How Temperature Control Affects the Quality of Greenhouse Plants

By Brian D. Sparks|January 12, 2023

The GLASE consortium’s 2023 Virtual Climate Controls Short Course, which consists of six two-hour modules presented over six weeks in January and February, is an educational series designed to delve into all aspects of climate controls in greenhouses and indoor farms. By the end of this virtual course, participants will be able to make informed decisions about selecting and using climate controls in their growing operations.

The second module, “Temperature Control Systems,” takes place on Thursday, Jan. 26. Temperature affects numerous crop quality attributes, including growth rate, plant development, and plant extension. Controlling the temperature of a greenhouse or indoor farm can also be a major factor in facility energy costs. Learn how efficient temperature sensors and controls can improve crop production and reduce operation costs.

The two presentations will focus on:

Temperature control basics and plant responses, presented by Kellie Walters of the University of Tennessee
Climate control at Plenty, presented by Adam Tripp and Eli Weissman at Plenty. Plenty is a vertical farming company that strives to maintain optimal climate conditions in its research and scaled production farms to aggressively optimize production yield and quality. The truly vertical farm tower systems come with major advantages in terms of climate regulation. Plenty monitors temperature, humidity, and CO₂ in several locations throughout grow planes. This information empowers growers and researchers to better understand the overall farm state as well as the individual plant experience. Data streams like this are processed in near real-time to allow for grower decisioning and action. None of this would be possible without a data management software system to tightly schedule and control the environment, record sensor data, transform it with other meaningful metadata and calculations, and display it in a timely manner upon which the grower/researcher can act.

Click here to register for the virtual short course.