This episode is part of our “What Plants Crave” series, where Dr. Sabeh speaks with growers, researchers, and other experts in controlled environment agriculture, to get their insights about the direction of the industry, and of course, what exactly it is that plants crave. This week we’re speaking to Dr. Mark Lefsrud of McGill University.

Timestamp Notes:

2:00 The Salad Machine and NASA

8:00 The awareness of plants

12:15 Instantaneous vs longterm plant responses

20:00 Do plants have a brain?

22:30 Growing food indoors in extreme cold

26:30 Why do greenhouses work well in Canada?

31:00 Heating the greenhouse

34:30 Canadian support of horticulture production

39:00 Cannabis research in Canada

43:30 Red light, blue light, and amber light

47:45 Widening the PAR spectrum

58:00 Energy saving tip: Measure and track the variables

1:09:00 Everything isn't all a trade secret and more sharing would help operators save millions of dollars and solve common challenges more quickly.

1:15:00 The resurgence of agriculture and the future of CEA

1:19:45 What do plants crave?

1:21:00 Rapid fire questions