Can plants be 'tricked' into thinking that time is passing more rapidly...?

Question

Suppose you provide some fruit or vegetable plants with sunlamps to provide sufficient light and fertilize the soil to provide sufficient nutrients.

BUT-- cycle the lights on and off on a faster schedule than 24 hours. Say, a 6 hour day/6 hour night, giving them all the light and nutrients in 12 hours they'd get in an ordinary 24 hour cycle.

Can we get plants to 'accelerate' their growth/ growing season...? Plants don't need to 'sleep', do they...?

I imagine they might only produce stunted or dwarf fruits or vegetables, but how much could we speed up their growth? Shorten the growing season...? Anybody know of any research on this?

If this isn't clear, ask and I'll provide more details.

Please, serious answers only! thanks!

Answer 1

I don't think that plants have circadian rhythm so just leave the sun lamps on them all the time and they should grow much more rapidly than if they were just left to their own devices.

Answer 2

I don't know about that, but I do know that plants grow faster in northern climates where they have sunlight nearly all day and night. When I worked at a school, we had plants in the library and the ones that were under the safety lights that never went out grew much faster than the ones that only got sunlight or the lights that were on during the school day. Sounds like a great experiment. Some plants with multiple short days, some plants with light 24/7, and some as control with natural sunlight.

Answer 3

Ask any grower of Marijuana and they'll tell you of course you can speed up a plants growth by exposing it to more light and nutrients. However plants do need to sleep. It is a complex process which is why there are hydroponic stores set up with a wide variety of lights and timers.