Abstract
While a plant utilizes the full spectrum of visible light, some colours of light have more important applications than others. The aim of this study was to evaluate the responses of bell pepper plants grown under coloured covers. Bell pepper plants (Capsicum annuum) were grown hydroponically in a greenhouse in Tunja, Colombia, under different light quality regimes that were obtained with polypropylene films (yellow, green, blue, transparent, red, and a control without a plastic film cover). Conventional growth indices were calculated or measured as response variables. All of the evaluated parameters were influenced in a different ways by the colour of the covers, e.g. the leaf area was higher under the green and blue covers. The highest water uptake was found in the plants grown under the blue film. Plants under the yellow cover presented higher water use efficiency than the other treatments. The chlorophyll content index was higher under the blue, green and transparent covers. Based on these results, a coloured cover that favors most of the growth indices of plants cannot be selected; however, according to the needs of growers, the supplemental light quality can be used to achieve a specific effect.
Zusammenfassung
Während die Pflanze das gesamte Spektrum des sichtbaren Lichtes nutzt, weisen einige Lichtfarben grössere Bedeutungen als andere auf. Das Ziel dieser Untersuchung war es, die Reaktionen der Gemüsepaprikapflanzen, die unter farbigen Abdeckungen wuchsen, zu evaluieren. Paprikapflanzen (Capsicum annuum) in Hydrokultur wurden in einem Gewächshaus in Tunja (Kolumbien) verschiedenen Lichtintensitäten ausgesetzt, welche durch Abdeckung mit Polypropylen-Folien (gelb, grün, blau, transparent, rot, und ohne Abdeckung [Kontrolle]), erzeugt wurden. Herkömmliche Wachstumsindizes der Pflanzen wurden gemessen oder berechnet. Alle ausgewerteten Parameter wurden in unterschiedlicher Weise von der Farbe der Abdeckungen beeinflusst, sodass z. B. die Blattfläche unter den grünen und blauen Abdeckungen am höchsten war und auch die Pflanzen unter der blauen Folie die grösste Wassermenge aufnahmen. Paprikapflanzen unter den gelben Abdeckungen zeigten eine höhere Wassernutzungseffizienz als die anderen Behandlungen, während der Chlorophyllgehaltsindex unter den blauen, grünen und transparenten Abdeckungen höher war. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass nicht eine bestimmte farbige Abdeckung die meisten der gemessenen Wachstumsparameter begünstigt, jedoch kann je nach den Bedürfnissen der Erzeuger eine bestimmte Abdeckung verwendet werden, um einen gewünschten Effekt zu erzielen.
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Acknowledgments
The team gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Research Directorate (Dirección de Investigaciones—DIN) of the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC) for providing us with the funding and opportunity to conduct this research project. We also thank Dr. Gerhard Fischer for his critical reading of this manuscript and for his helpful suggestions, as well as Carlos Fernandez for helping during data collection.
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Casierra-Posada, F., Matallana-Díaz, Y. & Zapata-Casierra, E. Growth of bell pepper plants (Capsicum annuum) affected by coloured covers. Gesunde Pflanzen 66, 149–155 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-014-0328-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-014-0328-7