is actually a good thing, creating a number of benefits for your grow.
Liquid cooling involves transferring heat in the air to liquid running through the system. As a closed loop system, liquid-cooled climate control can also provide dehumidification in addition to cooling. Pipes run liquid through the building and into air handlers located in the room. From there, the warm air is blown over cold pipes that absorb the heat in the air, resulting in cold air and warmer water leaving the air handler. For more information, read up on Chilled-Water Cooling Basics.
As discussed previously, it is important to make sure the correct measurement is being considered when choosing a bulb or reflector. Lumens measure brightness as seen by humans, but PPFD measures light density as seen by plants.
When looking at your cooling options for your commercial grow, you may hear the terms Dry Coolers and Cooling Towers. While these systems accomplish similar results, they are not synonymous. Let’s look at the differences and get a better understanding of how these cooling approaches work.
In order to understand the basics of cooling, it is important to understand that cooling involves the removal of heat, not the addition of cold. Technically speaking, there is no such thing as cold, only an absence of heat/energy.
While most people have heard of air conditioning, few have heard of water-chilled cooling. This makes it sound scary and new. But in reality, water-chilled cooling and heating have been around since the 70s and can regularly be found in hotels, hospitals and universities, as well as high-heat environments like server farms.