Identification and Classification of Indoor Plants According to Light Intensity Requirements for Botanical IoT Application

This study aimed to provide information to urban plant growers on the best light requirement for indoor plants. Chlorophyll fluorescence analysis was used to determine the photosynthetic activity of indoor plants as affected by light intensity. Determination of the light intensity requirement for each plant was done by applying the Bayesian Michaelis-Menten equation which was obtained using the Lineweaver-Burk plot. The Vmax and Km values were determined, where the photosynthetic activity measured as electron transport rate (ETR) was denoted as Vmax and light intensity (photosynthetically active radiation, PAR) of ½ maximum ETR was designated as Km. The ETR of 93 indoor plant species were determined and Vmax/2 and Km values of each plant were calculated which resulted in seven levels of light intensity. The levels are as follows: Level 1 - more than the Km value; Levels 2 to 7 were determined using the formula: maximum Km value of the level = Km( ½ ) n-1 where n refers to the level (i.e. n2 = level 2, …7). The best is level 1 while the most sub-optimal is level 7. The different plants have a wide range of light intensity requirements. Majority of the plants (70) had ½ maximum ETR at 20 up to less than 100 μmol m -2 s -1 PAR, while 13 plants at 100 to 149 μmol m -2 s -1 and only 10 plants at 150 up to 290 μmol m -2 s -1 . The indoor plants can be classified according to light intensity requirement: low light intensity, e.g. Dracaena sanderiana ‘Gold’ (20.9); moderate light intensity, e.g. Cyclamen persicum (99.1); and high light intensity, Polyscias fruticosa (290.2 μmol·m -2 ·s -1 ). The data generated from this study can be utilized in IoT to make the information on plant cultivation and environmental conditions accessible to urban growers who use smartphones.