After a great deal of anticipation, marijuana was finally legalized in California by the elections on November 8, 2016. Proposition 64 which legalizes recreational marijuana in California proposes that people who are 21 and above can carry 1 ounce (28.5grams) of marijuana and are allowed to grow 6 plants in their private property, hidden from the public view. However, the proposition prohibits people from smoking publically and making the possession of the drug obvious. This means that even those who enjoy consuming the strongest weed edibles are able to do so in their own homes.
With the permission to grow cannabis at home, indoor cultivation of the marijuana will increase as Californians can legally grow their own plants. With that, the sales of indoor gardening equipment will increase. As the sustainable gardening trend continues, people will most likely turn to LED grow lights for indoor marijuana cultivation.
Indoor gardening and its environmental impact:
Indoor gardening has tremendous benefits: plants can grow in a tailor made environment which promotes healthy growth. However, there are some drawbacks to indoor gardening also. One of the biggest concerns with indoor gardening is that it is not environment friendly. This issue stems from the use of energy wasting high intensity discharge (HID) bulbs such as HPS and metal halide grow lights. These grow lights, as effective as they may be in growing a vast array of plants, have a very negative effect on the environment. First of all, these lights emit radiation that may be harmful to the environment. Secondly, these light bulbs waste a great deal of energy. As we are already facing energy crisis all over the world due to depletion of fossil fuels, using anything that consumes immense amounts of energy is highly discouraged by environmentalists. HID bulbs also produce a lot of heat, requiring ventilation systems to control temperature in the grow room. These ventilators also use up excessive electricity.
Sustainable indoor gardening:
In the last few years, green or sustainable indoor gardening is becoming very popular. The first thing that is required for sustainable indoor gardening is the replacement of HPS bulbs with other grow lights that use up less energy. Fluorescent grow lights can be a good replacement for power hungry lights as they use up very little energy. However, these lights are not very successful in giving a good yield and cannot be used for large scale growing.
The idea of sustainable gardening got a much needed push with the advent of LED grow lights. These grow lights were introduced a few years ago and have advanced greatly over the years. Initially, indoor plant growers were suspicious of their effectiveness in growing plants on a large scale, but it has now been established that these lights are capable of growing a large variety of plants and extracting large yields from crops. LED grow lights are extremely cost effective and very energy efficient. They use up half the energy required by HID lights and produce no excess heat, thus reducing or eliminating the need for ventilation. LED lights such G8 LED grow lights by Dorm Grow are extremely power packed lights, which require very little energy consumption, but still give great yields.
Marijuana cultivation and LED grow lights:
LED grow lights are particularly very popular amongst marijuana growers. Apart from being cost effective and giving a good yield, the color adjustment feature of LED lights has a positive effect on the quality of the plant produced. Cannabis that is grown under LED lights is said to have a much better quality and taste as opposed to the plants grown under other grow lights.
As the indoor cultivation of marijuana will likely increase in California after legalization, it makes sense for indoor gardeners to turn to LED grow lights. With people being more aware of the negative environmental impact of other grow lights, and the importance of sustainable indoor gardening, the sales of LED grow lights will increase in California.