Canada's Organic Science Cluster

Activity C.6: Development of an organic greenhouse system for intercrop tomato and extended sweet pepper crop grown under supplemental lighting for year-round locally-grown fruit production

Objectives:

The general objective of this activity is to develop an organic greenhouse production system for intercrop tomato and extended sweet pepper crop under supplemental lighting (SL) providing . Specifically:

1. Design an organic growing system that will optimize light penetration through the canopy and allow soil-grown intercropping plants (intercrop tomato)
2. Improve the SL distribution within the canopy and light use efficiency by using a combination of light emitting diode (LED) and high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps
3. Characterize nutrient requirements and soil biological activity according to nonstop growing crops under SL
4. Optimize the irrigation and fertilization management according to SL
5. Evaluate the light use efficiency and energy use efficiency of the proposed growing systems
6. Evaluate the effect of SL and intercrop on fruit quality

Learn More:

• Activity Summary
• Background and Supporting Documents
• Activity Researchers

Interesting Results to Date:

• NEW!! Organically-grown greenhouse tomato under supplemental lighting – optimization of the light distribution
• NEW!! Organic Fertilization and its Effect on Development of Sweet Pepper Transplants
• NEW!! Organically-Grown Greenhouse Tomato Under Supplemental Lighting
• Stay tuned for additional reports, newspaper articles, and extension bulletins related to this activity.

 

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