Abstract
Continuous lighting (CL) has the potential to increase crop yield in greenhouse production. Tomato plants, however, when exposed to CL develop inter-vascular chlorosis, a leaf injury which causes a reduction in chlorophyll content and necrosis. The application of biochar can reduce physiological stress in plants, we examine if biochar also reduces necrosis in tomatoes when grown under CL. Faecal sludge biochar was applied to an acidic soil to examine plant growth and yield in Micro-Tom tomato plants grown under continuous light. We examined soil and plant growth properties of three soil application treatments: a control soil, biochar treatment (4%w/w) (Biochar), and a combined biochar (2% w/w) and fertilizer (2% w/w) treatment (Biochar + Fert). Faecal sludge biochar addition produced plant heights 216% greater than control and above ground biomass 583% greater than control. The biochar and fertilizer treatment group produced a 487% increase in leaf number compared to biochar. The combined biochar and fertilizer treatment produced a 398% increase in dried above ground biomass and a 177% increase in dried fruit yield compared with biochar. Plants in the biochar and fertilizer treatment group showed less visual evidence of continuous light induced leaf injury.Biochar addition did not limit continuous light induced leaf chlorosis whereas combined biochar and fertilizer treatment resulted in a significant reduction in leaf injury and death. Overall, the application of biochar and biochar and fertilizer combined increased crop yield. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42729-024-02003-5.