LED lighting manufacturer Illumitex, Inc., has announced a partnership with FarmedHere, a sustainable indoor farming venture in Chicago. Illumitex will be the sole source of horticulture lighting for the company’s expansive hydroponic and aquaponic growing operations.

FarmedHere provides environmentally sustainable, socially wholesome and economically viable lettuce, herbs and tomatoes to Chicagoland grocers like Whole Foods, Sunset Foods and Mariano’s.

FarmedHere’s vertical aquaponic grow systems are currently one of the world’s most advanced operations for producing high quality produce.  It was realized that by incorporating the patented horticulture LED lighting technology provided by Illumitex Inc., FarmedHere has entered into a new advanced field of plant produce production.

FarmedHere says its vertical farming technology —including Illumitex lights — and local distribution methods tremendously reduce energy use, travel time and costs and make their model one of the most sustainable ways to guarantee access to fresh, healthy produce in city centers, in any season.

“Recent advances in lighting technology and farming methods allow FarmedHere produce to be grown more efficiently than on outdoor farms, while creating local city jobs and making post-industrial buildings alive again,” says Paul  Hardej, FarmedHere Chief Technology Officer.

“The new opportunities and confirmed results that our patented technology enables FarmedHere to capitalize on is very exciting,” says Paul Gray, Director of Horticulture Lighting Sales and Sr. Plant Scientist. “It is a great point in the history of our two companies, and is due to the current findings through the collaborative efforts put forth.”

Using grow lights from a number of manufacturers, FarmedHere performed extensive testing and trials across a wide variety of crops. Illumitex Eclipse Series II lights outperformed all of the other lighting options tested.  Illumitex lights are specifically tuned to give each type of plant the exact light it needs for optimal growth, fostering faster growth and yielding increased biomass and more nutritious plants. 

“Just like FarmedHere, Illumitex realizes there is a global food-production crisis,” says Illumitex CEO Chris Hammelef.  “We are so pleased to be able to work with this forward-thinking company to supply the most nutritious, tasty vegetables possible.”