Effect of Artificial Light Supplement in Transcontinental Sea Cargo on the Flowering of Young Spiking Phalaenopsis Ming-Yih Chang, National Ilan Univ., Taiwan Wei Fang, National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan Po-Hung Wu, Ox Orchid Group, Taiwan Chi-Chung Chen, Nano Bio light Co., Ltd.,Taiwan 6 th International Symposium of Light in Horticulture Nov , 2009 Tsukuba, Japan

Content  Background of Orchid Export in Taiwan  Advantages and the Bottleneck of Exporting Spiking Orchid  Experiment of LED as Light Supplement Source for Orchid in Transport Container  Results and Dicussion

2 Global Market of Phalaenopsis Industry  Global production up to 200 million plants  Major market Europe, North America, Far East

3 Orchid Export from Taiwan  Before 2004, only bare-rooted orchids were allowed to the US market.  Now, orchids with moss are allowed.  Over continental transportation shift from air fleet to sea cargo.  Long dark period may cause damage to the plant.

4 Orchid Export from Taiwan to US Increased Rapidly since 2006 US admitted the import of potted orchid with moss Japan was the biggest buyer Bare root by AIR Pot with moss by SEA

To export which stage of the potted orchid?  Blooming plant Finished product Too vulnerable and occupied too much space to transport  Seedling or Plantlet (the MOST) Raw material Tolerable for transport  Spiking plant (with flower stalk emerge) Semi-finished product

6 Cost Analysis for Exporting spiking orchid to US Flower Forcing 4 W Storage with light 3-4 weeks Successive Growth 6-8 weeks Stalk to 10 cm 4 W Dark Storage 3-4 weeks 2W Successive Growth 12 Weeks Market Flower Forcing 4 W Market + US$ 0.9 US$ 0.6+ US$ US$ 2 US$ 0.6 = US$ 5.1 = US$ 3.5 Mature plant Spiking plant Aboard Ashore

7 Analysis of Greenhouse Turnover Rate for Exporting Spiking Orchid Successive Growth 6-8 Weeks 2W Successive Growth 12 Weeks Market Flower Forcing 4 W Market Ashore 5-6 months 2.5 – 3 months 2-2.5/year 4-5 /year

Spiking orchid is a better candidate  Why? Running cost is less when grown in Taiwan  US$0.3 /plant/month in Taiwan  US$ 1 /plant/month in Eastern US Final product is difficult to transport As close to ‘final product’ as possible Improve the greenhouse turnover rate  Current situation: Very few exported by Air, due to high cost.  Is it possible to be shipped by SEA without damage?

9 Shipping by Sea is cheaper, but Dark stress would be the problem…  It takes time One month from Taiwan to Eastern US = One month of dark stress on orchid  Dark stress inhibit the bud differentiation  The stalks become useless Rotted Whiten

Objective  To develop a new business model for Taiwan orchid growers.  Product to export: mature young plant => spiking plant maintain the stalk vitality is the key technology

To overcome Dark stress, Add the Light in  Artificial light supplement in Container To maintain the orchid physical activity To maintain the stalk vitality To assure the successive flowering  Light need electricity in container, and generator provide electricity to container, So, every thing is done ?

Power Restriction in container  The power supply for each Reefer container in cargo ship is 440V, 25 Amp max. 16 Amp for refrigerator Only 9 Amp for light  Due to restricted electricity supply, energy-efficient light source should be used, such as  LED, T5 fluorescent light What is the minimum light integral required ?

Different spectrum of LEDs as Light Source in Experiment  CW LED tube Cool White 5400 K R/G/B = 20:50:30 20 W  RB LED tube Red/Blue (660/450 nm = 80:20) 13 W  Compared with T5 Fluorescent tube 6500 K 28 W

2 – 4 tubes installed under 127 × 55 cm shelves of cart

Light distribution at 25 cm from light CW LED × 3 RB LED × 4 CW LED × 2 T5 FL × 3 54 µmol/m 2 /s 60 W 48 µmol/m 2 /s 52 W 40 µmol/m 2 /s 40 W 54 µmol/m 2 /s 84 W energy effic. 0.9 µmol/m 2 /s per Watt Light intensity

Experiment I: Effect of Light Spectrum on Flowering Light source Duration D/N, hr Light integral mol/m 2 /d Daily Power Consumption kW-hr / d CW×312/ RB×412/ FL×312/ Dark0/2400 Greenhouse13/11> 100 Focus on different Light sources under same light integral

Experiment II : Effect of Lighting Strategy on Flowering Light source Duration D/N, hr Light integral mol/m 2 /d Daily Power Consumption kW-hr / d CW×312/ CW×3-88/ CW×212/ Dark0/2400 Greenhouse13/11> 100 Focus on different Lighting strategy under same light source

White and Red orchid in this experiment  Orchids of two commercial cultivars, white flower Phal. Sogo Yukidian 'V3' red flower Dtps. Jiuh Bao Red Rose 'OX1194',  140 mature orchids in each cultivar 6 leaves leaves span cm grown in 10.5-cm-diameter pots filled with moss

Experiment divided into 3 Stage  flower-forcing (2 months) Greenhouse 25/18ºC, 15,000 lux  Simulating transport (4 weeks) Environmental control chamber 18ºC Different light supplement treatment  Successive growth move to greenhouse again Measure the flower quality at the 7 th week

Successive growth in greenhouse at Tainan, Taiwan

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

Experiment I: Effect of Light Spectrum on Flowering

Effect of Light Spectrum on Flowering of White Orchid Treatment Buds no./plant Flowers no./plant Blossom % Flower Diam. cm CW×35.7 d1.6 bc a RB×45.7 d1.0 cde a FL×35.9 bcd2.1 b a Dark6.5 ab0.5 e a Greenhouse6.4 abc3.6 a a NS FL > CW > RB NS

Effect of Light Spectrum on Flowering of Red Orchid Treatment Buds no./ plant Flowers no./ plant Blossom% Flower Diam. cm CW×37.1 a3.5 b a RB×46.3 c3.8 b a FL×36.3 c3.5 b a Dark6.2 c1.4 d a Greenhouse6.8 a5.6 a a NS

Experiment II : Effect of Lighting Strategy on Flowering

Effect of Lighting Strategy on Flowering of White Orchid Treatment Buds no./plant Flowers no./plant Blossom % Flower Diam. cm CW×35.7 d1.6 bc a CW×26.8 a1.4 cd a CW×3 – cd0.8 de a Dark6.5 ab0.5 e a Greenhouse6.4 abc3.6 a a NS Lighting 12 hr > 8hr

Effect of Lighting Strategy on Flowering of RED Orchid Treatment Buds no./ plant Flowers no./ plant Blossom% Flower Diam. cm CW×37.1 a3.5 b a CW×26.5 bc1.5 d a CW× ab2.9 c a Dark6.2 c1.4 d a Greenhouse6.8 a5.6 a a NS

Power Evaluation of feasibility of light supplyment in Container  Available power in container 9 Roughly calculation total power should be <3.9 kW 3 CW LED per shelf provide light intensity 54 µmol/m 2 /s is enough for lighting supplyment, 60 W × 3 shelves/cart × 33cart/container × 50% light up = 3 kW < 3.9 kW Lighting in Container is feasible

SUMMARY  All lighting treatment is much better than the dark treatment  It is possible to transport spiking orchids by sea in a container with light supplement.  Further study should be required  White orchid Spectrum did not affect buds number and flower diameter On flower number, Cold white (LED or FL) is better than RB  Red orchid Spectrum did not affect flower number and flower diameter On bud number, Cool white LED is better than others

30 Thank you for your kind attention.

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