Effects of intracanopy lighting on photosynthetic characteristics in cucumber

Plants of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Euphorbia) were grown in a traditional high-wire cultivation system to investigate the effects of three lighting regimes on photosynthetic characteristics, leaf area and yield. The lighting regimes included overhead lighting (OH), where all the lamps were mounted above the canopy and overhead + intracanopy lighting (OH + IC) which comprised 65% of overhead lamps and 35% of lamps mounted vertically along the plant rows. All overhead lighting was provided for 20 h day−1 and intracanopy lighting was provided for either 20 h or 24 h day−1 lighting period. Intracanopy lighting improved the light distribution in the canopy. Gas exchange measurements showed that intracanopy lighting increased net photosynthesis (PN) and photosynthetic capacity (Pmax). Parameters calculated from CO2 response (A/Ci) curves showed that in vivo estimate of the maximum rate of Rubisco carboxylation (Vcmax) and the maximum rate of electron transport (Jmax) were affected by light regime. Intracanopy light increased yield by 11% compared to traditional overhead light.