S08 - Session O1 - Reducing the energy footprint and enhancing the flexibility of indoor growing systems while maintaining a high growth rate: Examination of disruptive cultivation protocols
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Authors: Dafni Avgoustaki *, Maria Maniati, Christos Vatistas, Thomas Bartzanas
Cherry tomatoes is a frequently cultivated crop in indoor controlled environment that requires multiple hours of daily light in order to grow, flower and create fruits of desired nutritional value, taste, aroma and color. At the same time, the cost of electricity can be very high due to the numerous hours of artificial lighting operation, which can be an inhibiting factor for the advancement of the technology and the profitability of an indoor farm. In this study, we tested the growth of cherry tomato plants ( Solanum lycopersicum L. ) under continuous and intermittent photoperiodical intervals. The leaf physiological traits of two different photoperiod treatments were assessed and used to estimate the toleration rate of plants under different light intervals. In the first indoor growth chamber, the plants grew under 12 h of continuous light (control) and in the second chamber under a photoperiod of 12 h with intermittent light. The purpose of this research is to evaluate and design flexible interrupted light exposure in order to provide a load-shifted electricity consumption for indoor cultivation systems and replace the continuous light exposure with more flexible light provision for crops grown in indoor environment, while maintaining a high growth rate and biomass production of the plants. The presented results of this experimental research show a positive correlation of the plants' responses to abiotic stress when exposed to short light intervals periods of intermittent photoperiod, without having significant negative effects on the physiological responses of the cultivation. The physiological, biochemical, and morphological status of the plants were assessed in terms of photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll pigments, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate of the plants.