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Introduction The lighting industry has experienced three revolutions, namely, the hot filament incandescent, gas discharging florescent and HID, and recently solid state LED. For plant growth and hydroponic applications, the second generation florescent and HID still dominate the market, and its lumen per wattage concept is prevalent in our general knowledge of horticulture lighting. In the coming age of LED lighting, the concept of color rendering index (CRI) and lumen are about to be updated when considering the human eye’s cone cell and rod cell sensitivity [1, 2]. Likewise, different plant responses to light spectrum differently at various biologic stages such as rooting, vegetative growth and budding. This essay will cover the impact of Lumen, which is based on human vision, then Photo-synthetically...

University of Florida associate professor Kevin Folta and other scientists at the university's Institute for Plant Innovation are studying the impact specific light wavelengths can have on plant characteristics. Photo by Tyler Jones, UF/IFAS Photography. With the ability to deliver specific light wavelengths with LED lights, growers, retailers and consumers could eventually manipulate the scent, color, flavor, post-harvest life and other characteristics of ornamental and edible crops. --- Both ornamental and edible plant growers are using supplemental lighting. Some use light to control photoperiod. Others use supplemental light to hasten plant development by increasing the rate of photosynthesis. What if you could use light to increase the flavor, aroma, color intensity, insect and disease resistance and post-harvest life of edible crops? What if you could...

For much of human history, people have managed plant growth in the same way – take the plant outside, put it in the ground and wait for it to grow. But what if, rather than doing this, we could give a plant managed instructions? In essence we would talk to the plants. Then, not only could we tell plants what to produce and how much to produce but do so by communicating in a language that they can understand. According to new research, we can get a plant to do exactly what we want by using a vocabulary of commands via light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. This sounds like science fiction, but it isn’t. At the recent Science Writers 2013 conference...

Preserving the living nature of foods could increase nutritional value.  We take it for granted that the refrigerator light goes off when we shut the door. But perhaps fridges of the future will be different, as new research suggests exposing fruits and vegetables to light during storage could make them more nutritious. Plant parts, like leaves and roots, keep living after having been separated from the plants on which they grew. For days, weeks, even months after being harvested, the component cells of these plant parts can carry on with their metabolic functions. That is why you can grow fresh food by upcycling kitchen scraps. Most any item that hasn’t rotted to the point of inedibility can be considered living....

Source: American Society for Horticultural Science. A study of chrysanthemum investigated plants' circadian responses to interruptions in light cycles. Plants were exposed to irregular supplemental light breaks during the night; results showed a correlation between circadian-regulated processes and plant growth. Leaves and stems grew faster in plants grown in short days with irregular light breaks during the night compared with plants grown in a climate with a consecutive long light period. The findings could contribute to energy savings in production greenhouses. Scientists know that plants can actually "sense" day length, and "schedule" their growth to coincide with specific environmental conditions. These natural events are based on the circadian clock, a 24-hour system found in most biochemical and physiological processes. Plants grow better in circadian conditions that correspond to natural environments, but until now...