Enhancement of strawberry production and fruit quality by blue and red LED lights in research and commercial greenhouses

Abstract

Strawberry is an important crop belonging to the Rosaceae family. Flowering and early production are controlled by a combination of low temperature and short photoperiod, but these conditions are not ideal for fruit production. Blue and red lights act as developmental signals via the plant circadian clock. We have studied two combinations of blue and red LED lights in experimental and for the first time in commercial greenhouses. Supplementary lighting was turned on one hour before sunset to complete 13 h of light. An increase in flowering of up to 300% was observed in experimental greenhouses without losing strawberry quality. Strawberry size decreased throughout the experiment in both treated and control samples. We used a similar protocol in large-scale commercial greenhouses. Fruit quality increased as second quality strawberry was lower in production greenhouses when treated with increased light, irrespective of wavelength. Increased red and blue light appears as a promising technology to improve strawberry production and quality.