The 2024 PHOTOx Advanced Sciences Summit featured leading cannabis experts and global researchers

Fluence, a leading global provider of energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial cannabis production, hosted its sixth PHOTOx Summit on Sept. 23 and 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas.

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Fluence principal scientist Dr. David Hawley speaks at the 6th PHOTOx Summit (Photo: Business Wire)

PHOTOx is a gathering of the brightest global minds in horticulture, providing an unparalleled opportunity for industry pioneers to learn the latest in cannabis cultivation research and science. Curated by Fluence’s Crop Science team, the company convenes growers and global researchers to explore new breakthroughs in cannabis research and essential cultivation practices.

In his opening remarks, Fluence principal scientist David Hawley, Ph.D., noted the rapid shift in cannabis’s market positioning from an underground crop into a growing and viable global industry.

“Commercial adoption and market demand have enabled advancements in cannabis cultivation technologies that, in other crops, would have taken decades of research,” Hawley said. “In lighting, we’ve learned that cannabis has a far greater capacity for photosynthesis than other crops grown in controlled environments, while simultaneously exhibiting peculiar morphological and metabolic responses not easily explained by photobiology as we know it today. This has enabled cultivation practices more productive than in other crops while also raising new and exciting questions about plant metabolism.”

Following Hawley’s opening remarks was an in-depth panel of growers from Clade⁹, Aurora Cannabis and Curaleaf, where heads of cultivation discussed crop metrics, breeding practices and other key tactics that drive success across craft and commercial-scale operations. The 2024 agenda also featured global cannabis researchers—including Dr. Youbin Zheng, professor at the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Sciences, and Dominique van Gruisen, co-founder and managing director of Innexo BV—as well as other leading minds in automation, genetics and artificial intelligence.

“We’re turning an important page in the cannabis industry,” Hawley added. “If chapter one was focused on maximizing and homogenizing plants, chapter two will solidify cannabis as a true horticultural crop. The cannabis industry has matured in a very exciting way. Our robust PHOTOx agenda underscores the industry’s evolution by exploring next-generation cannabis breeding practices, innovative pest management strategies and practical cultivation methods you might find in the world of produce farming.”

For more information on Fluence, visit www.fluence-led.com.

About Fluence

Fluence Bioengineering, Inc. (Fluence) creates powerful and energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for commercial crop production and research applications. Fluence is a leading LED lighting supplier in the global cannabis market, committed to enabling more efficient crop production for the world’s top greenhouse and indoor growers. Fluence global headquarters are in Austin, Texas, with its EMEA headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Fluence operates as a business unit within Signify’s Professional Business. For more information about Fluence, visit www.fluence-led.com.

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