Most ornamental flowers are grown as annuals. The whole crop is harvested at once – e.g. poinsettias and petunias. Some other flower crops such as roses or gerberas may be harvested multiple times during the crop cycle. Ornamental flowers is that they are typically grown as a single layer in greenhouses, hoop-houses and indoor farms. Flower growers also use hanging baskets (about a couple of feet below the truss) in greenhouses in addition to crops grown on the floor or tables, a type of a two-layer growing system. Ornamental flowers are commonly grown on substrates. For irrigation and fertigation, flower growers use automated fertigation using booms or hand watering.
by Tharindu Weeraratne
Ornamental flowers are primarily grown in greenhouses from plugs to harvest. Some growers also germinate and raise plugs in germination/growth chambers with lighting. I’ve heard from growers about hot/cold corners in the greenhouse and how they affect young and mature plants in monoculture and multi-cropping. This information usually comes from their feel not necessarily by measurement. Imagine the gradients and variations in the environment if they are measured. These microclimates affect plants silently. I’ve worked with growers in the past and noticed how high summer temperatures, if not controlled, could shrink plug production with uneven plug establishment even in highlight loving pansies in greenhouses. Multi-location environmental sensing at the plant level is much needed in these situations to adjust the environment accordingly and to place the suitable plants in certain locations of the greenhouse. This information is also very useful for plant growth regulator (PGR) applications – for planning and selecting the plants/areas that need PGR applications rather than non-selective sprays. Same applies to controlling pests and diseases.
When another plant layer like hanging baskets are added, it creates additional microclimates as the baskets cut light to certain plants during certain times of the day and changes all other environmental factors as well. Now, not only the environment at the plant level changes, it also affects the greenhouse energy, water and CO2 balance as the hanging baskets are kept much closer to the greenhouse trusses and shade screens. This shows how important is to measure the environment at the basket level to apply necessary changes to the greenhouse environment controls. As I mentioned above, timing and quality is key for ornamental plants. Comprehensive knowledge of the 3-D distribution of the climate is invaluable for the growers to bring the maximum from their crops.
Growers have their own challenges around input costs, labor, regulations, financials, etc. Taking the guesswork out of the growing equation will help them to focus on the business. That could only be achieved by measuring the growing operation, inputs, environment, plant, crop handling, and so on. By the way, measuring applies to business as well. Distributed sensing will help growers to discover a lot of unknowns in their grows and enable them to implement new strategies to bring the best of the crop genetics.
The moment growers understand inconsistencies in the environment, they can act on them accordingly to bring the plants affected to max production - little things add up very fast! With most of us locked-down with little access to the grow facilities, imagine if you had multiple sensors in your growing operation with online access – I am going to say it’s even better than you as grower visiting the greenhouse to ‘feel’ everything is ok with the environment because now we work with numbers, not gut feel.
If you’re looking for a way to understand the microclimate in your growing area take a look at the Folium sensor network.