Far UV and UVGI’s role in protecting cannabis crop yields

In the cannabis sector, growers must focus on protecting airstreams and surfaces from unwanted microbes that, if unchecked, can send substantial crop revenues up in a cloud of smoke.

It is important that cannabis facility workers clean and decontaminate themselves and their smartphones/tablets, watches, wallets, company badges, and keys prior to entering a sterile cultivation environment. Such devices and items can be vectors for pathogens to spread to cannabis plants, which can lead to the growth of powdery mildew. UV-C disinfection devices like CleanSlate UV should be deployed at the entrances of all cultivation rooms to avoid such hazards to cannabis crops. Other methods to control Botrytis cinerea include traditional fungicides, but some of these methods may leave hazardous residues that are not suitable for consumption by seriously ill patients (Cervantes 2006). Organic methods are also being studied, including the use of competing or parasitical microorganisms (Wu 2013, Schumacher 2011, Costa 2013). The air quality inside cultivation rooms can also be controlled by deploying upper room UVGI or Far UV lighting either in the 222nm or 254nm wavelength. UVGI or Far UV is the cleanest, most direct way of inactivating dangerous airborne pathogens.

The Far UV or UV-C wavelength (254nm or 222nm) disassociates molecular bonds, which in turn disinfects and disintegrates organic materials, making it an ideal means of permanently inactivating microbes like Botrytis cinerea. In fact, scientists have yet to find a microorganism that’s totally immune to the destructive effects of UV-C, including superbugs and all other antibiotic-resistant microbes. There are two approaches to using UV-C to control mold and bacterial proliferation in indoor cannabis gardens: 1) UV-C airstream disinfection systems and 2) UV-C surface disinfection systems.

Airstream disinfection systems employ UV-C lamps to target pathogens from outdoor and/or return air (which contain airborne pathogens). Kill ratios over 99.9% on a first-pass basis have been modeled, and as air is recirculated, concentrations are further reduced by each subsequent pass (“multiple dosing”).

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