Grow Lights in Humboldt, California

"Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun."
                                                                                                                      Psalms 74:16

On a recent rainy, foggy morning while driving into work at 5:30 AM, I noticed the light from our greenhouses reflecting off the heavy moisture in the air. it was a very beautiful sight. I decided to hike out in the pre-dawn darkness to the lily greenhouse to see what it looked like up close. The farm can be a little spooky this time of night, a stray cat or bold raccoon, can put your senses on high alert.

I found rows of Oriental lilies all bathed in a warm orange, reddish light. Weirdly serene, with the quiet buzz of the filaments echoing through the greenhouse.

Baby "White Cup" Orientals.

When I got back to the office I decided to check in with our head grower, Tim Crockenburg, for an explanation of our lighting system.

Our Orientals and OT Hybrids need a solid 16 hours of light a day. As the days get shorter, our lights compensate for the lack of daylight. They are actually on timers that adjust to the sunrise and sunset, so the lilies get the light they need, and we don't waste electricity.

The Edge, these will be ready for Valentines Day.

The lilies would still grow beautifully without the lights, however, this boost of light keeps them growing perfectly on schedule. Our goal is to bring them to harvest in 16 weeks, and this would  not be possible without the lights.

We use 430 Watt Son Agro high pressure sodium lights. These lights are ideally suited for growing flowers, since the orange and red light spectrum is exactly what the flowers need to encourage budding.

Got Lilies?

I also asked Tim, if we use these same lights on the lilies at our Oxnard farm, surprisingly the answer is no. Check out this chart, it shows the difference in daylight hours at our to location. Arcata is about 750 miles north of Oxnard, but the daylight hours and seasonal changes are very different.

This interesting mix of science and nature leads to phenomenal lilies. Flower farming requires a significant background in science. When I started asking Tim questions, he immediately produced a text book about plant physiology, and referred me to several pages, which he knew by heart.

 Who would have thought that flower power required so much thinking?