Effect of Linearly Polarized Light on the Dynamics of Maize Plants Development

Abstract

While there are many works in the literature that study the effect of such light parameters as wavelength, intensity, photoperiod on plants growth, very little attention is payed to parameter of light polarization. Nevertheless, this light characteristic, as shown in some studies, can have a significant effect on plant development. In most of these studies, the authors note the positive effect of light which is circularly polarized. In one of our previous studies, we showed that maize plants develop better under white linearly polarized light than under non-polarized. In current work, we investigated the effect of linearly polarized light of white, red, green and blue spectral ranges on the dynamics of maize plant development of the Rannyaya Lakomka and Kubansky Sakharny varieties during the week. The results showed that the highest growth rates of maize plants of both varieties relative to non-polarized light treatment were demonstrated by plants grown under green and blue light. Under white light, this effect was less significant, and under red light it was not observed.