Abstract:With different color plastic films as shading materials, this paper studied the effects of shading light quality at seedling stage on the growth and photosynthesis of ginger. The results showed that shading with green or blue film induced the greatest chlorophyll content in ginger leaves, followed by shading with white film, and red film. In parallel, the photosynthetic rate under green film-shading was the highest, being 14.9 μmol·m-2·s-1 in the 4th leaves, which was 5.7%, 10.4%, and 18.3% higher than that under white, red, and blue film-shading, respectively. After removing the films at vigorous growth stage, the photosynthetic rate became larger, and its change pattern in different shading treatments was similar to that at seedling stage. No significant differences in the chlorophyll content of young leaves were observed among the shading treatments, except the low chlorophyll content under red film-shading. In contrast, the chlorophyll content in low position leaves under blue and red filmshading was lower than that under green and white filmshading. In the whole growth period, the plants under blue film-shading were higher in height and with thinner stem and lesser shoot, compared with those shaded with other color films. The fresh mass of root, stem, leaf, and rhizome decreased in the order of green, white, red, and blue film-shading, and the yields at harvesting stage were 57 000, 53 709, 51 487, and 48 712 kg·hm-2, respectively, illustrating that shading with green film at seedling stage could increase the leaf photosynthesis, plant growth, and yield of ginger.