Location: Application Technology Research
Project Number: 5082-21000-001-108-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2025
Objective:
This project will research optimizing crop production while reducing energy use through improved lighting and greenhouse control systems. It will focus on improving growth and flowering during the liner/plug stage of floriculture crops. The two main objectives include: 1) Determine the crop quality and energy savings impacts of advanced plant lighting control strategies and 2) Test these new strategies at three commercial greenhouse floriculture operations as compared to their baseline lighting control strategies.
Approach:
The cooperator has developed a new lighting and shading system through a consortium. It operates on a one-hour time step, uses on/off control, and uses a trajectory approach to predict if supplemental lighting or shading is required to reach a daily light integral (DLI) target..
Three species of seed or vegetatively propagated annual bedding plants (e.g., petunia, impatiens, pansy, geranium, or other popular species identified by commercial propagators) will be grown utilizing the system. Control plants will be grown under a time-clock approach targeting the same average DLI. The number of days to reach acceptable transplanting size (and cumulative DLI) will be recorded. Data will be recorded on shoot and root fresh and dry weight, height, branch number, and flower bud number. Estimated energy use for supplemental lighting will also be recorded. Plants will be transplanted and grown in a common finishing environment. Days until flowering and growth data will be collected when plants reach commercial finishing size. In the second objective we will work with three commercial greenhouse producers of young plants and the new test system will be installed Control lighting zones will use status quo controls (whatever method the operation currently uses). Data will be collected on achieved DLI, estimated energy use, and quality and crop cycle observations from the commercial producers.
