AUTHOR=Liu Xiaojuan , Shi Rui , Gao Meifang , He Rui , Li Yamin , Liu Houcheng 

TITLE=Growth of tomato and cucumber seedlings under different light environments and their development after transplanting

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1164768

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1164768

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Selecting suitable light conditions according to the plant growth characteristics is one of the important approaches to cultivating high-quality vegetable seedlings. To determine the more favorable LED light conditions for producing high-quality tomato and cucumber seedlings in plant factories with artificial light (PFALs), the growth characteristics of tomato and cucumber seedlings under seven LED light environments (CK, B, UV-A, FR, B+UV-A, UV-A+FR, B+FR) and the development of these seedlings after transplanting into a plastic greenhouse were investigated. The results showed that the seedling height and hypocotyl length increased in treatments with far-red light supplementation (FR, UV-A+FR, and B+FR), but decreased in the B treatment, in both varieties. The seedling index of tomato seedlings increased in the B+UV-A treatment, while that of cucumber seedlings increased in the FR treatment. After transplant into a plastic greenhouse, tomato plants radiated with UV-A had greater flower numbers on the 15th day after transplanting. In cucumber plants of the FR treatment, the flowering time was significantly delayed, and the female flower exhibited at lower node position. By using a comprehensive scoring analysis of all detected indicators, light environments with UV-A and FR were more beneficial for improving the overall quality of tomato and cucumber seedlings, respectively.