Nitrogen Fertilization and HPS Supplementary Lighting Influence Vegetable Transplant Production. I. Transplant Growth

Abstract

This experiment was initiated to determine the effects of supplementary lighting of 100 μmol·s-1·m-2 (PAR) in combination with four N rates (100, 200, 300, and 400 mg N/liter) on growth of celery (Apium graveolens L.), lettuce (Luctuca sativa L.), broccoli (Brassica oleracea italica L.), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) transplants in multicellular trays. Supplementary lighting, as compared with natural light alone, increased shoot dry weight of celery, lettuce, broccoli, and tomato transplants by 22%, 40%, 19%, and 24%, and root dry weight by 97%, 42%, 38%, and 21%, respectively. It also increased the percentage of shoot dry matter of broccoli and tomato, leaf area of lettuce and broccoli, and root: shoot dry weight ratio (RSDWR) of celery and broccoli. Compared with 100 mg N/liter, a N rate of 400 mg·liter-1 increased the shoot dry weight of celery, lettuce, broccoli, and tomato transplants by 37%, 38%, 61%, and 38%, respectively. High N fertilization accelerated shoot growth at the expense of root growth, except for tomato where a 16% increase of root dry weight was observed. High N also reduced percentage of shoot dry matter. Supplementary lighting appears to be a promising technique when used in combination with high N rates to improve the production of high quality transplants, particularly those sown early.