Evaluating the effect of supplementary lighting on the growth and physiological activity of roses during winter by plant-induced electrical signal

ABSTRACT Limited light intensity and low temperature in winter lead to various challenges such as reduction in growth, yield and quality of cultivated roses, which can be complemented by artificial supplementary lights. This study aims to evaluate the effect of different supplementary lights, including metal-halide (MH), metal-halide+high-pressure sodium lamp (MH + HPS) and high-pressure sodium lamp (HPS) on the growth characteristics of cultivated roses in winter. Compared to individual light, the results demonstrated that combined supplementary lights (MH + HPS) increased stem diameter, number of leaves and flower diameter of cultivated roses. The height, leaf length, leaf width, number of petals, chlorophyll content and chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm) of roses grown in different supplementary lights were not significantly affected. In all the three treatment areas, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and temperature at night were higher in the MH + HPS area, followed by the HPS and MH areas. The plant-induced electrical signal (PIES) of roses cultivated under MH + HPS light indicated higher water and nutrient uptake than other treatments, which was positively associated with rose growth, but the difference was insignificant. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the growth parameters of roses were mainly associated with MH + HPS supplementary light. Therefore, combined supplementary light was beneficial to improve the growth and quality of cultivated roses.