During Module 1: Introduction to Crop Lighting on Oct. 14, Neil Mattson, associate horticulture professor at Cornell University and GLASE principal investigator, will be focusing on crop lighting needs. He will be talking about the most common controlled environment crops, including leafy greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and hemp.
“I will be discussing at what quantities of light CEA crops perform optimally and produce high quality and yield,” Mattson said. “Some crops have specific photoperiod requirements. For instance, hemp requires a short day length to flower which necessitates black out (i.e. light deprivation curtains) for year-round flowering. Tomatoes need a four- to six-hour dark period at night. Lettuce, on the other hand, can be lit for 24 hours. The number of hours in a day that light can be supplied impacts size of a lighting installation.
“In addition to knowing the quantity of light for a crop, it is also important to know how that light is delivered over a day to ensure the plants receive the light they need. I will also be sharing the results of some of our GLASE research studies on how the quantity of light affects the productivity of strawberries, lettuce and tomatoes.”
