"Growers are no longer focused solely on total light intensity"
Source: HD.com
This is particularly true for LED lighting, where growers are moving beyond simply measuring light intensity and are increasingly interested in the spectrum reaching their crops. That challenge is one of the reasons Apogee Instruments developed Aurora, a permanently installed real-time spectral sensor designed to provide growers with a more detailed picture of the light environment at crop level.
© Apogee From light intensity to light quality Traditional PAR sensors measure the total amount of photosynthetically active radiation, giving growers an indication of how much usable light is reaching the crop. Aurora is designed to bridge that gap by providing high-resolution spectral measurements continuously from 350 to 850 nm.
"Having this level of real-time information can help growers optimize their use of supplemental lighting, potentially reducing energy consumption while maintaining the light conditions needed for consistent, high-quality crop production," Jeff notes. Apogee is currently working with growers and researchers testing the sensors in real-world greenhouse environments.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
