Who needs it?
Supplemental lighting is a high intensity of artificial light to build on what the sun can naturally provide. Within reason, more light will always drive faster growth at a higher quality, particularly if the light is of high spectral quality.

Is Side or Supplemental Lighting Worth It For Cannabis Growers? Example of two cannabis plants growing under an HPS grow light. When growing a cannabis plant indoors, light usually comes from a grow light located at the top of the grow space. This means all the light is beaming down on the plant from above.

However, when growing cannabis outdoors, the sun moves in the sky and plants get light not just from above, but also from the sides. That’s a big part of why cannabis plants naturally grow in a “Christmas Tree” shape. The sloped sides help the plant get as much light from the sun as possible, even when the sun is lower in the sky.

The “Christmas Tree” shape is a great strategy outdoors in the wild because it captures light from the sides as the sun moves in the sky. But that’s not the only reason; this shape also helps buds get exposed to the wind so buds get pollinated.

When Is Side Lighting a Good idea?
Side lighting can be a good idea with fluorescent grow lights like CFLs and possibly T5 grow lights with untrained plants. This is because these types of light don’t reach far down into the plant. In fact, the light from fluorescents is so weak that it’s only good for a few inches. By the time a plant is more than a foot away the light is pretty much useless as far as a cannabis plant is concerned. Because of these constraints, side lighting can help make sure all buds are within a few inches of a light.

Speed Up Your Harvest Cycle
We don’t need to tell you that the faster you usher your plants through their grow cycle, the greater your overall yields and potential profits. If you depend strictly on natural sunlight for cultivation, you’re bound by the slow progression of the seasons. If you supplement with HID lights, you may be able to manipulate your plants somewhat by switching out MD bulbs for the redder glow of HPS lights. But the nuance and variability of a high quality, adjustable LED grow light allows you to create the most true-to-nature seasonal progression possible. You can guide your crop from germination to harvest more quickly than the sun and more naturally than HID bulbs.

LED grow lights also allow you to fit more grow cycles into a year. Even if you live in a darker climate or it’s the dead of winter, the intensity and comprehensive spectrum of LED grow lights allow you to create any season under the greenhouse roof.