08 de maio de 2024

The Truth About Undercanopy & Side Lighting: Why Heavy Red Fails and Natural Spectrum Wins

Shedding Light on the Power of Inter-Canopy & Undercanopy Lighting: Why Spectrum Matters More Than Ever

In modern agriculture—and especially in commercial cannabis cultivation—lighting is no longer just about PPFD from above. Today’s leading facilities are turning to inter-canopy and undercanopy lighting to unlock 20–30% yield gains, drive richer terpene profiles, and eliminate canopy inefficiencies that overhead fixtures alone can’t fix.

But here’s the industry’s dirty secret:

Most undercanopy lights on the market use Heavy Red… the exact spectrum you don’t want below the canopy.

Red sells. Red is cheap. Red looks “powerful.”
But scientifically?
It’s the wrong tool in the wrong place.

Mammoth is one of the only companies engineering natural, sun-balanced spectra for the lower and mid-canopy—because that’s what plants evolved under, and that’s what the science shows works.

Let’s break down why.

🌱 The Science: Why Heavy Red Below the Canopy Is a Mistake

The mid and lower canopy is already red-rich and far-red dominant because upper leaves absorb most of the blue and red light before it gets deeper into the plant.

Doubling down with more red from below causes:

❌ Photoinhibition
❌ Unbalanced hormone signaling
❌ Fluffy or bleached lower buds
❌ Wasted watts + heat
❌ Poor cannabinoid and terpene development

Peer-reviewed research supports this:

Green light outperforms red at high PPFD (Liu et al., 2021)
Green drives deeper canopy photosynthesis (Smith, 2017)
Balanced white + green boosts whole-plant growth (Zhen & Bugbee, 2020)
Red applied from below worsens morphological imbalance (Brelsford et al., 2022)
Natural-spectrum undercanopy increases biomass (Stutte et al., 2020)

The takeaway is clear:

Plants don’t want “streetlight spectrum” under the canopy. They want balanced, natural-spectrum light.

🌿 Why Natural, Balanced Spectra Win Below the Canopy

The lower canopy thrives on full-spectrum, green-rich photons, which penetrate deeper and stimulate photosynthesis where red cannot.

Benefits include:

✔ Bigger, denser lower buds
✔ 20–30% yield increases
✔ More uniform morphology
✔ Higher total cannabinoids and terpenes
✔ Better light-use efficiency per watt

Green photons = deeper penetration
Balanced white = correct hormonal signal
Natural spectrum = what plants evolved under

This is why Mammoth refuses to sell heavy-red undercanopy lights.
It’s marketing—not plant science.

💡 Real-World Proof: Massachusetts Facility Using Mammoth Side Lighting

One of the top commercial facilities in Massachusetts—arguably the most competitive cannabis market in the United States—standardized on Mammoth’s natural-spectrum side lighting and the results speak for themselves:

20–30% higher yields
Better terpene expression and bag appeal
Stronger mid-canopy development
More consistent QC across rooms
Complete ROI in the very first cycle

They didn’t fall for the heavy-red trap.
They chose spectrum that matches nature—and their numbers show exactly why.

📈 Academic Support for Inter-Canopy & Undercanopy Lighting

The broader agricultural industry has already validated these systems:

27% biomass increase in tomato with inter-canopy LEDs
(Journal of Experimental Botany)
23% yield increase in lettuce with inter-canopy lighting
(HortScience)
Improved carbon gain and deeper canopy photosynthesis under green-enriched light
(Smith, 2017; Kim et al., 2019)

In cannabis, the response is even more dramatic due to high light ceilings and dense canopy architecture.

⚡ Why Pros Choose Mammoth

Because Mammoth designs lighting around plant biology, not marketing buzzwords.

Mammoth’s Natural-Spectrum Inter-Canopy / Undercanopy:

✔ Full-spectrum white + green
✔ No heavy red overload
✔ Deeper photon penetration
✔ True-to-nature wavelength balance
✔ Proven commercial results
✔ Pays for itself in one grow

Most companies sell heavy-red because it’s cheap.
Mammoth engineers what plants actually need.

🌞 Bottom Line

Spectrum drives plant expression — and Mammoth leads.

If you’re serious about increasing yields, eliminating weak lower buds, and delivering consistent commercial-grade output, natural-spectrum inter-canopy and undercanopy lighting is no longer optional.

It’s the new standard.

👉 Want the #1 commercial side + undercanopy lighting?
Email: sales@mammothlighting.com

Full Light. Full Canopy.
Got Mammoth? 🌈🌿