Do plants grow faster in 24 hours without stop lighting than in natural light conditions?
All other conditions being the same, just changing the duration of light, do plants with 24-hour light grow faster than those with normal light?
Some plants may grow faster with 24-hour lighting, but uninterrupted lighting can also negatively affect plants.
First of all, we need to be clear, that is, how much does light affect plants?
As one of the necessary conditions for plant growth, plants must rely on scattered light to maintain normal life activities. Plants convert CO₂ and water into organic matter through photosynthesis. Organic matter is also essential food for plant survival and development. At the same time, it can also store the energy required for various metabolic processes of organic matter in the process of plant growth and development.
If the plant lacks light during the growth process, it will be difficult for the plant to grow healthily. It may cause the following negative consequences: increased leaf spacing, plant stems and leaves are too long, plant leggy (plant leggy refers to the vigorous growth of stems and leaves, which often affects the flowering and fruiting of the plant, and also reduces the ornamental value). If this continues, the stems and leaves of the plant will also become sub-healthy and may even become transparent. Since planting
Since plant growth is inseparable from light, does long-term light help plant growth?
We still need to analyze it on a case-by-case basis. The effect of different lengths of day and night on the development of plants is called photoperiodism.
Plants can be divided into long-day plants and short-day plants in response to different photoperiods.
1. So, what are long-day plants?
During the period when the plant begins to grow and develop, it must receive light every day. If the daily light time exceeds 14 hours, the plant can grow flower buds, and the longer the sunlight time, the earlier the flowering.
If a plant has the above characteristics, then it belongs to the long-day plant. For long-day plants, if they receive insufficient light during their growing season, flower bud formation may be inhibited or even unable to form. Among our common crops, wheat, radish, and spinach are all long-day plants.
You can think about whether we will see a lot of flowers on the roadside during the holidays. Such as marigolds, petunias, pansies, etc., these flowers are long-day plants. During their growth process, they generally use extended light to accelerate their growth. The technique of long light exposure, in this case, can be very useful.
But for short-day plants, 24 hours of uninterrupted light will only have the opposite effect. What are short-day plants?
As the name implies, it needs a period of time during the growth process of plant development that the nights are long and the days are short (between 8-12 hours). And in contrast to long-day plants, short-day plants belong to the longer the dark period and the earlier the flowering. The common crops sorghum, rice, corn, and some flowers such as autumn chrysanthemum and longevity flower in our daily life belong to short-day plants.
If you want to make short-day flowers bloom earlier, you must take the method of prolonging the dark period for shading treatment. To meet the needs of light in the process of flower differentiation and flower bud formation, it can promote their early flowering.
Moreover, just like us humans, plants also have their own work and rest rules. Whether it is a long-day plant or a short-day plant, it is unscientific to have uninterrupted light on it 24 hours a day, and the plant also needs to "rest". During the day, plants need to use photosynthesis to grow themselves, and at night, plants need to respire, absorb oxygen, and release carbon dioxide, which is also an essential activity in the process of plant development.
2. So, when do we need to use plant lighting technology?
For contemporary agriculture, plant lighting technology is absolutely indispensable. In the 21st century, the global population is growing, but the area of available arable land has been decreasing. At the same time, one-half of the world's population lives in cities. Facing such a huge load, traditional agriculture cannot provide enough healthy food for so many people.
And to meet the challenge, we must have better solutions, such as building urban farms. But to grow fruits and vegetables in the city center, in addition to fertilizing and watering, light is also indispensable. Based on this premise, we must use plant lighting technology.
In the cultivation process of plants, we need to use artificial light sources to provide light energy. Compared with traditional lighting technology, LED lighting technology is more energy-efficient and has a more flexible design, making it possible to cultivate vegetables and fruits in the global metropolis.
