These findings indicate that whole-plant respiration of rapidly growing plants has a small sensitivity to temperature, and that the sensitivity does not change among the species tested, even after 20 d of treatment. Finally, the results support respiration models that separate respiration into growth and maintenance components.

The productivity of lettuce in a combination of high light, high temperature, and elevated CO2 has not been commonly studied because rapid growth usually causes a calcium deficiency in meristems called tipburn, which greatly reduces quality and marketability. We eliminated tipburn by blowing air directly onto the meristem, which allowed us to increase the photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) to 1000 μmol·m-2·s-1 (57.6 mol·m-2·d-1); two to three times higher than normally used for lettuce. Eliminating tipburn doubled edible yield at the highest PPF level. In addition to high PPF, CO2 was elevated to 1200 μmol·m-2·mol-1, which increased the temperature optimum from 25 to 30 °C. The higher temperature increased leaf expansion rate, which improved radiation capture and more than doubled yield. Photosynthetic efficiency, measured as canopy quantum yield in a whole-plant gas exchange system, steadily increased up to the highest temperature of 32 °C in high CO2. The highest productivity was 19 g·m-2·d-1 of dry biomass (380 g·d-1 fresh mass) averaged over the 23 days the plants received light. Without the limitation of tipburn, the combination of high PPF, high temperature, and elevated CO2 resulted in a 4-fold increase in growth rate over productivity in conventional environments.

The nitrate accumulation in plant tissues can occur due to low light availability. However, published studies have not linked nitrate accumulation to photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) measured during the growing period. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the reduction of photosynthetic photon flux and the concentration of nitrate in the nutrient solution on agronomic characteristics and accumulation of nitrate in lettuce grown in hydroponics. The trial design was entirely randomized in a factorial scheme (4 x 2) with three repetitions, and four shading levels: 0, 30, 50, and 80% and two nitrate levels in nutrient solution: 5 and 10 mmol L-1. The dry matter production decreased directly and linearly with the reduction of light. The lowest level in nitrate solution also led to reduction in dry mass yield. The maximum accumulation of nitrate reached 966.3 mg kg-1 fresh mass, with PPF of 118 μmol/m²/s and 140 mg L-1 of N-NO3-1 (below the maximum levels recommended by the European Union), and the minimum of 200 mg kg-1 with PPF of 455 μmol/m²/s and 70 mg L-1 of N-NO3-1 in the nutrient solution. The reduction of nitrate in the nutrient solution from 140 to 70 mg L-1 led to the reduction of nitrate accumulation in shoots, but also caused a decrease in the production of phytomass of shoots, as well as reduced leaf area significantly.

Effects of the concentration of nutrient solution on lettuce growth in hydroponics-NFT system

Nitrogen compounds and soluble sugars in tissues of organic, hydroponic, and conventional lettuce

The study was conducted in greenhouse at horticulture department of the Instituto Federal do Espírito Santo, Campus Itapina, Colatina, northwestern Espírito Santo state, Brazil, with the objective of evaluating the effect of cooling and electrical conductivity of nutrient solution on growth and development of lettuce cv. Vitória de Santo Antão in hydroponics. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with two factors (control of the maximum temperature of the nutrient solution: 26ºC and without control; and electrical conductivity, EC, of the solution: 1, 2 and 3 dS m-1) with three repetitions. The plants were harvested fifty-two days after sowing (DAS). We evaluated the dry and fresh mass of leaves, stems and roots, stem and root length, root volume and plant water content (%). The temperature of the nutrient solution influenced the behavior of lettuce influenced by the electrical conductivity, showing that the increase of the EC did not reduce the lettuce productivity when the maximum temperature of the nutrient solution is limited, which in this experiment was tested at 26ºC. The cooling of the nutrient solution provided greater accumulation of mass and a higher water percentage in plants, increasing the productivity of hydroponic lettuce in tropical climate.

Protected cultivation has grown in Brazil. Generally, greenhouses are covered with transparent plastic film and shading screen. The plastic, over time, loses its transparency due to pollution residues, dust and other debris. The loss of transparency reduces lightness, photosynthesis and leads to losses of productivity and product quality. The losses are not always detectable by the farmer. Additionally, internal shading screens are used to reduce heating transmission to the ground. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of shading on lettuce crop productivity and to determine the optimum shading to reach the highest productivity. Plots were set up inside and outside the greenhouse, with four shading levels with black screens (0, 35, 50 and 75%). The treatments were converted to real shading from the photosynthetic photon flux measurement. The results of fresh and dry phytomass were treated and analyzed by regression as a function of the real shading. In ambient conditions of photosynthetic photon fluxes around 1000 μmol m-2 s-1, reaching up to 2000 μmol m-2 s-1 at some hours of the day, typical of tropical environment, lettuce may support a shading of up to 50% without risk of productivity reduction; under these conditions, shading between 20 and 35% is beneficial, and can guarantee its maximum productivity in lettuce cultivation. It is recommended that the lettuce producer in protected cultivation monitors the shelf life of the plastic, avoiding that the shading exceeds 50%. In order to compare shading experiments, one should use the incident photon flux (FFI) for the whole crop cycle, indicating the minimum limit value of FFI = 600 mol m-2 cycle-1 for the crispy lettuce at an average temperature close to 21oC.

RESUMO:O uso da tecnologia do cultivo protegido no Brasil, para a produção de hortaliças e plantas ornamentais, passou por diversas fases de adaptação, visando a atender às necessidades de oferta e de qualidade dos produtos, com a preocupação de minimizar os custos de produção e os efeitos negativos do clima. A grande maioria dessas adaptações partiu da iniciativa dos próprios agricultores, utilizando-se de diferentes materiais e de outros artifícios para contornar problemas cotidianos. O experimento foi realizado na área da Faculdade de Engenharia Agrícola/UNICAMP, no período compreendido entre dezembro de 2002 e janeiro de 2003, com o objetivo de avaliar as deformações do sistema construtivo de estrutura de bambu para utilização em casa de vegetação, em diferentes espaçamentos entre colunas e sob diferentes esforços verticais de cargas. Testou-se o uso de vigas e colunas construídas com colmos de bambu da espécie Bambusa tuldoides Munro e estruturadas com espaçadores de plástico, especialmente projetados para facilitar e padronizar a construção, conferindo-lhe maior resistência e estabilidade. Foram avaliados três espaçamentos entre colunas (2,0; 2,5 e 3,0 m) sob diferentes esforços de carga, dos quais o melhor resultado foi obtido com o espaçamento de 2,5 m. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: material alternativo, estufa, cultivo protegido. EVALUATION OF THE BAMBOO STRUCTURE USE AS CONSTRUCTIVE ELEMENT FOR GREENHOUSESABSTRACT: The use of technology to protect and produce vegetables and ornamental plants was developed over several adaptation phases that supported the demand for quality and amount of products. These developments also reduced production costs and climate damage to the crops. Many of these adaptations were carried out by farmers on their own initiative, using different materials and devices to solve their problems. This study was carried out at Agricultural Engineering College -Campinas University/UNICAMP, from December 2002 to January 2003, with the objective of evaluating the deformations of the constructive system of bamboo structure for greenhouses, submitted to different spacing among columns, and different vertical strains. It was tested the use of beams and columns built with bamboo stems from the specie Bambusa tuldoides Munro. The beams and columns were tied together with plastic spacing parts, specially designed to facilitate and standardize the construction of the building, providing more resistance and stability. Three column spaces (2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 m) were evaluated under different load strains. The best result was obtained with a spacing of 2.5 m.