What Does Light Distribution Mean?
In order to guarantee that all plants in a growroom thrive and produce equally, a grower must ensure that the light distribution within the greenhouse or growroom is equal on all plants.
Ideally, the lights within a growroom should mimic the long-reaching rays of the sun. However, the sun and the earth rotate and turn to ensure that plants grown outdoors receive sun to all the plant’s necessary surfaces. Indoors, a grower much achieve light distribution artificially.
Most growers rely on reflectors or reflecting foil to evenly distribute light across the surface of all of the plants in the room. In larger operations, light movers are often used to provide additional light distribution.
Maximum Yield Explains Light Distribution
Novice growers often mistakenly believe that correcting light distribution means increasing the number of lights. However, light distribution is simply ensuring that the light that is being used flows equally across all plants being grown and reaches as much of the plant’s surface as possible.
When grown in a greenhouse or outdoors, the sunlight reaches the plants not just from above but also from the sides as the earth rotates and the sun’s position in the sky shifts. Indoor growrooms do not have the advantage of the sun’s natural shifting so must depend upon lights and reflectors to achieve light distribution.
Another way to think about a growroom's light distribution is to consider the lighting footprint of each light, which refers to the maximum of space a light covers.
