GROWTH RESPONSE OF INDOOR ORNAMENTAL PLANT SPECIES TO VARIOUS ARTIFICIAL LIGHT INTENSITIES (LED) IN AN INDOOR VERTICAL GARDEN

Abstract

Urban population spends most of their time indoors leading to multiple problems. Making an indoor vertical garden and associating people to this new concept will help build the indoor environment with improved energy efficiency, indoor air quality, their improved health and well-being. Of all of the factors affecting plant growth in interiors, adequate light is by far the most important. LED is an efficient, energy-saving light source widely used in artificial light plant production systems. Lack of scientific information regarding the light intensity requirement for optimum growth of the indoor ornamental plant species under Indian conditions makes the study of utmost importance. Five indoor ornamental plant species namely, Schefflera arboricola, Dracaena godseffiana, Philodendron salloum, Syngonium podophyllum and Scindapsis aureus were planted in pots (5”) with soil less media arranged as vertical structures (6?11”x4?3”) aligned to interiors walls of a room. Four such structures/frames were fabricated, fertigated with 100 % of the Hoagland solution and artificially illuminated using LED lighting system (PWM controlled) with different light intensities i.e. 700-1100 lux (LI I), 1100-1500 lux (LI II), 1500- 1900 lux (LI III) and LI IV had no artificial light illumination (control). From the most effective positive response of plant species under study on the basis of their growth response towards different light intensities, it was concluded that Philodendron salloum responded best to LI I (700-1100 lux), Scindapsis aureus to LI II (1100-1500 lux), Dracaena godseffiana, Schefflera arboricola and Syngonium podophyllum to LI III (1500-1900 lux).