ABOUT DUTCH PASSION
Dutch Passion is one of the oldest cannabis seedbanks that offers customers classic and novel seed varieties. Based out of Amsterdam, Dutch Passion pioneered feminized seeds in the 1990s and continues to set the highest standards for feminized autoflowering seeds. As part of this philosophy, Dutch Passion uses the most advanced, environmentally friendly instruments to ensure consistent, high-quality grows. To that end, Dutch Passion recently installed URSA Lighting’s Optilux lights to see if they could optimize their grow process.
“The Optilux is a really beautiful looking LED module. The material feels strong and solid, the luminaires are absolutely noise-free, and the styling is very slick with a nice vivid green body and mirrored bottom”
– Twan, Grow Expert at Dutch Passion
OUR SOLUTION
Dutch Passion came to URSA Lighting seeking a solution that could achieve high efficiency while surpassing the lighting requirements for their plants. URSA Lighting’s in-house research team determined that the Optilux light could meet this challenge while realizing significant energy savings. Solid state lighting technology represents a fundamentally different and energy efficient approach for the cannabis industry that has significant advantages over gaseous discharge-type lamps that are currently used in many facilities. LED lights and in particular, the chip-on-board (COB) design, produce less heat and require less cooling. Compared to traditional light sources, switching to LED lighting has been shown to reduce energy consumption by up to 70%1. Other benefits of LED lights include reduction of heat stress on plants, reduced watering and ventilation maintenance, and stable temperature control within the grow room. URSA Lighting provided a detailed lighting plan tailored for Dutch Passion’s goals and we explained how to best implement our lighting solution.
| Old Lights | LED grow light leading brand |
| New Luminaire | Optilux |
| Strain | Renowned research variety; 50/50 Indica/Sativa |
| Soil | Coco + lightmix |
| Nutrients | Biotabs + General Organic |
| Veg | 4 weeks, 2.5 ft (75 cm) hang height, 18 hr day length |
| Flower | 10 weeks, 1.6 ft (50 cm) hang height, 12 hr day length |
“Compared to most of the LED fixtures I’ve tested during the recent years, the Optilux has produced a very decent result!”
– Twan, Grow Expert at Dutch Passion
- Leading LED Grow Light
- Optilux
Figure 1: When Dutch Passion implemented the URSA Lighting’s Optilux luminaires, their yields drastically increased! The flowers were heavy and bulky and resin production was good.
RESULTS
Although Dutch Passion has seen benefits from the energy and operational efficiency, the outstanding value has come from the boosts in cannabis yields and quality. Dutch Passion expressed enthusiasm for the dramatic increase in yield they saw from URSA Lighting’s Optilux light, “Compared to most of the LED fixtures I’ve tested during the recent years, the Optilux has produced a very decent result!” At a 2 ft hang height, URSA Lighting’s Optilux achieves a PPFD of approximately 1500 µmol m-2 s-1 and is optimized for a 4’ x 4’ grow tent. For cannabis, the maximum rate of photosynthesis occurs when the plant is under 1500 µmol m-2 s-1. Light levels below or above that optimal light level results in decreased photosynthetic rates2. In a smaller grow area, such as the 1 m x 1 m tents used by Dutch Passion, it is essential to adjust the hang height accordingly.
With the new Optilux luminaires from URSA Lighting, bud production was strong, flowers were heavy and bulky, and the resin production was very good. This result is attributed to the positive effect of increased light intensity on bud and trichome density compared to Dutch Passion’s previous lighting solution. Light intensity is well known to be positively correlated with fresh weight, glandular trichome density, and terpene content3,4. With 2 plants per 1 m2, the Optilux produced 1.1 g/W, while Dutch Passion’s previous lights were producing yields of 0.9 g/W (Figure 1). The URSA Horti-Lighting team continues to work with Dutch Passion to narrow-in on lighting strategies for optimal growth.
References
- Singh, D. et al. LEDs for Energy Efficient Greenhouse Lighting. (2015).
- Chandra, S. et al. Photosynthetic response of Cannabis sativa L. to variations in photosynthetic photon flux densities, temperature and CO2 conditions. Physiol. Mol. Biol. Plants 14, 299–306 (2008).
- De Souza, M. A. A. et al. Influence of light intensity on glandular trichome density, gene expression and essential oil of menthol mint (Mentha arvensis L.). J. Essent. Oil Res. 28, 138–145 (2016).
- Yamaura, T. et al. Light-dependent formation of glandular trichomes and monoterpenes in thyme seedlings. Phytochemistry 28, 741–744 (1989).
Technology Used
URSA exists to serve the lighting world, providing innovative solutions through our core platforms. As a subsidiary of Cofan USA, we leverage their 30 years of experience in thermal management and combine that with our revolutionary 3-pad flip chip design to create LED products that are beautifully designed and will lower your energy costs by up to 70%. Our vision is set on changing the thermal industry, creating a new standard in efficiency and affordability.
