Adjusting and fine-tuning her setup for the transition. Utilizing a double net this time and planning to oversate with red wavelengths for a week before making precise adjustments. Reduced light cycle to 12 hours and increased the PPFD. Now a matter of waiting. During the last grow, I was uncertain whether the delay in flowering was due to disruptions in the dark period, excessive sugar, or an overabundance of nitrogen. Initially, I couldn't the exact cause.
"High concentrations of sugar can delay flowering by prolonging the late vegetative phase. This postpones the activation of LFY expression, which governs floral transition. Sugar signals play a crucial role in all key transitions of plant life cycle and interact with hormone signaling pathways."
"Nitrogen (N) is one of the most abundant nutrients essential for plant growth and influences developmental regulation, including flowering. The effects of N on flowering regulation vary depending on its concentration, as both deficiency and excess of N lead to delayed flowering."
"Red light wavelengths, ranging between 600–700 nanometers (nm), interact with phytochromes to influence plant morphology, promoting budding and flowering. Red light impacts hormones such as auxins, which regulate plant elongation and flower development. Phytochromes are also involved in shade avoidance and detecting changes in the local light environment and seasonal timing."
The objective is to replicate natural conditions:
UVA peak with predominantly red light at sunrise (3000K),
UVB peak with blue light at noon (5000K),and a
UVA peak with predominantly far-red light at sunset (3000K).
Also has a light coating of 850nm&940nm IR,
Approximately 45% of the sunlight reaching the Earth's surface is infrared (IR) light. Infra primarily provides heat to plants, which can promote growth a certain range; however, excessive IR can lead to stress, damage, or even in plants to overheating, disrupting photosynthetic processes. While plants do not directly use IR for photosynthesis, it can influence factors such as flowering and leaf expansion when present in appropriate. In particular far-red wavelengths can shade avoidance response, where plants detect a lack of direct light and growth to access better light conditions. This effect is especially beneficial in indoor environments where light conditions are carefully controlled. Increasing infrared light can impact the rate of plant stems, as short exposure to increases the between nodes. However, excessive infrared exposure can harm plants, type of light emits significant heat
Although the spectral composition sunlight sunrise and sunset is fundamentally similar the primary distinction lies in the enhanced scattering of shorter wavelengths, such as blue and violet light, during these periods. This phenomenon occurs due to the longer atmospheric path sunlight travers, leading a more vivid red and orange hue the horizon, as longer wavelengths scatter less and are more likely to reach our eyes. A sunset typically contains far-red light compared to a sunrise because the sunlight's path through the atmosphere is even longer at sunset, resulting in greater scattering of blue light and a higher proportion of red and far-red wavelengths becoming visible to the observer.
The Pr/Pfr ratio refers to the proportion of phytochrome Pr to phychrome Pfr in a. This ratio fluctuates throughout the day and night, influencing the plant's growth and flowering processes.
How does the ratio change?
Daytime: Red light converts Pr to Pfr, resulting in a low ratio.
Nighttime: Far-red light converts Pfr to Pr, resulting in a high ratio.
Seasons: The ratio varies with the seasons due to changes in day length and the sun's position.
How does the ratio affect plants?
Photomorphogenesis: The influences photomorphogenesis, the process by which a seed develops into a sprout.
Flowering: The ratio determines whether short-day or long-day plants flower.
Growth: The ratio impacts plant growth; for instance, a lower red to far-red light ratio can enhance growth under saline conditions.
How do plants sense the ratio?
Plants utilize pigments to detect the ratio of to far-red light, employing phytochrome system to measure this ratio during dawn and dusk. This plants regulate their growth in response seasonal changes.
In controlled environment agriculture, customized light treatments using light-emitting diodes are crucial to improving crop yield and quality. Red (R; 600-700 nm) and blue light (B; 400-500 nm) are two major parts of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), often preferred in crop production. Far-red radiation (FR; 700-800 nm), although not part of PAR, can also affect photosynthesis and can have profound effects on a range of morphological and physiological processes. However, interactions between different red and blue light ratios (R:B) and FR on promoting yield and nutritionally relevant compounds in crops remain unknown. Here, lettuce was grown at 200 µmol m-2 s-1 PAR under three different R:B ratios: R:B87.5:12.5 (12.5% blue), R:B75:25 (25% blue), and R:B60:40 (40% blue) without FR. Each treatment was also performed with supplementary FR (50 µmol m-2 s-1; R:B87.5:12.5+FR, R:B75:25+FR, and R:B60:40+FR). White light with and without FR (W and W+FR) were used as control treatments comprising of 72.5% red, 19% green, and 8.5% blue light. Decreasing the R:B ratio from R:B87.5:12.5 to R:B60:40, there was a decrease in fresh weight (20%) and carbohydrate concentration (48% reduction in both sugars and starch), whereas pigment concentrations (anthocyanins, chlorophyll, and carotenoids), phenolic compounds, and various minerals all increased. These results contrasted the effects of FR supplementation in the growth spectra; when supplementing FR to different R:B backgrounds, we found a significant increase in plant fresh weight, dry weight, total soluble sugars, and starch. Additionally, FR decreased concentrations of anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, and various minerals. Although blue light and FR effects appear to directly contrast, blue and FR light did not have interactive effects together when considering plant growth, morphology, and nutritional content. Therefore, the individual benefits of increased blue light fraction and supplementary FR radiation can be combined and used cooperatively to produce crops of desired quality: adding FR increases growth and carbohydrate concentration while increasing the blue fraction increases nutritional value.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1383100/full
Here are a few examples of good time lapse intervals based on the subject:
Fast-moving clouds, traffic: 1-2 seconds
Sunsets, sunrises, slower clouds: 2-5 seconds
Moving shadows, sun across the sky (no clouds): 15-30 seconds
Star trails: 30 seconds or longer
Plant growth, construction projects: Minutes or longer intervals