Light Management in Controlled Environments

Electric lighting is used in greenhouses to regulate the photoperiod to control flowering, or to increase growth to increase crop quality and yield.  It is also used for sole-source lighting of plants grown indoors. A few books and summary articles are below, followed by more in-depth articles on specific topics.

  • Light Management in Controlled Environments, a book edited by Roberto Lopez and Erik Runkle, contains 18 chapters written by 20 leading plant scientists about how light influences plant growth and development of specialty crops grown in greenhouses and controlled-environment growth rooms.
  • LED Lighting for Urban Agriculture, a book edited by Toyoki Kozai, Kazuhiro Fujiwara, and Erik Runkle that focuses on light-emitting diode (LED) lighting for the commercial production of horticultural crops in plant factories and greenhouses. It contains 32 chapters written by plant scientists and engineers in Asia and the U.S.
  • Use of Lighting to Accelerate Crop Timing by Erik Runkle and Matthew Blanchard, Michigan State University.
  • Greenhouse Glazing by A.J. Both, Rutgers University.

Resources

  • Growing plants with green light

    Published on June 7, 2017
    Green light can be defined as radiation with wavelength between 500 and 600 nanometers. Green light is within the photosynthetically active waveband of 400 to 700 nm, yet its effects on plant growth and development are not well understood.

  • The importance of light uniformity

    Published on March 2, 2017
    Managing light is obviously critical to the production of crops grown in controlled environments. When considering the different dimensions of light, we often overlook the importance of light uniformity.

  • Far red is the new red

    Published on February 6, 2017
    Adding far red to red and blue light from LEDs brings control of plant growth to the next level.

  • Effects of blue light on plants

    Published on February 2, 2017
    Blue light is usually referred to as radiation with wavelengths between 400 and 500 nanometers. This waveband is within the visible spectrum, has relatively high energy, and has pronounced effects on plant growth and flowering.

  • Red light spectrum - Role of far red radiation

    Published on November 9, 2016
    What are the potential benefits for including far-red radiation when growing seedlings indoors?

  • The economic viability of LED lighting

    Published on October 7, 2016
    Determine whether LED lighting is right for your operation by considering seven important factors that impact return on investment.

  • Managing light to improve rooting of cuttings

    Published on September 7, 2016
    Many growers can improve the rooting of cuttings by more closely managing light during propagation.

  • Impact of light on bedding plant flowering response

    Published on August 7, 2016
    How do light quality from light-emitting diode lamps and daily light integral influence the flowering responses of long-day plants?

  • Red light and plant growth

    Published on August 7, 2016
    Many LED fixtures developed for plant growth applications emit a large proportion of red light. Learn about the roles of red light in photosynthesis, extension growth, and flowering, as well as human perception.

  • A closer look at far-red radiation

    Published on May 7, 2016
    Far-red light can be defined as photons with wavelengths from 700 to 800 nanometers. It can promote extension growth and flowering, and at least indirectly increase growth.

  • Diffused glass

    Published on April 23, 2016
    Growers need to weigh the advantages of diffused glass with its cost considering their greenhouse location, production periods, and types of crops grown.

  • Efficacy of lamp types at controlling flowering

    Published on February 23, 2016
    This article summarizes the effectiveness of low-intensity lighting from different lamp types at regulating flowering of a wide range of ornamental crops based primarily on research performed at Michigan State University.

  • Customizing Crop Foliage Color With LEDs: Red Leaf Lettuce

    Published on October 24, 2015
    In the first of a four-part series highlighting the multiple uses of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), researchers share how end-of-production supplemental lighting with LEDs enhances red leaf lettuce color prior to harvesting and shipping.

  • Lighting metrics... and what matters

    Published on October 23, 2015
    This article discusses some of the metrics used to describe or quantify the light emitted from various fixtures (or LED arrays), some of which are highly relevant to plant applications and others that are only applicable to people.

  • Photoperiodic vs. photosynthetic lighting

    Published on September 23, 2015
    There is sometimes confusion about photoperiodic lighting (to regulate flowering) and photosynthetic lighting (to increase plant growth) in greenhouses. This article differentiates these two lighting applications.

  • Boom lighting

    Published on July 23, 2015
    We have developed some general guidelines based on limited research with simulated boom lighting, studies with cyclic lighting, and grower experiences.

  • Interactions of light, CO2, and temperature on photosynthesis

    Published on June 23, 2015
    Often times, we simplistically think about light as the driver of photosynthesis, and temperature as the key to control crop timing. Although that’s generally true, other cultural and environmental factors influence crop growth and quality.

  • Light wavebands & their effects on plants

    Published on March 23, 2015
    This article discusses how the four primary wavebands of light (blue, green, red, and far red) influence plant growth and development. Light wavebands also interact with each other, but only a few are mentioned here.

  • Evaluating different colors of LEDs to control flowering

    Published on December 10, 2014
    Researchers at Michigan State University tested the effectiveness of various LED colors. Read to learn how they affected flowering.

  • Replacing incandescents with LEDs

    Published on November 23, 2014
    LED lamps developed to regulate flowering are considerably more expensive than incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs, but they last much longer, consume less energy, and are at least effective.

  • Understanding Light: Part 1 of 2

    Published on October 24, 2014
    The first of two articles explaining the critical differences in supplemental and photoperiodic light.

  • Managing Photoperiodic Lighting, Part 2 of 2

    Published on October 24, 2014
    This is the second article in a two-part series focuses on what photoperiodic lighting is and how to use it in your greenhouse.

  • Lighting the Future of Young Plants

    Published on October 24, 2014
    Walking through how growers use led lights for supplemental and sole-source lighting?

  • The double-ended HPS lamp

    Published on September 23, 2014
    Double-ended high-pressure sodium lamps are considerably more efficient at converting electricity into light useful for photosynthesis than single-ended lamps.

  • Growing ornamental seedlings under different wavelengths of red light from LEDs

    Published on August 23, 2014
    Plants grew similarly under different colors of red light, so the choice of red LEDs to be used for horticultural applications could depend on factors such as LED longevity, efficacy, and cost.

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