Development and biological testing of the laboratory phytotron with possibility of varying the emission spectra and the daily exposure

A compact laboratory phytotron with programmable LED light source has been designed and tested to study the influence of physical factors on plants. The instrument is aimed on getting reproducible results for plant study in wide range of the PPF from 10-600 micro mol/(m2s) with possibility to change the daily exposure time and light spectrum from monochromatic, red or blue, or to nearly white. Its main aim is to standardize growth conditions and development of plants, to use than as reproducible samples for biophysical studies. The method of absolute measurement of PPF has been developed using light measurement by integrating sphere. The effect of emission spectrum and daily exposure has been shown on the light-sensitive pigments content in Chlorophytum comosum maculatum and Avena sativa by measuring with optical spectrometer. Spectrum providing maximal absorption by chlorophyll has been used in experiments, as the most suitable for plant growth.