The Hamfy journal

The growing room,
explained.

Engineering guides and documented research cases for professional indoor cultivation. Clear questions, useful diagrams and the evidence behind each article.

19 Practical guides03 Research cases

Quantum light sensor at canopy height beneath LED bars in an indoor growing room

Hamfy4 min read

LED Grow Light Distance: Set the Right Height with PPFD and DLI

How far should LED grow lights be from plants? Map PPFD at canopy level, compare uniformity, adjust height and dimming, then check the daily light integral.

Humidity probe beside an indoor crop with an air-handling unit in the background during a dark period

Hamfy4 min read

Grow Room Humidity at Night: Causes, Condensation and Control

Why humidity rises after grow lights switch off, how to calculate dew point and what to check before changing ventilation or dehumidifier settings.

Young vegetative hemp plant, sealed leaf sample bag and traceability equipment on a propagation-room workbench

Hamfy5 min read

HLVd in Cannabis: Symptoms, Testing and Monitoring

What hop latent viroid symptoms can and cannot tell you, why laboratory testing matters and how photographs and traceability support a professional monitoring plan.

Creamy-white lion’s mane with hanging teeth fruiting through a sawdust bag on a metal growing rack

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy6 min read

Growing Lion’s Mane Indoors: Substrate, Climate and Harvest Quality

A practical guide to Hericium erinaceus: substrate blocks, fruiting conditions, harvest quality and the real cost of a marketable kilogram.

Open roof vents and a guarded circulation fan above crop rows in a working greenhouse

Hamfy5 min read

Greenhouse Ventilation: Managing Heat, Humidity and Energy Use

How to coordinate roof vents, fans, heating and weather data, check moisture removal and verify the climate where the crop grows.

Wired moisture probe beside a drip emitter in a coir growing container, with irrigation pipework in the background

Growing systems

Hamfy5 min read

Sensor-Based Irrigation: When to Water and How to Verify Delivery

A practical control loop for substrate-grown crops: calibrate moisture sensors, verify flow and pressure, and check the response after each irrigation pulse.

Grey oyster mushrooms growing through openings in substrate bags in a working indoor room

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy4 min read

Indoor oyster mushroom cultivation: substrate, climate and harvest

A practical guide to Pleurotus ostreatus: choosing blocks, separating incubation from fruiting, reading CO₂ trends and measuring harvest performance.

White button mushrooms growing in dark casing material on tiered commercial beds

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy4 min read

Button mushroom cultivation: compost, casing and climate control

How Agaricus bisporus production connects prepared compost, the casing layer, pin formation and harvest flushes with measurements inside the growing room.

Brown shiitake caps growing from mature exposed sawdust blocks on wire shelves

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy4 min read

Indoor shiitake cultivation: from substrate blocks to harvest

Understand shiitake block maturation, browning, fruiting induction and rest periods, with practical records for managing quality and room occupancy.

Climate sensors protected from drips beside mushroom racks and a perforated air-distribution duct

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy6 min read

Mushroom fruiting room climate control: CO₂, humidity and airflow

A deeper guide to fresh air, condensation, sensor placement and interacting controls, including worked ventilation and dew-point calculations.

Sealed substrate bags, a barcode reader and clean harvest containers on a mushroom-farm inspection bench

Mushroom cultivation

Hamfy5 min read

Mushroom farm contamination: prevention, monitoring and batch traceability

Build a practical contamination workflow around receiving checks, hygiene, surface moisture, traceable observations and comparable batch records.

Vegetative hemp plant with a hand lens and field notebook on a utility bench

Hamfy3 min read

Cannabis plant pathogens: fungi, bacteria and the meaning of a diagnosis

A clear guide to pathogen groups, visible symptoms and microbial findings in cannabis — and why an organism’s name alone does not explain a plant problem.

Industrial camera above a hemp leaf on a neutral sample board in a working horticultural facility

Hamfy3 min read

Plant disease photography: what cameras can show and what a laboratory must confirm

How to read plant images, AI confidence scores and laboratory findings without confusing a visual change with a confirmed pathogen diagnosis.

Sample bottles on a utility bench beside water filtration equipment and ventilation ductwork

Hamfy3 min read

Microbial contamination indoors: plant disease, environmental findings and product quality

Why an environmental finding, a diseased plant and a product test answer different questions — and how sensor data fits into the evidence.

Actual five-minute VPD measurements with hourly and daily averages for 4 March 2022.

Hamfy5 min read

What daily VPD averages hide: a 41-day greenhouse analysis

Hamfy analysed 41 complete days of public greenhouse data. Daily means hid 90.5% of time below a 0.4 kPa review threshold. Explore the charts and method.

Hamfy scatter plot of paired air VPD: primary stream P versus Sigrow stream S, with 0.4 kPa thresholds and the line of agreement.

Hamfy5 min read

Greenhouse VPD analysis: how sensor choice changes alerts

Hamfy analysed 43 days of public lettuce greenhouse data. Two sensor streams disagreed on a 0.4 kPa VPD flag in 39.7% of matched time. Explore the calculations and download the data.

Industrial camera mounted above a basil canopy in an indoor growing room.

Hamfy5 min read

AI Cameras for Indoor Farms: How to Design a Useful Pilot

Build a camera pilot around one growing decision, reliable images and a test that measures useful alerts in your own facility.

Canopy-level climate sensor, air distribution duct and ventilation equipment beside indoor lettuce benches.

Hamfy5 min read

VPD and Dehumidification: A Practical Indoor Farm Guide

Understand air and leaf VPD, calculate the moisture load and specify dehumidification around the conditions your crop actually experiences.

Water sampling bottles and a handheld meter beside filtration housings and dosing equipment.

Growing systems

Hamfy5 min read

Hydroponic Water Quality: Beyond pH and EC

Learn what pH and EC reveal, what they miss, and how to build a practical sampling and monitoring plan for a recirculating growing system.

Quantum light sensor positioned at canopy height beneath white LED bars in an indoor basil room.

Hamfy5 min read

Grow Lighting: Turn PPFD and DLI into a Useful Specification

Compare grow lights using canopy measurements, daily light dose and a clear energy boundary, then write an acceptance test for the installed system.

Harvested cucumbers on a workbench beside a climate-control panel and a notebook.

Hamfy5 min read

Wageningen’s Autonomous Greenhouse: What the Cucumber Trial Proved

A documented case analysis of Wageningen’s 2018 cucumber challenge, the human work behind the control system and the lessons for an indoor AI pilot.

Camera on a copy stand above a tomato leaf sample, with tomato plants beside the workbench.

Hamfy5 min read

PlantVillage: Why Plant-Disease AI Needs Testing Beyond the Lab

What published PlantVillage and cassava studies teach us about evaluating plant-disease cameras under the conditions where growers will use them.

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