High-Intensity Discharge (HID)

Applications:

High-intensity discharge (HID) grow lights are traditionally used to cultivate plants that require higher light intensities than fluorescent lighting, such as cereal, forage, citrus and C4 plants. HID lamps are used in controlled environments like laboratories or indoor farms.

Benefits:

• High-intensity discharge (HID) grow lights are best suited for promoting leafy plant growth
• They more closely resemble the iridescence of natural sunlight compared to other lamps
• HID lamps produce brighter light than incandescent, fluorescent and LED lamps

Considerations:

• High-intensity discharge (HID) grow lights have a shorter average lamp life than fluorescent and LED lighting
• HID lamps generate significant heat and must be positioned a considerable distance from the plant canopy
• They are unsuitable for rapid cycling of lamps due to slow lamp restart and warm-up time
• High-intensity discharge (HID) grow lights are adjustable, but the brightness cannot be set very low
• (HID) lamps introduce significant heat into the controlled environment, creating vertical temperature gradients