Faven Lighting

Favens are compatible with any 0-10v platform, including Growlink,  GrowFlux, Thrive, Argus, Agritek DXV4, etc. These systems allow cultivators to control on/off and dimming functions simultaneously with their top lighting.

Controllers that Work

• Growflux (recommended choice)
• Trolmaster Hydro-X and Hydro-X Pro
• Vivosun E42A (Amazon)

Controllers that Don't Work

• Luxx
• Gavita
• AC Infinity

Fertigation changes

Favens increase the demand placed on your plants, which means you must provide additional resources to handle the increased demand. 

Irrigation Volume

A typical irrigation volume increase in plants is around 10-15%. This change will be easy to manage if you are using substrate sensors. The extra volume can be mitigated by extending the duration of your P1 sequence during stretch and ripening. During bulking, this demand can be met by pushing out your final P2 event later in the day. 

Fertilizer

The need to increase fertilizer input varies from facility to facility. We recommend starting at a 10% increase in EC input throughout the flowering process. If you feed at a 3.0 EC, increase to 3.3 EC and see how your plants respond. If you need to increase input further, then do so. We believe in a less is more approach. Be careful not to over-fertilize.

The design and internal infrastructure of Favens came from years of using under canopy lights in commercial cannabis facilities. Most of the fixtures used were not meant to be placed underneath plants and could not handle the rigors of commercial cultivation. It was through this process that the idea and design for Faven were born. 

Waterproofing - Sealed Housing

Faven boasts the only under canopy light on the market with sealed housing—one uniform piece protects the aluminum internal infrastructure. This is important because it improves our waterproof rating and the unit's life. Faven is IP66-rated and can handle IPM sprays and commercial cleaning procedures. 

Diffused Optic lens & Wide

Our lens is unique in that it is both diffused and optic. The lens diffusion helps create a uniform beam of light instead of the standard open diode design where hot spots of intensity can develop. The diffused lens also maintains the quality of the product closest to the light while still significantly improving yield. Faven’s goal is to improve both quantity and quality. 

Dimmable

The dimming function is incredibly important to both the early and late flower stages. The ability to throttle light intensity to ease plants into under canopy light helps alleviate any potential for unnecessary plant stress. Similarly, dimming in the late flower stage is crucial for maintaining quality. It has also been observed that some genetics do not like high under canopy light intensity late in flower. Dimming down to 70% to 80% during th final two weeks of flower will help certain genetics ripen without added stress. 

Two spectrums 

Faven offers two different spectrums—one for HID rooms and one for LED rooms. Since HID and LED are completely different sources of light, we chose to give growers an option. 

Our R8 model is geared for LED top light rooms, mixed light rooms, and greenhouses. Its spectrum has a deeper red percentage, which improves the plant's ability to show more color in the product from top to bottom. 

Our R6 model is geared towards HID, specifically HPS rooms. This spectrum has more full-spectrum diodes to help offset the high red, orange, and yellow HPS fixtures emit. This approach provides a much more balanced spectrum for your plants, which has been shown to increase not only quality and yield but also cannabinoids. 

Canopy depth aka Cubic Canopy 

Deciding where to place your Favens depends on your plants' height at harvest. Favens add 14” to 20”+ of usable canopy depth. Genetics and planting density can impact the penetration rate. 

The goal is to light the plant from top to bottom uniformly. 

Short Plants - Plants Shorter than 4.5 feet

In short plant scenarios, we recommend placing the light's base flush with the substrate's lip for the first run. This allows maximum coverage of the under canopy. After the first run, reassess to see if the light's height needs to be increased. 

We find 8-inch to 12-inch stands are great for plants in this size range. 

Tall Plant Settings - Plants greater than 4.5 feet

Many cultivators who are growing plants over 5 feet tall see the need to place their lights higher in the canopy. The two most common methods to support lights are creating a PVC bracket or using unistrut to support lights. 

Common heights for these structures range from 15 inches to 18 inches high. 

Leaves and nodes below the placement of Faven lights should be cleared. 

Lowest Light Setting

We recommend placing the light's base no lower than the substrate's lip. This ensures no wasted light, and so that the substrate doesn't experience a dramatic temperature increase. 

Stands - Adjustable and DIY Options

Faven offers an adjustable stand that supports 8”, 10”, and 12” settings. 

All Faven fixtures come with metal clips that can be used to construct DIY stands. The most common DIY method is to screw the clips into upside-down pots. They can also be fixed to unistrut.

How to manage light intensity with your Faven under canopy units:

The overall goal of under canopy lighting is to light the plant from top to bottom uniformly. By doing this, plants experience a more efficient use of their resources, better all-around quality, and greater yield potential.

With the increasing intensity in the first three weeks of the flower cycle, we aim to limit any additional plant stress from UC application. We recommend two approaches to increasing light intensity: dimming percentage and duration of lights on. 

Early flower ramping

Dimming: Faven units dim down to about 45% intensity. We recommend starting at this percentage and slowly increasing intensity over the next few weeks. We aim to reach the desired intensity by the end of week 3 of flower. 

Duration: Another way to introduce UC lights is to manage how long they are on each day. Simply turning lights on for one hour for the first few days and then increasing the time will achieve a similar result to using the dimming function. However, this will lead to inconsistent plant feeding. This approach will limit plant stress while also hitting intensity goals. If you are without a controller, this is a good strategy. 

Week 2 Start

Introducing UC during the first week of flower has shown better results than introducing UC later at a higher percentage. However, this is up to the cultivator; they know their facility better than anyone. It is best to introduce Favens early at a lower percentage to get plants used to receiving light from underneath. 

If a grower chooses to wait until later in flower to start using UC, it's best not to race to increase intensity and take a slow approach. Even with plants being more established later in flower, they still will have an adverse reaction if the light intensity is too high, too quickly.

Par targets 

Favens are high-output lights for only 120 watts each. We recommend targeting 500-800umol in the bottom half of your plant. It's safe to push higher amounts of umol on the buds closest to the light to achieve greater umol higher in the canopy. The greatest yield potential lies in the middle of the plant.

Limit under clearing (skirting, lollipopping)

On your first run with Faven, the best practice is to leave most of the lower nodes on your plants and limit under-clearing or skirting. This allows growers to understand UC's potential in their facility. Be sure to manage plants while they are still in veg. Nothing is worse than putting plants that have been under-cleared into a room full of brand-new Favens.

Once plants have been added to the room and Favens are installed, remove any leaves or bud sites below the Faven unit. Also, remove any leaves that directly obstruct the light or touch the fixture.

Post stretch clean-up

Strategically deleaf large fan leaves to improve penetration of both top lights and your Faven units. Identify any dense clusters of leaves. The goal is to have a mix of top and bottom light in the center of the canopy. Plant height could affect how pruning is performed. The cultivator will always have the best insight into their facility and genetics.

Final Strip

We recommend doing a final strip; removing the majority of fan leaves left on the plant. This helps ripen the plant as a whole. By doing this all flowers meet the same standards of uniformity, maturity and color. 

How Favens affects growth:

Primary Benefits

Yield

Secondary Benefits

Uniformity of color, maturity and structure 

VPD stratification 

Faven units can dim to about 35%-40% at their lowest setting. It is best to utilize this function in early flower. The goal is to slowly increase intensity starting day 1 of  flower and aim to be at 100% intensity by day 14/15 of flower. This eliminates any extra light stress plants can experience when introducing under canopy lighting.

Faven units come with a female RJ11 port (phone jack) with a waterproof cap to maintain our IP66 waterproofing rating. Inside, you will find an RJ11 piece plugged into the port. Remove this piece and replace it with an RJ11 cord (phone line) that will connect to the controller. Once plugged in, the controller will be able to dim and control on/off function.