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Exposure of tomato and pepper plants to long photoperiods (20 hours or more for tomato; 24 hours for pepper) results in leaf chlorosis (tomato), leaf deformities (pepper), and decreased growth and productivity (both species). Some researchers have suggested that excessive starch accumulation in the leaves could be the cause of the negative effects. We observed that tomato and pepper plants do accumulate more starch in their leaves when grown under a long photoperiod (24 hours) compared to a shorter one (16 hours). However, our results indicated that these accumulations were not caused by a limited sink strength but by an alteration of the carbon metabolism at the leaf level. In our last experiment, we studied the activity of enzymes [sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), sucrose synthase (SS), invertase] of leaf carbon metabolism in tomato and pepper plants grown under different photoperiods (natural, natural + supplemental light of 100 μmol·m^-2·s^-1 during 16 and 24 hours). We observed a 10% to 15% decrease in leaf SPS activity in tomato (not in pepper) plants grown under a 24-hour photoperiod. In both species, invertase and SS activities were not affected by photoperiod treatments. In tomato plants grown under a 24-hour photoperiod, the decrease in SPS activity corresponded to the appearance of leaf chlorosis (6 to 7 weeks after the beginning of treatments). Therefore, it appears that leaf carbon metabolism could be involved in the development of negative effects of long photoperiod in tomato plants, but not in pepper plants. The fact that photoperiod had no apparent effect on leaf carbon metabolism of pepper may explain why this species can tolerate longer photoperiods than tomato plants.

Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants were grown under natural or supplemental lighting that extended thephotoperiods to 16, 20, or 24 hours. Increasing the photoperiod to 16 and 20 hours increased pepper plant yields, but continuous light (24 hours) decreased yields compared to the 20-hour photoperiod. In a second experiment, plants were exposed to a photoperiod of 14 or 24 hoursand either pruned to one fruit every four nodes or not pruned. During the first weeks of treatments, plants grown under continuous light had higher shoot mass (fresh and dry) and yields. After 7 to 8 weeks of treatments, plants under continuous light grew more slowly than plants exposed to a 14-hour photoperiod. At the end of the experiment, shoot mass and yields of plants grown under a 14-hour photoperiod were equal to or higher than plants under continuous light. So, it seems possible to provide continuous lighting for a few weeksto improve growth and yields. Limiting the number of fruit per plant increased shoot mass and decreased yields, but had no effect on the general response of pepper plants to photoperiod treatment. Leaf mineral composition was not affected by photoperiod treatment, indicating that reduced growth and yields under continuous light were not due to unbalanced mineral nutrition. Leaf starch and sugar contents were increased under continuous light. However, fruit pruning treatments did not modify the pattern of starch and sugar accumulation under the different photoperiod treatments. Reduced growth and yields measured under a 24-hour photoperiod are probably explained by starch and sugar accumulation in leaves as a result of leaf limitations rather than a sink limitation.

Growing tomato and pepper plants under continuous light causes negative effects such as leaf chlorosis and deformities, and decreased growth and yield. Such effects are more pronounced on tomato plants. Our general objectives are to identify the physiological process(es) responsible for these negative effects and to explain the difference in sensitivity of tomato and pepper plants to continuous light. The specific objective of this experiment was to determine the effects of continuous light and light spectral composition on photosynthesis and related processes of tomato and pepper plants. Tomato and pepper plants were place on 7 June 1994 in growth chambers under photoperiod treatments of 12 h [high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps], 24 h (HPS lamps), and 24 h [metal halide (MH) lamps]. For all treatments, FPP was 350 μmol·m^–2·s^–1, temperatures were 21C (day) and 17C (night), and RH was 70%. Every 2 weeks (7 June until 2 Aug.), tomato and pepper leaf samples were harvested and frozen in liquid nitrogen for subsequent measurements of starch content (Robinson et al, 1988, Plant Physiol.), sucrose phosphate synthase activities (Dali et al., 1992, Plant Physiol.) and chlorophyll and carotenoid content (determination on HPLC). A system that measured gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence of fresh leaf samples was used to determine the photosynthetic rate and quantum yield of CO₂ fixation and electron transport. Development of the negative effects of continuous light on plants was monitored. Light spectral composition of the two types of lamps was measured using a spectroradiometer. Results show that, under continuous light, pepper plants were less-efficient than tomato plants in using light for CO₂ fixation, but were more efficient in dissipating the extra energy received. This may explain why pepper plants are less sensitive to continuous light than tomato plants. MH lamps caused more-severe chloroses on tomato leaves than HPS plants. We believe that the higher proportion of UV-light provided by MH lamps may be related to this effect. Detailed results will be presented.

Three experiments were conducted in greenhouses 1) to determine the optimal leaf-to-fruit ratio for minimizing the incidence of russeting (miniature cuticle cracks on fruit) while optimizing fruit yield of greenhouse tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and 2) to investigate the effect of day/night relative humidity (RH) regimens on the development of russeting. Leaf-to-fruit ratio treatments (0.5–2.0) were achieved by varying the number of fruit (two to six fruit) per cluster and the number of leaves (two to four leaves) between clusters. In one experiment, plants were also subjected to either high day/low night or low day/high night RH regimens (low RH, 60% to 70%; high RH, 85% to 95%). Results showed that russeting of greenhouse tomato was mostly influenced by the number of fruit per cluster (total fruit load), and very little by the number of leaves between clusters. In general, decreasing the number of fruit per cluster resulted in a progressive increase in the occurrence of russeting. Furthermore, as the number of fruit per cluster decreased, the percentage of fruit with no russeting and with little russeting decreased whereas the percentage of fruit with the more severe russeting increased (except for the summer). For beefsteak cultivars Trust and Rapsodie grown under southwestern Ontario conditions, the best pruning practices for minimizing russeting and optimizing yield was to prune clusters to three fruit in early spring and late fall, to four fruit during spring and fall, and to five fruit during the summer, with three leaves between clusters all year long. In the current study, no significant effect of day/night RH regimens on fruit russeting was observed. Of the cultivars used, Rz 74/56 was less sensitive to russeting than ‘Trust’, whereas ‘Rapsodie’ was not different from the two other cultivars. However, all three cultivars had a very high incidence of russeting (>65% of fruit affected), and none should be regarded as russeting resistant. Breeding programs and genetic investigations with the objective of developing greenhouse tomato cultivars resistant to russeting are needed.