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Top 5 Grow Room Upgrades for 2023

Top 5 Grow Room Upgrades for 2023

top 5 grow room upgrades and grow room build tips

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Starting the New Year strong means getting those grow room upgrades you’ve been pushing off!

There are some aspects of a grow room build that are always consistent, like how much space you have to work with. What you can change, however, is how well that space works for you.

In other words, with the right grow room build and grow room upgrades, you can set yourself for success no matter the size of your room. Today, we’re going over the top five grow room upgrades we think you should be making in 2023.

Top 5 Grow Room Upgrades

It can be difficult to choose what grow room upgrades to make in 2023, when there are so many options. We are not saying that every upgrade in this list needs to be made in order to be successful.

We believe that optimizing your grow room build to be as efficient and cost-effective as possible it what matters. While some grow room upgrades may come with a hefty price tag, many of these upgrades will pay themselves off in time.

Upgrade Your Grow Lights

The number one grow room upgrade we recommend to growers these days is to upgrade grow lights. It wasn’t that long ago that HPS (High Pressure Sodium) lighting was king.

Just about every commercial facility was using HPS lights because they were the most efficient. But that has now changed.

LED grow lights have revolutionized indoor cultivation. LEDs don’t just save on electricity costs compared to HPS grow lights thanks to their efficiency. LED lights also offer a much wider light spectrum for your plants.

The spectrum of LEDs more closely simulates natural sunlight, which is what your plants truly crave.

On a large scale, the costs of LEDs and HPS lights may be similar, but what you lose in efficiency and energy costs with HPS, you get in spades with an LED.

Grow Room Dehumidifier

Even in Colorado, humidity can become an issue in an order cultivation facility. As plants are fed water and performing photosynthesis, moisture is produced by the plants themselves.

This moisture can add up over time, and without proper maintenance can result in mold, mildew, bugs and other issues. Just one dehumidifier in your grow can make a significant difference.

The old, roll-in dehumidifiers that sat in the corner of the grow are a thing of the past. With a little hardware, you can hang a Quest or Anden dehumidifier right in the middle of your room to maximize its efficiency.

Environmental Controller for your Grow Room

2023 is the year of efficiency, and that means taking more control over your grow to save time. An environmental controller is one of the best grow room upgrades you can make this year.

The term “environmental controller” can be broad, or specific. That is, you can get a controller that merely controls your light cycles. You can also get a controller that will monitor and control your temperature, humidity, lights, feeding cycles and more.

The amount of automation in your grow more or less determines what type of environmental controller you will need for your grow room build. For example if you are hand watering, there is no need for a controller that manages irrigation.

However as you’ll learn in our next grow room upgrade recommendation, you should reconsider hand watering too.

Grow Room Irrigation

Hand watering has its perks, like getting up close and personal with each plant. But it isn’t worth the potential mistakes we can make as humans.

Hand feeding is more likely to result in overfeeding, underfeeding or mis-measuring nutrient doses, which is why automated irrigation is our next grow room upgrade recommendation for 2023.

Setting up automated irrigation can be intimidating, and it can certainly be time consuming. But with proper resources like our own DIY irrigation build out tutorial, you can start designing and building your irrigation system with ease.

Automating your feedings doesn’t just save you the time of hand watering, it also ensures your plants get the exact amount of nutrients they need in every feeding. With the help of an environmental controller, the irrigation process can be entirely automated.

Think of the hours saved that can be spent on more important matters in the grow, like getting the most out of your space!

Rolling Benches Grow Room Upgrade

It’s time to pick the plants up off the grow room floor and put them on a rolling bench. Here’s the thing; they aren’t actually on wheels.

A rolling bench is a stationary stand with a moveable tabletop. This design allows the grower to move the tabletop side to side without actually moving the table itself.

In other words, you can have two rolling benches directly next to each other, while still being able to move one out of the way to move between them and check on plants. No more stationary isles!

When maximizing square footage is the name of the game, rolling benches in the grow room will help do it better than anything else.

Other Grow Room Upgrades

There are always new upgrades to make in the grow room, whether it is new tech or the cultivation style itself. At Cultivate, we keep our finger on the pulse of the industry, and work with leading brands to stay ahead of trends and keep you informed.

If there’s a grow room upgrade you think we missed or should cover next, let us know! Don’t forget to check out our Top 5 Grow Room Upgrades and Grow Room Build Tips video on YouTube!

Best LED Grow Lights for 2022

Best LED Grow Lights for 2022

Best LED grow lights for cannabis

LED grow lights have quickly become a favorite options for growers who want to grow indoors and save energy while still boosting yields and quality.

Can an LED really do all of those things?

Yes!

The main reason that LED grow lights weren’t as popular until recently was mainly due to quality and cost. There is no shortage of cheap LED lights, and there’s just as many that are very expensive.

So which LED grow lights really give the most bang for your buck? Which lights are worth the cost while still delivering a higher standard of quality compared to HPS and CMH lighting?

Here are the top 4 best LED grow lights that you should consider trying in 2022.

Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED

Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED grow light

The Growers Choice ROI E-720 LED grow light has become one of the top selling LEDs over the last year. That’s for good reason.

The ROI-E720 LED grow light was designed with commercial growing operations in mind, but the light can be just as impactful in a small scale setting. The ROI can also be used in the BOOST mode to increase its PPF of 1870 umol/s to 2050 umol/s (approximately 10%).

This light comes in on the higher side of cost compared to your standard 1000w HPS grow light. However the efficiency and energy saving capabilities of the ROI E-720 LED can pay itself in just one cycle.

Luxx 860w LED Pro XR

Luxx 860w LED Pro XR Grow Light

Building off the progress of the 645w LED platform, the Luxx 860w LED Pro XR grow light is the next evolution of LED grow light technology.

It features two additional 100W LED bars to increase total light output and maintain PPFD uniformity over a larger area ensuring consistent growth across 5-6ft tray widths. This light maxes out at 103 degrees Fahrenheit, which is extremely low for the amount of light output the Luxx 860w LED produces.

The 860w can cover a 5×5 or 6×6 area with a 120 degree lens angle for better canopy penetration. This light can replace a 1000w HPS fixture, with better results.

Last but certainly not least, the Luxx 860w LED Pro XR can fold into a 4-bar setup while still running at 860w and can even be dimmed down up to 40%!

Gavita Pro 1700e LED

Gavita Pro 1700e LED grow light

The Gavita Pro 1700e LED is a 645w LED grow light designed by one of the top grow light brands in the world.

Operating with an output of 1700 µmol s-1 PAR, the Pro 1700e delivers broad, intense light coverage with its 8 passively cooled LED bars allowing you to use it in low rooms, vertical racks, over benches, or even in tents.

Gavita is known for their high quality lights that maximize efficiency for their cost. Built with premium Philips drivers, Samsung white LEDs and Osram deep-red LEDs, this fixture uses only the highest-quality components.

Gavita’s master controllers also give you more control over the Pro 1700e LED, from controlling output and dimming the fixture up to 50%, to setting timers and more.

Photobio MX 680w LED

Phantom Photobio 680w LED grow light

The Photobio 680w LED by Phantom took a radical approach to the design of their LED grow light. Phantom looked at the other LEDs on the market and decided to take a different direction.

The result is a 680W fixture delivering 15% more light to your canopy while using 35% less power than a 1000W DE fixture. The Photobio 680w LED abandons the bar style concept of many competitors in favor of a more efficient contiguous circuit board. This difference helps deliver unparalleled PPFD uniformity to the canopy.

The 680w LED’s design is multilayer rack centric, providing the ability to double or triple your canopy square footage within your existing structures footprint. This light is ideal for any grower that is interested in reducing power consumption while simultaneously improving crop performance and yield.

Honorable Mention – Sun System RS 1850 LED

Sun System RS 1850 LED Grow Light

The Sun System RS 1850 LED is a 720w fixture operating at 1850 μmol/s. This 6-rail foldable LED grow light is a great option for anybody looking to get their feet wet with LEDs.

The RS 1850 LED can cover up to a 5’x5′ footprint, but is most efficient in a 4’x4′ configuration. It is DLC listed, IP65 wet-rated and comes complete with a manual digital dimming button and an internal embedded smart controller that is compatible with the Gavita e-Series Controller.

With the controllers, the Sun System RS 1850 LED can daisy-chain up to 500 lights, making it ideal for commercial operations.