Ian Ashdown

Ian Ashdown is a horticultural lighting research engineer who is developing lighting design software for greenhouses and plant factories. He has forty years of experience as an architectural lighting research engineer, and holds over 140 patents and patent applications in LED-based lighting and for predictive daylight controllers.

Articles by Ian Ashdown

Photo of tomatoes growing inside a greenhouse. Photo of tomatoes growing inside a greenhouse. Photo of tomatoes growing inside a greenhouse. Photo of tomatoes growing inside a greenhouse.


Lighting expert Ian Ashdown examines why there is less photosynthetically active radiation at the canopy level in a greenhouse compared to...

Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes Far-Red Lighting and the Phytochromes


While it’s not fully understood exactly how far-red lighting impacts plants, Ian Ashdown examines a few interesting things we know about...

Cost of a joint Cost of a joint Cost of a joint Cost of a joint


Ever wonder what the ecological cost of a joint is? Ian Ashdown, Maximum Yield advisory board member and senior scientist at SunTracker...

Q&A by Ian Ashdown

Cannabis plants in a growroom under a light. Cannabis plants in a growroom under a light. Cannabis plants in a growroom under a light. Cannabis plants in a growroom under a light.


This is short question with a long answer.It may be true that a 10K finisher lamp adds “lots of UV,” but it is important to ask...

Email Newsletter

Join thousands of other growers who are already receiving our monthly newsletter.