US (MI): Greenhouse and horticulture lighting online course

Michigan State University Extension is now offering the summer session for the non-credit, pre-recorded Greenhouse and Horticultural Lighting online course. The course, which is to be completed between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2016, is intended for greenhouse and ornamental plant growers and others interested in learning about the fundamental concepts about how plants respond to light quality, quantity and duration. It provides introductory to moderately-challenging content based on experiments performed at MSU and Purdue University.

The Greenhouse and Horticultural Lighting online course offers new information on using LEDs for plant growth. Photo: Erik Runkle, MSU.

The three hours of pre-recorded lecture and video demonstrations are divided into seven units. The first and second units cover the properties of light and its importance for plant growth and development. The third unit discusses how light quality influences stem extension and flowering.

The fourth unit of the course teaches participants about light intensity and its importance for plant growth as well as the factors that affect light availability and how to manipulate and measure light intensity in the greenhouse. Unit four also features four videos that demonstrate how light transmission is affected by the glazing material of a greenhouse, how growers can measure instantaneous light intensity and daily light integral in their greenhouse, and how to measure light intensity and quality from light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Students will learn the significance of daily light integral in plant production. Photo: Roberto Lopez, MSU.

The fifth unit of the course discusses how light quantity affects plant shoot and root growth and branching, focusing on responses to the average daily light integral. Unit six covers photoperiod and long-day lighting strategies, featuring the latest research on delivering long days with LEDs. The final unit on supplemental lighting discusses the advantages and limitations of different lamp types, provides guidelines of when to deliver supplemental lighting to increase daily light integral, and the factors to consider when selecting a lamp for your horticultural application.

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