Effect of Root-zone Local Cooling on Seedling Growth of Tomato

Abstract

The effect of root-zone local cooling on seedling growth of tomato was investigated. Lower pipe cooling was used for local cooling of the root zone, and the root zone temperature was set at 20 and 25°C. There was no difference in plant height, root length, and leaf number according to local cooling temperature. Leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, and chlorophyll content of the shoot and root was higher in the 25°C than those of 20°C at 28 DAS. These results showed that cooling for seedling growth of tomato 25°C is sufficient considering energy efficiency. This study will be helpful in the development of local cooling technology that can reduce the energy required for cooling during the production of tomato seedlings in the high temperature season.