2014 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
The light environment is one of the most influential abiotic factors impacting quality of specialty crops. This colloquium will discuss the most recent applications of advanced lighting technologies in research and commercial settings. Speakers will focus on impacts in specialty production systems including vegetables, floriculture and other ornamentals, and bio-pharmaceuticals. Attendees will be introduced to the benefits of using color-selected phosphor fluorescent lamps, narrow-band light emitting diodes (LEDs), wavelength filters, and reflective technologies and how they can be applied to horticultural research and commercial production. This colloquium will follow on from a very successful workshop on LED lighting held in 2007.

Light is one of the most important environmental stimuli affecting plant growth and development; moreover, growers can now easily manipulate light quality in controlled growing environments.  Opportunities now exist to apply different lighting technologies to increase the value of specialty crops.   Technologies such as advancements in color-selected phosphor fluorescent lamps, narrow-band light emitting diodes, wavelength filters, and reflective materials allow for specific control of light quality to eliminate spectra outside the photosynthetic action spectrum or provide unique wavelengths to maximizing efficiency or increase desired qualities.  Optimizing and customizing the light spectrum and intensity may have dramatic impacts on plant growth and development, physiology, and energy fluxes within metabolic pathways, all impacting crop quality.  This colloquium will cover recent advancements in the applications of advanced lighting technologies in specialty crop production systems.  Topics will cover increasing yield, quality, and specialized plant characteristics.

Sponsors: Controlled Environments  (CEWG), Floriculture  (FLOR), Quality, Safety, and Health Properties  (QUAL), Vegetable Crops Management (VCM) Working Groups