Articles
Addition of UV, green and far-red spectra in sole-source LED cultivation of Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla
Article number
1441_19
Pages
149 – 156
Language
English
Abstract
Sole-source LED lighting is essential for indoor vertical farming.
Supplementing the red and blue spectra with different wavelengths presents multiple beneficial characteristics for crop development.
Therefore, increasing the amount of green light as well as an increase in UV and far-red wavelengths available for Swiss chard was investigated.
Two base scenarios were tested and each supplemented with an additional range of spectra, resulting in a total of four different LED scenarios.
The first setup was a full spectrum LED with focus with higher amounts of blue.
This setup was supplemented with green LEDs.
The second setup was a full spectrum LED with higher PPFD in red region and full spectrum LED with added UV/far-red.
The experiments were run in a controlled environment indoor farming using three different cultivars of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla): a red coloured ‘Rhubarb Chard’, a red coloured baby-leaf cultivar ‘Charlie’, as well as the white cultivar ‘Lucullus’. All three cultivars were successfully established on a deep water culture (DWC) system.
Besides light spectra, no significant differences in cultivation characteristics were detected during the trial period, including pH, EC, water temperature, water oxygen-saturation, room temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and PPFD. The three cultivars showed significant differences in their growth parameters (biomass accumulation, leaf number). Photosynthetic activity significantly differed between the four LED compositions.
Hyperspectral vegetation indices (VIs) revealed significant differences in plants reactions towards increased UV/far-red radiation.
The results clearly indicate that a supplementation of monochromatic red-blue LEDs provides great potential in sole-source LED cultivation within indoor farming systems.
Supplementing the red and blue spectra with different wavelengths presents multiple beneficial characteristics for crop development.
Therefore, increasing the amount of green light as well as an increase in UV and far-red wavelengths available for Swiss chard was investigated.
Two base scenarios were tested and each supplemented with an additional range of spectra, resulting in a total of four different LED scenarios.
The first setup was a full spectrum LED with focus with higher amounts of blue.
This setup was supplemented with green LEDs.
The second setup was a full spectrum LED with higher PPFD in red region and full spectrum LED with added UV/far-red.
The experiments were run in a controlled environment indoor farming using three different cultivars of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris L. var. cicla): a red coloured ‘Rhubarb Chard’, a red coloured baby-leaf cultivar ‘Charlie’, as well as the white cultivar ‘Lucullus’. All three cultivars were successfully established on a deep water culture (DWC) system.
Besides light spectra, no significant differences in cultivation characteristics were detected during the trial period, including pH, EC, water temperature, water oxygen-saturation, room temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and PPFD. The three cultivars showed significant differences in their growth parameters (biomass accumulation, leaf number). Photosynthetic activity significantly differed between the four LED compositions.
Hyperspectral vegetation indices (VIs) revealed significant differences in plants reactions towards increased UV/far-red radiation.
The results clearly indicate that a supplementation of monochromatic red-blue LEDs provides great potential in sole-source LED cultivation within indoor farming systems.
Publication
Authors
M.D. Moll, J. Elfers, D. Stoddart, R. Pude
Keywords
deep water culture, Swiss chard, light-emitting diodes, physiology, hyperspectral vegetation indices
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
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