“In order to get maximum yield, you need powerful lights and a different spectrum in the early stage of growing,” says Mark Honeycutt, CEO of AB Lighting. The company recently announced the introduction of their newest grow light, the AB520, created especially because of the lack of lights specifically for the vegetative stage of cannabis plants. “This is a crucial growing stage for cannabis. Underperforming lights prevent growers from getting optimal yield and quality.”
The new AB520 light and Mark Honeycutt
The importance of the vegetative stage
Honeycutt explains that you have to prepare the plant at an early stage in order to go into the flowering stage properly. “The whole goal of the vegetative stage is to produce a hardy plant with a strong root system. If the plant is not strong enough early on, it will not be able to reach its full potential during the flowering stage. If you are going to flower with high-power lights, it is important to vegetate with high power as well. During these different stages, the plant reacts differently too. Therefore the spectrum needs to be different, as more blue should be used in the vegetative stage, for example..”
Educating growers
Unfortunately, many growers still use underperforming lights for the vegetative state, Honeycutt comments. “In addition, many growers will use the same lights for different stages and just dim them down, whereas a different spectrum is required.” Therefore, an educational process is necessary in order for growers to make the right decisions in the future. “The majority of growers are creatures of habit. If they have been using a certain product for a while and it seems to be working okay, they are hesitant to try new things. And this is especially true concerning their lights, as lighting can have such a dramatic impact on the plants. Also, it is a challenge for growers to justify the investment to try new lighting technology.”
Still, AB Lighting is on their way to convince more and more growers of the benefits of proper lighting. “Recently, we have been benefiting from growers expanding into US states that are newly legalized, as they have to buy new equipment. Of course, it is easier to persuade them to try out our products than having growers replace their equipment. Then, it is not just the cost of the light fixtures, but the labor cost of the replacement as well. Still, we are convinced of the benefits of our lights for all growers. Therefore, we try to entice them to do something small. For example, we let growers buy our products for a test cycle at 50% off. After they see the benefits of our lighting after that cycle, they can keep the products and pay the full bill, or they can choose to return it if they are not convinced.”
Strong demand
“Overall, the demand for our grow lights has been strong. As more and more regions are becoming legalized, the market is becoming a more competitive environment. As a result, the quality of your cannabis is becoming more important than ever. This requires growers to continually up their game in order to stay profitable,” Honeycutt adds.
And in order to make their products stand out, the company has noticed the value of third party testing. “When you have detailed test reports from a third party, that is a major advantage. Those aspects are verifiable, validated and objective. With the industry becoming more demanding, such test reports are great proof to convince growers of the efficacy of our products.”
A growing future
Furthermore, the company will continue to listen to its customers and the industry. The core of their business so far has been to accommodate the large, commercial grower. “Yet soon we will be taking this knowledge to the home grower as well, providing them with proper lighting. In addition, we are working on providing specific products for the micro-growing industry, which has recently been gaining popularity. In the future, you will see our name in retail much more as well.”
“With our years of research and product development, it is exciting for our company to know that it is not just cannabis growers we are helping to improve. In the end, the whole agricultural industry will benefit from more lighting education and the increased availability of high-quality grow lights,” Honeycutt adds.
For more information:
AB Lighting
Mark Honeycutt
mark.honeycutt@ablighting.com
www.ablighting.com