Additional lighting is required to cultivate crops in northern latitudes and in greenhouse conditions. In the present study, the effect of two light-emitting diode sources on the growth and yield of the spring wheat cv. Zlata was studied. Plants were cultivated under complete isolation from sunlight. We employed two light spectra established by commercially available LED lamps, provided by UnieL, China (prevalence of red light), and Agroaspect, Russia (prevalence of blue light). The growth conditions, including the temperature, humidity, watering, fertilization and length of the photoperiod, were the same for all plants.

Cultivation under red light resulted in faster plant development, earlier heading, flowering and ripening of cv. Zlata. Under blue light, the time from sowing to harvesting was 107 days, while the application of the red spectral range reduced the growth time to 79 days. This led to a 2-fold decrease in the number of ears per plant, a shortening of the flag leaf and a 2-fold decrease in the total number of seeds per plant. Under blue light, the average weight of 1000 seeds of cv. Zlata was 41.75 g, and the protein content reached 17.65%. In contrast, plant growing under red light led to a decrease in the average seed weight to 30.1 g, and the protein content reduced to 16.75%.

Although the red spectral range leads to a decrease in the yield and quality of wheat seeds, this technical approach makes it possible to shorten the growth time and achieve four cycles of growing wheat plants per year in well-controlled installations. The use of the blue spectral range can be used for the production of sufficient number of high-quality seeds to speed up wheat breeding.