Adding light movers to your indoor growing plan allows you to cover more canopy area without increasing the amount of light you use. Typically, a 1000 Watt HID lighting system will cover an area of up to five sq. ft. with the right reflector. Utilizing a Light Rail light mover can increase your footprint by 30% without needing to add another light – ultimately helping to cut down both on the need for both heat remediation and rising electrical costs.
Running a light mover also helps to eliminate hot spots on your canopy. Hot spots can cause leaves to curl up as they try to protect themselves from the heat coming off your lamps, or (worst case scenario) burn the tips. As the light mover guides your reflector over your garden, heat is dispersed over a larger area, allowing your plants to rest and cool off. The back and forth movement also helps light better penetrate the plant canopy, by supplying light to lower leaves that would be shadowed when using only static lights. Maximizing this lower growth produces more energy for your plants and can also help with more uniform fruit ripening at harvest. Tests have shown a 25% increase in harvest due to the ability of bringing more light to more of your canopy while also minimizing the risk of hot spots.
The LightRail 4.0 AdjustaDrive moves any indoor grow light and reflector and is a scalable system, where up to three indoor growing lights can be moved in-line with the use of just one light mover motor. The 5.0 kit is able to move up to three lights side-by-side. Light movers can be used with LED, LES, HID, and Fluorescent lighting. They can be used in greenhouses, grow tents, and commercial growing setting.
Please consult your local Fifth Season hydroponics expert for help when setting up a LightRail system to make sure you get the correct kit for your garden. Remember to use only LightRail movers, as they are manufactured in the U.S. to meet lighting codes and are backed with a two-year warranty.
Happy Growing!
Tobias Armstrong says
I had no idea that you even used lights in a hydroponic system, much less LED lights. I’m always fascinated to learn about the technology behind some of these things, and it’s great to see the positive results from small incremental changes over the years. Thanks for sharing.
Lillian Schaeffer says
This is some great information, and I appreciate your point that having moving lights can reduce hot spots in your hydroponic garden. My husband and I recently moved into a new house, and there isn’t much extra room in the yard, so I want to try growing an indoor garden hydroponically. I’ll definitely look into setting up moving lights so there aren’t any hot spots. Thanks for the great post!
Ridley Fitzgerald says
It’s cool to think about moving lights to help plants grow. You have some overwhelming evidence that stationary lights aren’t good for them. My wife loves growing her garden inside, so I’ll have to tell her this, so that she doesn’t burn and shrivel the plants.