scholarly journals Flowering of Herbaceous Perennials under Various Night Interruption and Cyclic Lighting Treatments

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 672-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

Six long-day species of herbaceous perennials were grown under six night-interruption (NI) photoperiod treatments to determine their relative effectiveness at inducing flowering. Photoperiods were 9-hour natural days with NI provided by incandescent lamps during the middle of the dark period for the following durations: 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 hours; 6 minutes on, 54 minutes off for 4 hours (10% or 6/54 cyclic lighting); or 6 minutes on, 24 minutes off for 4 hours (20% or 6/24 cyclic lighting). For five species, the experiment was repeated with more mature plants; for the sixth, Rudbeckia fulgida Ait. `Goldsturm', following a cold treatment of 8 weeks at 5 °C. The species generally showed a quantitative flowering response to the NI duration until a saturation duration was reached; as the length of the uninterrupted night break increased, flowering percentage, uniformity, and number and plant height increased and time to flower decreased. Minimum saturation durations of NI were 1 hour for Coreopsis grandiflora Hogg ex Sweet `Early Sunrise' and Hibiscus moscheutos L. `Disco Belle Mixed', 2 hours for Campanula carpatica Jacq. `Blue Clips' and Coreopsis verticillata L. `Moonbeam', and 4 hours for unchilled R. fulgida `Goldsturm'. Echinacea purpurea Moench `Bravado' flowered similarly across all lighting treatments. The 6/24 cyclic lighting regimen induced flowering comparable to that under a continual 4-hour NI for four of the six species and the cold-treated R. fulgida `Goldsturm'. Flowering under the 6/54 regimen was generally incomplete, nonuniform, and delayed compared to that under saturation duration treatments. Three of five species flowered earlier when more mature plants were placed under the NI treatments. Cold-treated R. fulgida `Goldsturm' flowered more rapidly than unchilled plants and the saturation duration of NI decreased to 1 hour.

HortScience ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 681c-681
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

Six obligate long-day species of herbaceous perennials were grown under six night-interruption treatments to determine their relative effectiveness at inducing flowering. Photoperiods were 9 hours natural days with night interruptions provided by incandescent lamps during the middle of the dark period for the following durations: 0.5, 1, 2, or 4 hours; 6 minutes on, 54 minutes off for 4 hours (10% cyclic lighting); or 6 minutes on, 24 minutes off for 4 hours (20% cyclic lighting). Response to night interruptions varied by species, but five of the six species flowered most rapidly and uniformly under 4-hour night interruption. Few or no Campanula carpatica `Blue Clips', Rudbeckia fulgida `Goldsturm', or Hibiscus ×hybrida `Disco Belle Mixed' plants flowered with 1 hour or less of continuous night-break lighting. All Coreopsis ×grandiflora `Early Sunrise' flowered, but flowering was hastened as the duration of night interruption increased. Echinacea purpurea `Bravado' flowered similarly across all treatments. In general, the effectiveness of the night-interruption treatments at inducing flowering was 4 hours > 2 hours > 20% cyclic > 1 hour > 10% cyclic > 0.5 hour.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Gary J. Keever ◽  
J. Raymond Kessler ◽  
James C. Stephenson

Staggered starting dates for night-interrupted lighting (NIL) were evaluated for accelerated sequential flowering of herbaceous perennials with different photoperiod requirements outdoors in a southern nursery setting. Plants evaluated were black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’), an obligate long-day (LD) plant; obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana ‘Miss Manners’), a facultative LD plant; and Stokes' aster (Stokesia laevis ‘Peachie's Pick’), a facultative intermediate-day plant. With all species, the dates of first flower and maximum flower number occurred sooner under LDs from incandescent (INC) and fluorescent (FLU) lamps than under natural photoperiod (NP). Mean and maximum flower numbers were greater under NIL than under NP for black-eyed Susan and Stokes' aster but not for obedient plant. Time in flower increased in Stokes' aster, but either decreased or was not affected by NIL for black-eyed Susan and obedient plant. Flowering periods of black-eyed Susan and obedient plant exposed to different NIL timings overlapped extensively while leaving a gap in flowering between plants exposed to NIL and those under NP. This gap in flowering suggests that the intervals between NIL start dates could be longer to lessen the flowering overlap of plants under NIL, and that the interval between the start of the last NIL treatment and the onset of an inductive photoperiod be reduced to maintain sequential peak flowering until the natural flowering period. With Stokes' aster, flowering overlapped for plants in the different NIL timings and under NP, resulting in continuous sequential blooms from first flowering of plants under NIL until the plants' natural flowering period under NP in late May. Flowering periods of Stokes' aster exposed to NIL beginning on different dates overlapped extensively, suggesting that at least one NIL start date could be omitted and the intervals between the start of NIL increased without sacrificing continuous sequential peak flowering. NIL from INC and FLU lamps promoted growth in plant height compared to that of plants under NP, although the increase in plant height was less under FLU lamps.


HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

To determine the flowering requirements of Rudbeckia fulgida Ait. `Goldsturm', plants were grown under 9-hour photoperiods until maturity, then forced at 20 °C under one of seven photoperiods following 0 or 15 weeks of 5 °C. Photoperiods consisted of a 9-hour day that was extended with incandescent lamps to 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, or 24 hours; an additional treatment was a 9-hour day with a 4-hour night interruption (NI). Noncooled `Goldsturm' remained vegetative under photoperiods ≤13 hours, and essentially all plants flowered under photoperiods ≥14 hours or with a 4-hour NI. Flowering percentages for cooled plants were 6, 56, or ≥84 under 10-, 12-, or ≥13-hour daylengths and NI, respectively. Critical photoperiods were ≈14 or 13 hours for noncooled or cooled plants, respectively, and base photoperiods shifted from 13 to 14 hours before cold treatment to 10 to 12 hours following cold treatment. Within cold treatments, plants under photoperiods ≥14 hours or NI reached visible inflorescence and flowered at the same time and developed the same number of inflorescences. Fifteen weeks of cold hastened flowering by 25 to 30 days and reduced nodes developed before the first inflorescence by 28% to 37%. Cold treatment provided little or no improvement in other measured characteristics, such as flowering percentage and uniformity, flower number, plant height, and vigor.


HortScience ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 581b-581
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

Thirty herbaceous perennial species were treated at 5°C for 0 or 15 weeks. Critical photoperiods for flower initiation and development with and without a cold treatment were determined. Photoperiods were 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, or 24 hours of continuous light or 9 hours plus a 4-hour night interruption. Continuous photo-periodic treatments consisted of 9-hour natural days extended with light from incandescent lamps. Species were categorized into nine response types based on the effects of cold and photoperiod on flowering. Plants had three flowering responses to cold treatment: obligate, facultative, or none. The perennials were obligate long-day, facultative long-day, or day-neutral plants. For example, Campanula carpatica `Blue Clips' had no response to cold and was an obligate long-day plant requiring photoperiods of 16 hours or longer or night interruption for flowering. Rudbeckia fulgida `Goldsturm' had a facultative response to cold and required photoperiods of 14 hours or longer or night interruption for flowering. Veronica longifolia `Sunny Border Blue' had an obligate cold requirement and was day-neutral. Some species responded differently to photoperiod before and after cold. Leucanthemum ×superbum `Snow Cap' flowered as an obligate long-day plant without cold and as a facultative long-day plant after cold. Response categories are discussed.


HortScience ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 1115C-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace M. Pietsch ◽  
Paul H. Li ◽  
Neil O. Anderson

Cold acclimation has been extensively studied in woody species such as Cornus sericea and Malu × domestica. These studies have shown that cold acclimation is initiated by short days and completed with the addition of a cold treatment. It is unknown whether herbaceous perennials respond in a similar manner to these environmental cues. Our research objective was to examine short day photoperiod effects on cold acclimation in herbaceous gaura populations collected at different latitudes. Gaura drummondii collected in Texas, and Gaura coccinea collected in Minnesota and Texas were clonally propagated, grown under a 16-hour long day photoperiod and 25/20 °C [day/night (D/N)] temperature for 8 weeks. Plants were then subjected to 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 weeks of 8-hour short days at 20/15 °C (D/N) temperatures. Cold acclimation was determined using electrolyte leakage (freezing stem pieces from –1 to –9 °C) and measuring electrical conductivity after treatment and tissue death. Mean separations showed two distinct statistical groupings of 0-2 weeks and 3–5 weeks of short days for Minnesota gaura, whereas Texas gaura overlapped for 0–5 weeks of short day treatments. It is unknown what environmental cue(s) initiate cold acclimation in Gaura native to southern latitudes such as Texas.


HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 861A-861
Author(s):  
Erik S. Runkle ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
William H. Carlson

Twenty-four herbaceous perennial species were treated at 5C for 0 or 15 weeks. Critical photoperiods for flower initiation and development with and without a cold treatment were determined. Photoperiods were 10, 12, 14, 16, and 24 h of continuous light and 9 h plus a 4-h night interruption. Continuous photoperiodic treatments consisted of 9-h natural days extended with light from incandescent lamps. Response to cold and photoperiod varied by species; Scabiosa caucasica `Butterfly Blue' flowered without a cold treatment under all photoperiods after 8 to 10 weeks of forcing, but plant height increased from 14 to 62 cm as daylength increased. Rudbeckia fulgida `Goldsturm' flowered without cold after 13 to 15 weeks of forcing, but only under 16 hours of continuous light and night interruption treatments. Heuchera sanguinea `Bressingham Hybrids' did not flower without cold under any photoperiod but did flower under all photoperiods with cold. The only Lavendula angustifolia `Munstead Dwarf' plants that flowered without cold were those under 24-h continuous light; ≈60% flowered. After cold, some lavender plants flowered under all photoperiods, and the flowering percentage increased with increasing daylength.


HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 540A-540
Author(s):  
Emily A. Clough ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
William H. Carlson

Oenothera fruticosa L.`Youngii-Lapsley' and Stokesia laevis L'Hér. `Klaus Jelitto' are two hardy herbaceous perennials with great potential as pot crops. The vernalization and photoperiod requirements were examined for each species. Plants were cooled for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, or 15 weeks at 5 °C with a 9-h photoperiod. After cold treatment, plants were forced in greenhouses at 20 °C under a 16-h photoperiod using high-pressure sodium lamps. The photoperiod requirement was determined by forcing plants at 20 °C with and without a 15-week cold treatment at 5 °C under 10-, 12-, 13-, 14-, 16-, 24-h and 4-h night interruption using incandescent lamps. Plants of Oenothera fruticosa `Youngii-Lapsley' cooled for 0 weeks did not flower. All plants cooled for 3 weeks flowered and time to flower decreased from 53 to 43 days as duration of cold increased from 3 to 15 weeks. `Youngii-Lapsley' flowered under every photoperiod, but time to flower and number of flowers decreased from 54 to 40 days as photoperiod increased from 10 to 24 h. Percentage flowering of Stokesia laevis `Klaus Jelitto' increased from 50 to 100, and time to flower decreased from 112 to 74 days as duration of cold increased from 0 to 6 weeks. Without a cold treatment, plants of `Klaus Jelitto' flowered only under daylengths of 12, 13, and 14 h. After cold treatment, plants flowered under every photoperiod except 24 h, and time to flower decreased from 122 to 65 days as photoperiod increased from 10 to 16 h. Additional aspects of flowering and the effect of different forcing temperatures will be discussed.


HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 861F-861
Author(s):  
Cheryl Hamaker ◽  
William H. Carlson ◽  
Royal D. Heins ◽  
Arthur C. Cameron

To determine the most effective lighting strategies for flower induction of long-day (LD) plants, 10 species of herbaceous perennials were chilled at 5C for 0 or 12 weeks and then forced at 20C under the following photoperiods: short day, 4-h night interruption (4-h NI), 7-h night interruption (7-h NI), 7-h day extension, 7-h predawn (7-h PD), and 24-h continuous light (24-h). All treatments consisted of a 9-h photoperiod of sunlight supplemented with 90 μmol·m–2 from HPS lamps. LD treatments were delivered by incandescent lights and induced flowering in obligate LD plants. Rate of flowering, height, and bud number at first flower varied among species and LD treatments. Although flowering was accelerated under 24-h and 7-h NI for most species, it was delayed under 24 h for Coreopsis verticillata `Moonbeam' and Campanula carpatica. For unchilled plants of most species, flowering was delayed under 7-h PD compared to other LD treatments. Chilling decreased time to flower and reduced differences between LD treatments. Coreopsis `Moonbeam' and C. Ianceolata `Early Sunrise' were shorter when grown under 4-h NI.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Ahmadi ◽  
Abbas Samadi ◽  
Ebrahim Sepehr ◽  
Amir Rahimi ◽  
Sergey Shabala

AbstractMedicinal plants represent a valuable commodity due to beneficial effects of their natural products on human health, prompting a need for finding a way to optimize/increase their production. In this study, a novel growing media with various perlite particle size and its mixture with peat moss was tested for hydroponic-based production of Echinacea purpurea medicinal plant under greenhouse conditions. The plant growth parameters such as plant height, total fresh leave weight, fresh root weight, total biomass, total chlorophyll, leaf area, and essential oil compositions were assessed. Perlite particle size in the growing media was varied from very coarse (more than 2 mm) to very fine (less than 0.5 mm), and the ratio between perlite and peat moss varied from 50:50 v/v to 30:70 v/v. In addition, two nitrate (NO3−) to ammonium (NH4+) ratios (90:10 and 70:30) were tested for each growing media. The medium containing very fine-grade perlite and 50:50 v/v perlite to peat moss ratio was found to be most optimal and beneficial for E. purpurea performance, resulting in maximal plant height, fresh and dry weight, leaf surface area, and chlorophyll content. It was also found that an increase in NO3−/NH4+ ratio caused a significant increase in plant growth parameters and increase the plant essential oil content. The major terpene hydrocarbons found in extract of E. purpurea with the best growth parameters were germacrene D (51%), myrcene (15%), α-pinene (12%), β-caryophyllene (11%), and 1-Pentadecene (4.4%), respectively. The percentages of these terpene hydrocarbons were increased by increasing of NO3−/NH4+ ratio. It can be concluded that decreasing the perlite particle size and increasing the NO3−/NH4+ ratio increased the plant growth parameters and essential oil compositions in E. purpurea.


Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Dong Kang ◽  
Hai Jeong ◽  
Yoo Park ◽  
Byoung Jeong

The effects of the quality and intensity of night interruption light (NIL) on the flowering and morphogenesis of kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) ‘Lipstick’ and ‘Spain’ were investigated. Plants were raised in a closed-type plant factory under 250 μmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD white light emitting diodes (LEDs) with additional light treatments. These treatments were designated long day (LD, 16 h light, 8 h dark), short day (SD, 8 h light, 16 h dark), and SD with a 4 h night interruption (NI). The NIL was constructed from 10 μmol·m−2·s−1 or 20 μmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD blue (NI-B), red (NI-R), white (NI-W), or blue and white (NI-BW) LEDs. In ‘Spain’, the SPAD value, area and thickness of leaves and plant height increased in the NI treatment as compared to the SD treatment. In ‘Lipstick’, most morphogenetic characteristics in the NI treatment showed no significant difference to those in the SD treatment. For both cultivars, plants in SD were significantly shorter than those in other treatments. The flowering of Kalanchoe ‘Lipstick’ was not affected by the NIL quality, while Kalanchoe ‘Spain’ flowered when grown in SD and 10 μmol·m−2·s−1 PPFD NI-B. These results suggest that the NIL quality and intensity affect the morphogenesis and flowering of kalanchoe, and that different cultivars are affected differently. There is a need to further assess the effects of the NIL quality and intensity on the morphogenesis and flowering of short-day plants for practical NIL applications.


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