News » 25.05.2026 - Moving towards biology-driven lighting designs
For years, the horticultural lighting industry focused on one goal: maximizing efficacy.
Higher PPE numbers. More photons per watt. More output.
Much of that progress came from increasingly red-heavy LED spectra built around ultra-high-efficacy 660nm diodes. But as fixtures became more efficient electrically, many growers began noticing a tradeoff in plant performance.
That shift is now causing cultivators to ask a different question entirely:
What spectrum actually produces the best plants?
According to Mammoth Lighting, the answer may lie in closing the spectral gaps created by narrow-band LED strategies.
The company's Nova Sun Series was engineered around a "SunLike" full-spectrum philosophy designed to better match how plants evolved under natural sunlight — not just maximize fixture efficacy on paper.
Rather than concentrating output into a handful of narrow red and blue peaks, the Nova Sun spectrum was designed around a broader spectral profile intended to target key photoreceptors and chlorophyll absorption peaks associated with morphology, terpene development, cannabinoid production, canopy penetration, and overall plant expression.
"We wanted to move beyond the idea that more red automatically equals better performance," says Ryan Daly of Mammoth Lighting. "Plants evolved under balanced sunlight. Our goal was creating a spectrum that activates the plant more completely across the entire canopy."
After one full year of commercial cultivation, Mammoth Lighting says growers are reporting record harvests, stronger plant structure, elevated terpene content, and some of the strongest COAs and THC percentages many facilities have achieved to date under the Nova Sun platform.
One early success story came from Niagara Falls cultivator LitByTheLake, whose Nova Sun-grown flower recently earned recognition as New York's "Best Flower."
Commercial growers report stronger plant performance
Mammoth Lighting says growers have consistently reported tighter internodal spacing, stronger lateral branching, improved canopy penetration, reduced upper-canopy stress under high PPFD, and more balanced crop development.
Several facilities have also reported record harvest performance compared to previous lighting systems.
"Growers are realizing that plants respond to spectrum far more dynamically than the industry originally believed," Daly explains. "Yield matters, but so do terpene production, morphology, stress response, and overall plant expression."
Rethinking green light in LED cultivation
One of the core concepts behind the Nova Sun spectrum is the role of green light.
For years, green wavelengths were often viewed as less important because plants reflect portions of green light, leading many early LED fixtures to prioritize heavily red- and blue-dominant spectra.
Mammoth Lighting believes that assumption overlooked one of the most important components of full-canopy cultivation lighting.
"One of the biggest misconceptions in horticultural LEDs was that green light was mostly wasted light," says Daly. "What we now understand is that green wavelengths penetrate deeper into dense canopies and may represent one of the missing links in modern LED spectrum design."
The company believes this deeper penetration may help reduce upper-canopy stress while allowing growers to push higher PPFD levels more effectively across the entire plant structure, potentially contributing to higher yields and improved crop uniformity.
"We're now seeing research showing that green light is far more biologically active than the industry originally believed," says Daly. "At high PPFD levels, green wavelengths can drive meaningful photosynthetic activity deeper into the canopy while helping create a more balanced lighting environment."
Mammoth Lighting also points to emerging studies suggesting that adding green wavelengths may positively influence terpene production and THC expression within broader full-spectrum lighting strategies.
The Nova Sun Series incorporates emerald green and teal wavelengths specifically to improve lower-canopy penetration and support more uniform whole-plant photosynthesis.
Introducing "Dual Red Terp Boost"
Another defining component of the Nova Sun spectrum is Mammoth Lighting's dual-red spectral strategy utilizing both 640nm and 660nm flowering peaks.
The company recently began referring to the approach as "Dual Red Terp Boost" following emerging 2024 academic research suggesting increased terpene production and improved yield performance when both 640nm and 660nm wavelengths were combined compared to 660nm-heavy spectra alone.
"We believe it naturally makes sense to target both 640nm and 660nm red peaks, as well as 437nm and 450nm blue peaks, because those wavelengths closely align with major chlorophyll A and B absorption peaks," says Daly. "Relying on a single dominant peak in either spectrum may not fully maximize plant expression."
Rather than relying on isolated wavelength spikes, the Nova Sun Series was designed around a broader spectral strategy intended to support more complete photoreceptor activation, morphology control, terpene development, and whole-plant photosynthetic response.
"Plants evolved under blended spectra, not narrow-band lighting," Daly explains. "The goal was creating a more complete biological signal across the canopy instead of overdriving one isolated wavelength."
A more natural approach to LED lighting
The Nova Sun Series was designed to preserve many of the qualities cultivators historically associated with CMH lighting while eliminating the drawbacks of traditional discharge fixtures, including excessive heat, bulb degradation, and high HVAC demand.
The spectrum includes 437nm, 450nm, and 480nm teal blues, balanced warm and cool white spectrums, 640nm and 660nm flowering reds, emerald green wavelengths, 730nm far-red integration, and optional UVA and UVB supplementation.
Advanced versions of the Nova Sun platform also include multi-channel spectrum tuning designed to simulate natural daylight progression throughout the photoperiod.
A shift toward biology-driven lighting design
As commercial cultivation continues maturing, many growers are beginning to evaluate lighting systems based not only on efficacy metrics, but also on how spectrum influences morphology, crop quality, terpene development, stress tolerance, and overall plant health.
For Mammoth Lighting, the increasing interest in broader-spectrum systems reflects what the company sees as a larger transition toward biology-driven lighting design.
"The industry spent years chasing PPE numbers," Daly says. "Now growers are increasingly focused on spectrum quality, plant response, and full genetic expression."
After one year of commercial deployment, Mammoth Lighting says the Nova Sun Series continues gaining traction among cultivators looking for a more balanced, SunLike approach to LED cultivation lighting.
Source: www.floraldaily.com
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