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The effects of photoperiod and the difference between day temperature (DT) and night temperature (NT) (DIF) on stem elongation in Verbena bonariensis L. (tall verbena) were investigated. Plants were exposed to nine treatment combinations of -10, 0, or 10 °C DIF and 8-, 12-, or 16-hour photoperiods. Stem elongation was measured and analyzed by a noncontact computer-vision-based system. Total daily elongation increased as DIF increased; it also increased as photoperiod increased under positive DIF (DT > NT) and zero DIF (DT = NT), but not under negative DIF. Under positive DIF, daily elongation was 90% greater under the 16-hour photoperiod than under the 8-hour photoperiod. DIF affected elongation rate during the daily light span but not during the daily dark span. Total light-span elongation increased as DIF or photoperiod increased. Total dark-span elongation was not influenced by DIF or photoperiod. Elongation rates per hour in the light and dark were not significantly affected by photoperiod but increased in the light as DIF increased. Therefore, for a particular DIF, total elongation during 16-hour photoperiods (long days) was greater than that under 8-hour photoperiods (short days) because there were more hours of light under long days.
A computer vision system for noncontact growth analysis was developed. Front and side images of a plant were captured simultaneously using a mirror system and CCD camera and were magnetically stored on a magneto-optical disk. Images acquired at night were obtained by irradiating plants with incandescent light filtered to wavelengths of 850 nm and greater. Images were automatically captured and saved every 12 minutes. After images were collected, outlines of plant shape were extracted from stored images, a three-dimensional center line of the plant was extracted from the outline, and the elongation rate was computed. The outline extraction algorithm was modified to improve spatial resolution of images, and the thinning algorithm created a representative line of the plant by calculating a center line of the stem so the three-dimensional length could be calculated. Results of growth analysis on Verbena bonariensis L. plants grown under three photoperiods (8, 12, and 16 hours) and three day/night air-temperature combinations (15/25, 20/20, and 25/15) will be presented.
A model was constructed to predict shoot-tip temperature of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch) according to an energy-balance equation by using five greenhouse environmental factors: dry-bulb, wet-bulb, and sky (glazing or shade screen) temperature; transmitted shortwave radiation; and air velocity. An experiment was conducted to collect the five environmental variables that were used as model inputs, and shoot-tip temperature data were used to validate the predicted shoot-tip temperature in a commercial greenhouse. The standard deviation of the difference between predicted and measured shoot-tip temperature was 0.798 and was calculated by using 8547 data points, and >84% of the actual and predicted data points were within 1 °C. A sensitivity analysis performed with the model indicated that, among the three temperatures measured, plant shoot-tip temperature was primarily influenced by the dry-bulb temperature. For example, shoot-tip temperature increased an average of 0.74 °C for every 1 °C increase in dry-bulb temperature when dry-bulb temperature varied from 28 to 42 °C, wet-bulb temperature was 27.8 °C, sky temperature was 39.8 °C, shortwave radiation (285 to 2800 nm) was 760 W·m-2, and air velocity was 0.44 m·s-1. Under these conditions and a dry-bulb temperature of 32.6 °C, an increase in shortwave radiation of 500 W·m-2 increased the shoot-tip temperature by an average of 3.3 °C. This developed model may be a useful tool to predict shoot-tip temperature and evaluate the effect of greenhouse environmental factors on shoot-tip temperature.
Medium-surface temperature of black, gray, and white plug sheets was measured with thermocouples and an infrared camera. During the night, there were no medium-surface temperature differences between the plug flats; however, medium-surface temperature was 2 to 3 °C below air temperature. Medium-surface temperature increased as solar radiation (280 to 3000 nm) increased. About 80 W of solar radiation/m2 was incident on the plug-flat surface before medium-surface temperature equaled air temperature. Medium-surface temperature in the black, gray, and white flats was 6.3, 6.1, and 5.3 °C above air temperature, respectively, when 300 W of solar radiation/m2 (30% of the maximum solar radiation during the summer) was incident on the medium surface. Thus, incident solar radiation has a greater effect on medium surface temperature than plug-flat color.
Surface temperature of a soilless medium in white, gray, and black plug sheets was measured to determine the value of using plug sheets of different colors to control soil temperature during seed germination and young seedling growth. Plugs sheets were placed in a greenhouse set at 25°C. Soil surface temperatures were measured with fine-wire thermocouples inserted into the top 1 mm of the soil. A thermal image analyzer was used to determine the temperature variation across the plug flat. At night, soil temperature in all three colored flats was 3°C below air temperature because of evaporation and net longwave radiative losses to the greenhouse glass. Surface temperature of moist soil increased as solar radiation increased. Soil surface temperature in the white sheet was 6.3 and 10°C warmer than the air under solar radiation conditions of 350 and 700 W ·m-2 (about 700 and 1400 μmol·m-2·s-1), which was 3 and 2°C cooler than soil the black and gray plug sheets, respectively. These data indicate plug sheet color influences soil surface temperature, but not as much as solar radiation does. Preventing high solar radiation during the summer is more critical than plug sheet color.
Many greenhouse growers have installed retractable energy curtains to reduce energy losses and heating costs. We performed experiments to quantify the effect of retractable nighttime curtains on plant shoot-tip temperature of New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri Bull.) grown in glass-glazed greenhouses during winter. Plants were grown in separate greenhouses under different curtain materials and the following measurements were collected: plant shoot tip, aerial wet and dry bulb, and cover (glazing and superstructure or curtain) temperature; net canopy radiation (250 to 60,000 nm); transmitted shortwave radiation (SWR; 300 to 3,000 nm); and air velocity. At night, plants under an extended curtain had a higher (by 0.5 to 2.3 °C) shoot-tip temperature and the net longwave radiation (LWRnet; 3,000 to 100,000 nm) was 70% to 125% greater than plants without a curtain. Shoot-tip temperature was 0.2 to 0.6 °C lower under a shading curtain with open-weave construction (high air permeability) compared with closed-weave constructed curtains (e.g., blackout). As cover temperature decreased from 21 to 12 °C, measured shoot-tip temperature and LWRnet decreased by a mean of 3.0 °C and 39.1 W·m−2, respectively. Under a vapor pressure deficit (VPD) of 0.4 to 0.9 kPa, plant shoot-tip temperature was a mean of 1.0 °C closer to dry-bulb temperature compared with plants under a VPD of 1.4 to 1.8 kPa as a result of decreased transpiration. During the day, shoot-tip temperature was 1.2 °C lower than dry-bulb temperature when transmitted SWR was less than 100 W·m−2 and on average 1.6 °C higher than the dry-bulb temperature when SWR was more than 100 W·m−2. Therefore, in addition to reducing greenhouse heating costs, a curtain extended at night over a crop of New Guinea impatiens could increase plant shoot-tip temperature and accelerate development.