Circadian-optimized lighting protocols for vertical and urban glasshouse farming

Overview

This solution offers a circadian-informed approach to artificial lighting for vertical farms and urban glasshouses. The core insight is that plant productivity depends not only on total light quantity but on the pattern of light delivery. Constant or binary on/off lighting regimes can disrupt plant circadian clocks, reducing biomass and delaying flowering. By replacing binary lighting with ramped light regimes that mimic natural dawn-to-dusk transitions, growers can restore normal circadian regulation and improve yields.

The research underlying this approach has shown that Arabidopsis plants grown under dynamically changing light-dark cycles produce more biomass than those receiving the same total light under standard static regimes. Field experiments have further demonstrated that urban-level artificial lighting impairs biomass and flowering, while ramped lighting restores these traits toward normal levels. The work is now being extended to Brassica napus, an important oilseed crop, to validate broader agricultural relevance.

Technical specifications

• Circadian-aware lighting regimes that replace constant or binary on/off illumination with dawn-to-dusk light ramps
• Field-validated methodology showing that ramped artificial lighting reduces biomass loss and restores normal flowering compared to binary lighting at urban light intensities
• Tested under realistic conditions using light levels equivalent to street and security lighting, simulating urban pollution scenarios
• Species-validated framework initially proven in Arabidopsis and now being adapted for Brassica napus yield and flowering trials
• Replicable experimental setup developed in collaboration with a crop-science partner for measuring growth and yield outcomes

Technology readiness level

The approach is currently at an early-to-mid stage of validation. Laboratory and field proof-of-concept studies have been completed in Arabidopsis, demonstrating measurable improvements in biomass and flowering under ramped versus binary lighting. The next phase involves repeating these experiments in Brassica napus under both indoor glasshouse and natural field conditions to confirm transferability to crop species. Commercial deployment in vertical or urban farming operations would follow successful crop-scale validation.