PHOTONIC ENGINE SYSTEM FOR ACTUATING THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN
A horticultural system having lighting elements pulsed with an off time proportional to the turnover time of the photosynthetic electron transport chain. The lighting elements emit light at a wavelength within 20 nm of a peak absorption of the pigment of the plant and are controlled to provide light at predetermined intervals as needed by the plant cause photosynthesis and reduce excess unproductive light.
1 . A horticultural system for growing a plant under artificial lighting comprising:
at least one lighting device;
a plant positioned in spaced relation to the at least one lighting device to receive light emitted by the at least one lighting device;
the at least one lighting device having a first lighting element emitting light at a wavelength that is within 20 nanometers ( NM ) of a peak absorption of a pigment of the plant;
wherein light from the first lighting element is pulsed with off time proportional to turnover time of the photosynthetic electron transport chain to reduce photoinhibition rate.
2 . The horticultural system of claim 1 wherein the first lighting element emits light at a wavelength between 655 NM and 740 NM .
3 . The horticultural system of claim 1 wherein the first lighting element emits light at a wavelength between 425 NM and 465 NM .
4 . The horticultural system of claim 1 further comprising at least one lighting device having a second lighting element emitting light at a wavelength that is within 20 NM of a peak absorption of a pigment of a plant.
5 . The horticultural system of claim 4 wherein the first lighting element is between 655 NM and 740 NM and the second lighting element is between 425 NM and 465 NM .
6 . The horticultural system of claim 1 further comprising at least one lighting device having a second lighting element emitting light in the range between 495 NM and 570 NM to speed photosynthesis.
7 . The horticultural system of claim 6 wherein the second lighting element emits light during a first dark interval or a second dark interval of the first lighting element.
8 . The horticultural system of claim 1 wherein the first lighting element is a light emitting diode.
9 . The horticultural system of claim 5 further comprising at least one lighting device having a third lighting element emitting light in a range between 495-570 NM to speed photosynthesis.
10 . The horticultural system of claim 9 wherein the third lighting element emits light during a first dark interval or a second dark interval.
11 . The horticultural system of claim 10 wherein the first, second and third lighting elements are in the same lighting device.
12 . A method of growing a plant steps comprising:
emitting a first light from at least one artificial light source;
said first light having a wavelength within 20 nanometers ( NM ) of a peak absorption of a pigment of the plant; and
pulsing said first light with off time proportional to turnover time of a photosynthetic electron transport chain within the plant.
13 . A horticultural system for growing a plant under artificial lighting comprising:
at least one lighting device;
a plant positioned in spaced relation to the at least one lighting device to receive light emitted by the at least one lighting device;
the at least one lighting device having a first lighting element emitting light at a wavelength that is within 20 nanometers ( NM ) of a peak absorption of a pigment of the plant;
wherein light from the first lighting element is emitted during first, second and third lighting intervals with a first dark interval provided between the first and second lighting intervals and a second dark interval provided between the second and third lighting intervals; and
wherein the first dark interval and the second dark interval are different amounts of time.