Modeling purple basil, sage, spearmint, and sweet basil responses to daily light integral and mean daily temperature

Mean daily temperature (MDT) and daily light integral (DLI) can interact to influence growth and development of plants. Our objectives were to determine 1) the extent DLI and MDT influence growth and development of purple basil ‘Dark Opal’ (Ocimum basilicum), sage ‘Extrakta’ (Salvia officinalis), spearmint ‘Spanish’ (Mentha spicata), and sweet basil ‘Nufar’ (Ocimum basilicum) and 2) the influence on purple basil color. Young plants were transplanted into hydroponic systems in five greenhouse compartments with MDT set points of 23, 26, 29, 32, or 35°C and DLIs from 5 to 19 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1), respectively. At harvest, growth, development, and leaf color was measured. Branch number of all genera increased as MDT increased from ~23 to 35°C. Sweet basil branch number increased as DLI increased from 5.5 to 13.2 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1), but the effect of DLI was attenuated as MDT decreased. In contrast, increasing DLI from ~5–6 to ~18–19 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1) increased sage and spearmint branch number more when MDT was lower (~23°C) compared to ~35°C, while branch number of purple basil was not influenced by DLI. The optimal MDT (MDT(opt)) for sage and spearmint fresh mass decreased from 27.5 to 23.5°C and from 30.4 to 27.8°C, respectively, as DLI increased from 6 to 18 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1), while sweet basil fresh mass MDT(opt) increased from 32.6 to 35.5°C as DLI increased from 6 to 11 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1). Purple basil was greener [hue angle (h°) = 99° to 138°] when MDT was ~35°C regardless of DLI, but when MDT was lower (~25°C), basil was more purple (h° = 335°) at a DLI of 18.7 compared to 5.0 mol·m(‒2)·d(‒1) (h° = 98°). Taken together, MDT and DLI can have a large impact on plant growth, development, and color and can be manipulated to achieve desired characteristics.