FUKUOKA, Jul. 25 – In Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture, you’ll see this open field of chrysanthemum plants aglow at night.
Motoyuki Inoue, vice chairman of the flower business committee of a local agricultural cooperative in Fukuoka (JA Itoshima), has 80-are outdoor light-culture chrysanthemum beds and 37-are greenhouses. In the greenhouses, he grows chrysanthemums twice a year. The 55-year-old man currently lights the plants with red light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and orange fluorescent lamps from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
The chrysanthemum is a short-day plant that flowers when the day is shorter than the night. So, the artificial lighting can make the plants develop buds late and bloom at the right time for shipment in mid-August for the Bon holidays or in late September for the autumn equinoctial week. It depends on varieties, but chrysanthemums generally flower approximately two months after he stops lighting.
“I’ve been taking care of them very carefully, and they are excellent as usual,” Inoue said proudly. (Hiroyuki Koda)
Inoue’s chrysanthemum beds glow in red and orange (in Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture)