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Growing grass with the latest technology: LED grow lighting
From (international) football matches to pop concerts; throughout the year, the multipurpose Hampden Park hosts a multitude of different events. The challenging task of maintaining a high-quality, consistent playing surface at the Glasgow-based stadium, falls to the Hampden Park grounds team. Fortunately, the grounds team utilises the latest LED grow lighting technology available in pitch management. With the complete SGL LED grow lighting range at their disposal, they manage to restore the pitch to its original high-quality standard after each event.
The ABC of LED
The Scottish fall and winter months are characterized by cold, wet, and dark days. Not the ideal conditions for grass to recover after an intense football match. It's the task of the grounds team to anticipate these ever-changing conditions. As of July 2023, the Hampden Park grounds team utilises the latest innovation in grass grow lighting: LED technology. One of the benefits of LED technology, compared to traditional HPS grow lighting solutions, is the independent control the grounds manager has over the light and heat radiation emitted by the LED grow lighting unit.
Through this independent control, the grounds manager can precisely adjust light and heat radiation to meet the needs of the grass, providing the grass plant with the exact amount of light and heat required. When extra heat is not necessary, but additional light is, the infrared stays switched off, allowing the grounds manager to save energy. This feature enables the grounds teams to create the optimal grass growth conditions in the most energy-efficient way possible, resulting in a high-quality playing surface and maximum energy savings, even in Northern Hemisphere climates such as Scotland’s’.
The full range of LED grow lighting technology
Hampden Park has decided to fully invest in LED technology. With four LED440’s, two LED120’s and three LED50’s, the grounds team has the complete range of SGL LED grow lighting units of various sizes at its disposal. This allows the grounds team to treat the high-wear areas all at once, stimulating the recovery process as quickly as possible and minimising the turn around time between events.
For the Hampden Park grounds team, this means that despite the challenging Scottish weather conditions and busy event schedule, they can maintain a playing surface that meets the high standard they strive for, in the most sustainable way possible.
Facilitating responsible pitch management
With increasingly busy playing schedules, more and more is expected of grounds teams. Not only are they supposed to maintain a perfect playing surface throughout the year, they are also required to take deliberate steps towards responsible pitch management. Data monitoring and data-driven decision-making play an important role in deploying resources as efficiently and effectively as possible. LED technology, supported by data-driven decisions, helps grounds teams from around the world to achieve the desired grass quality and sustainability goals.
Editor details
Derk Pelle
Derk is Content Marketeer at Stadium Grow Lighting (SGL). SGL designs and manufactures high-quality grass grow lighting, data monitoring tools and grass care solutions to help (sport) stadiums all over the world perfect their pitches.