CHARACTERATION OF AIR MOVEMENT PATTERNS AND VELOCITY EFFECIS ON PLANT DEVELOPMENT IN A GROWTH CHAMBER

• Published in: HortScience Vol. 25; no. 9; p. 1151
• Main Authors: Korthals", R.L, Knight, S.L, Christianson, L.L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.1990
• ISSN: 0018-5345; 2327-9834
• DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI.25.9.1151a

Chrysanthemum, wheat, and soybean were grown in a growth chamber to study the effects of airflow direction, velocity, and turbulence on vegetative growth. These three plant species were chosen to examine how plants with different leaf architectures and morphology are influenced by varying air velocity and pattern. A hot wire anemometer accurate to ±0.025 m s -1 and capable of responding to 50 khz turbulent velocity fluctuations was used to characterize the environment in a growth chamber under three different experimental conditions: <0.50 m s -1 horizontal velocity, >1.00 m s -1 horizontal velocity, and <0.50 m s -1 vertical velocity. Plants were grown under the three different treatments for five weeks with plant height, width, stem diameter, and node number, and fresh and dry weights of leaves, stem, and roots determined at three internals throughout each experiment. Tire variation in plant development resulting from the different treatments has practical implications for using ventilation to aid in controlling plant growth and development.