During the year 2020, many businesses were affected negatively by the global pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. Bucking that trend, seed companies, greenhouses, and just about any store selling seeds or plants realized increased gardening product-related sales. Most internet-based gardening businesses had to post “out of stock” messages on vegetable seeds, plants, and fruit trees. People everywhere were stuck at home, and they were gardening more than ever before.
Cannabis legalization expands
The same is true for marijuana growers – both commercially and the private at-home consumer. The impact of the pandemic certainly contributed to the cannabis industry. Still, more significantly, it has only been eight years ago that the states of Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use. Since then, fourteen American states have made it fully legal to grow marijuana at home and sell cannabis products at retail locations. Today, there are only six remaining states where marijuana is illegal under any circumstances: Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Alabama. In the 44 other states, marijuana can be used or grown in some fashion, ranging from rigidly regulated medicinal use to full recreational usage. The United States trend is increasingly apparent - it is only a matter of time until every state will legalize the growing and consumption of cannabis products. The renewed love of gardening and the inevitable tide of legal marijuana sweeping across the United States will impact all areas of the gardening industry.
Industry growth yields more informed growers
In Washington state, the Scotts company recorded a 31% rise in revenue in 2020 primarily due to the increase in plant growing that resulted from the quarantine. The Scotts organization commissioned an economic-impact study by Washington State University’s IMPACT Center, which found that legal cannabis sales contributed $1.85 billion to the state’s economy and supported 18,700 jobs in 2020. As the virus continues to impact behavior, home growing, indoor growing, and greenhouses usage will continue to expand. This surge in purchasing plant growing products have served to move casual growers to informed growers. Every greenhouse, grower, and crop requires disciplined cultivation strategies.
Grow lighting requirements vary from plant to plant
These strategies include managing the light required for each plant. For example, rose and cannabis plants require high light intensities to create efficient, healthy crops. Tomatoes require the red and blue spectrum but as they grow need mostly red spectrum lights to produce flowers and fruit. Studies have shown that plants need a combination of blue, red, and ultraviolet light frequencies to activate the plant’s metabolism. Research of broad-spectrum LED’s shows that crops grow beautifully with higher yields and fruit weights when a spectrum based light strategy is utilized. Both private and commercial growers want to make the most of their investment. Learn more about IQ grow lights and how they enable the grow operations to flourish.