Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (Ccfl): Revolutionary Light Source For Plant Micropropagation

Cold cathode fluorescent lamps or CCFLs are widely used in electro-domestic products, and for the first time ever, in this study, they have been applied to the in vitro culture of a plant, in this case, a difficult-to-propagate ornamental hybrid Cymbidum Forest Garden '#6', which is also one of the most popular polled orchids in Japan. The red (R): blue (B) ratios could be manipulated in CCFLs, and the ideal and most effective R:B ratio was R80%+B20%, giving rise to highest mean plant fresh weight and plant height. Moreover three different designs and forms of the CCFL were as effective or superior to conventional heat fluorescent lamps, or HFLs. This preliminary data sheds hope for a novel lighting system to substitute conventional HFLs in plant micropropagation due to its unique properties: longer life and lower energy consumption, small diameter, low heat generation, and the possibility of controlling the R:B ratio, something which is impossible to achieve in HFLs.