Does anthocyanin manifest under lights?

dfollett · November 18, 2016

Will the blue shoulders (and other areas) show up on to tomato plants with the anthocyanin gene grown indoors under lights, or do they need full sun for it to manifest?

PhilaGardener · November 18, 2016

Probably depends on the spectrum of your bulbs.

I remember that some of the folks experimenting with LEDs here this Spring got a lot of pigmentation in seedlings (you know those threads). I don't know if anyone screened that way and what they saw when those matured (presumably out in the garden).

slugworth · November 18, 2016

my indigo rose was the same indoors as the outdoor plants,so actual sunlight isn't needed.
Full spectrum fluorescent

Worth1 · November 18, 2016

Interesting thought.
I dont want to state the obvious but it may not be obvious to everyone.
Almost all indoor lighting puts out every color of the rainbow expect some of the ones in the IR and UV range.
If it didn't you wouldn't be able to see those colors.
How much of each is another subject.
But I have worked in buildings with construction sites where they used lights and not many of them for lighting.
These lights didn't put out a wide spectrum and you couldn't see some colors to save your life.
It was like being color blind, not good for someone having to splice colored wire as I was.

Where I worked at they started putting in LED lights to replace the older lights.
They had an engineer for everything even changing out a light switch but they didn't ever consider spectrum and wattage on these lights.

My boss ended up with LED tube lights in his office that were high intensity bright daylight.
It was like walking outside in the bright sun.
He had to wear sunglasses, really.

My light bulb went out in my reading lamp in my room.
They replaced it with a 100 watt bright daylight LED light.

I ended up going around looking for lamps in the place for an older bulb to get rid of that darn light.
You couldn't read to save your life.

I knew the maintenance people and asked them about it.
They had no idea about the difference in the lights they were putting in or that you could buy different spectrum lights.
I think my boss had the equivalent of 1000 watts of bright daylight in his office, You could see the light bleeding out into the hallway through the cracks in the doors of all of the offices they did this too.

Worth

slugworth · November 18, 2016

a green indigo rose tomato that fell off when the plant croaked(indoors under lights) turned red only.
When growing outdoors,I had old hunks of mirrors under the plants to help colorize.

Minnesota Mato · November 18, 2016

A black light will help the expression of the genes.

Keen101 · January 4, 2017

I suspect if you have a light (such as LED) that outputs UV light then you will get anthocyanin expression even indoors. But i would like to know if this actually holds true.

Cole_Robbie · January 4, 2017

Unless it's a tanning bulb, or a special light for some pets like reptiles and rabbits that need sunlight, indoor light does not contain UV spectrum, otherwise it would cause cancer.

jmsieglaff · January 10, 2017

Dan,

The 19xF2 micro dwarf I have growing in the basement under lights suggests that antho does express itself. In that post you can see the antho stripes on one small tomato where the lights hit, but non-antho regions beneath the sepal shadows.

http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....&postcount=289

Justin

November 18, 2016	#1
dfollett Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Utah Posts: 693	Does anthocyanin manifest under lights? Will the blue shoulders (and other areas) show up on to tomato plants with the anthocyanin gene grown indoors under lights, or do they need full sun for it to manifest?

November 18, 2016	#2
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Probably depends on the spectrum of your bulbs. I remember that some of the folks experimenting with LEDs here this Spring got a lot of pigmentation in seedlings (you know those threads). I don't know if anyone screened that way and what they saw when those matured (presumably out in the garden).

November 18, 2016	#3
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,152	my indigo rose was the same indoors as the outdoor plants,so actual sunlight isn't needed. Full spectrum fluorescent

November 18, 2016	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Interesting thought. I dont want to state the obvious but it may not be obvious to everyone. Almost all indoor lighting puts out every color of the rainbow expect some of the ones in the IR and UV range. If it didn't you wouldn't be able to see those colors. How much of each is another subject. But I have worked in buildings with construction sites where they used lights and not many of them for lighting. These lights didn't put out a wide spectrum and you couldn't see some colors to save your life. It was like being color blind, not good for someone having to splice colored wire as I was. Where I worked at they started putting in LED lights to replace the older lights. They had an engineer for everything even changing out a light switch but they didn't ever consider spectrum and wattage on these lights. My boss ended up with LED tube lights in his office that were high intensity bright daylight. It was like walking outside in the bright sun. He had to wear sunglasses, really. My light bulb went out in my reading lamp in my room. They replaced it with a 100 watt bright daylight LED light. I ended up going around looking for lamps in the place for an older bulb to get rid of that darn light. You couldn't read to save your life. I knew the maintenance people and asked them about it. They had no idea about the difference in the lights they were putting in or that you could buy different spectrum lights. I think my boss had the equivalent of 1000 watts of bright daylight in his office, You could see the light bleeding out into the hallway through the cracks in the doors of all of the offices they did this too. Worth

November 18, 2016	#6
Minnesota Mato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: minnesota Posts: 175	A black light will help the expression of the genes.

January 4, 2017	#7
Keen101 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Colorado Posts: 134	I suspect if you have a light (such as LED) that outputs UV light then you will get anthocyanin expression even indoors. But i would like to know if this actually holds true.

January 4, 2017	#8
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Unless it's a tanning bulb, or a special light for some pets like reptiles and rabbits that need sunlight, indoor light does not contain UV spectrum, otherwise it would cause cancer.

January 10, 2017	#9
jmsieglaff Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Southern WI Posts: 2,742	Dan, The 19xF2 micro dwarf I have growing in the basement under lights suggests that antho does express itself. In that post you can see the antho stripes on one small tomato where the lights hit, but non-antho regions beneath the sepal shadows. http://www.tomatoville.com/showpost....&postcount=289 Justin