Vegetative growth and flowering of salvia splendens ‘Salsa’ in response to night interruption

This research was conducted to examine the effects of night interruption (NI) at different times on vegetative growth and flowering in Salvia splendens ‘Salsa’. Plants were grown in a growth chamber under 9-h photoperiod (short-day, SD) or 9-h photoperiod plus NI with light intensity at 3^-5 μmol･m^-2 ･s^-1 photosynthetic photon flux. The NI was applied at 18:00-22:00 HR (NI18), 22:00-02:00 HR (NI22), or 02:00-06:00 HR (NI02). The net photosynthetic rate under NI18, NI22, and NI02 increased by 0.33, 0.16, and 0.13 μmol･CO²･m^-2 ･s^-1 , respectively, during the NI period. Dry weight, plant height, and the number of nodes under NI were not significantly different from those of the plants under SD. However, flowering was earlier by approximately 9.8 days, and the number of flowers increased to 138.7 in NI0₂ compared to 36.4 flowers under SD at 17 weeks after the treatment. Our results indicate that NI0₂ was the most effective treatment in promoting flowering. Although vegetative growth of salvia was not increased in response to the increased net photosynthesis, flowering was promoted. Under NI18, NI22, and NI02 treatments, 77.8, 88.9, and 100.0% of salvia plants flowered within 8 weeks, whereas 44.4% of the plants flowered within the same time under SD conditions.