Seasonal Variation of Photosynthetic Efficiency of Greenhouse Tomato Plants

Yield of greenhouse tomatoes has greatly increased during the past decade due to the development of more-productive cultivars and to the use of new technologies, such as supplemental lighting and CO 2 enrichment. Under high PPF and p[CO 2 ] , however, the capacity of tomato plants to use supplemental energy and CO 2 decreases. Our project aimed at determining the limits of photosynthetic capacity of tomato plants under supplemental lighting (HPS lamps, 100 μmol·m –2 ·s –1 , photoperiod of 14 to 17 h) and high p[CO 2 ] (900 ppm). The following measurements were made on the 5th and the 10th leaves of tomato plants at regular intervals from November to May: diurnal changes in net (P n ) and maximum (P max ) photosynthetic rate, Chl a fluorescence of dark-adapted and no dark-adapted leaves, and the soluble sugars and starch contents of the 5th and 10th leaves. Changes in global radiation from 250 W/m 2 in winter to about 850 W/m 2 in spring resulted in P n increases of 45% and 42% in the 5th and 10th leaves, respectively. During the winter period, P max was higher than P n , suggesting that leaves were not at maximum photosynthetic capacity. In the spring, no difference was found between P max and P n . Sucrose concentration in leaves increased progressively up to a maximum of 12-h photoperiod, while hexoses remained constant. The Fv/Fm ratio did not vary during winter, but significantly decreased during spring due to photoinhibition. Increases in global radiation during spring resulted in lower photosynthetic rates, higher fluorescence, and starch accumulation in leaves. Data will be discussed in terms of crop efficiency and yield.