Articles
Effects of the increase of ventilation surface area on the microclimate and yield of a tomato crop in Mediterranean greenhouses
Article number
1296_23
Pages
177 – 184
Language
English
Abstract
The present work analyses the effect of the increase of side openings’ surface area on inside climate and on tomato crop production in two Mediterranean greenhouses in Spain.
Greenhouses in warm regions do not provide enough ventilation surface to guarantee correct ventilation under low-wind conditions.
The average value of ventilation surface in Almería greenhouses is 14.4%. A three-spans greenhouse (with a floor area of Sc=1080 m2) and a five-span Almería-type greenhouse with a structure in raspa y amagado (Sc=1922 m2) were divided by a polyethylene sheet in two similar sectors.
The western sectors were equipped with standard roof and side openings, providing ventilation surface areas of 16.8 and 9.6% (in relation to the floor area) for the multispan and Almería greenhouses, respectively.
In the eastern sectors of both greenhouses, the surface of side openings was increased with a new window 3.3 m high (instead of 1 m for the standard) in the multispan greenhouse, and using an additional side opening in the Almería-type.
In this way, ventilation surface area reached 33.8 and 15.3% of cultivated area for the multispan and Almería greenhouses, respectively.
A first spring-summer crop (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill ‘Marenza’) was grown in the multispan greenhouse from 2017/5/4 to 2017/8/2. A second long cycle tomato crop ‘Ventero’ was grown in both greenhouses from 2017/9/11 to 2018/4/10. As consequence of the increase of side ventilation surface, reductions of maximum inside air temperatures of 1.4-2.5°C were observed.
Tomato yield increased in the eastern sectors of both greenhouses.
In the multispan greenhouse, production improved 8.3% (from 4.8 to 5.2 kg m‑2) for the spring-summer crop and 4.3% for the long cycle crop (from 16.0 to 16.7 kg m‑2). In the Almería greenhouse, production augmented from 16.7 to 17.6 kg m‑2 (5.4%) when the area of side vents was enlarged.
Greenhouses in warm regions do not provide enough ventilation surface to guarantee correct ventilation under low-wind conditions.
The average value of ventilation surface in Almería greenhouses is 14.4%. A three-spans greenhouse (with a floor area of Sc=1080 m2) and a five-span Almería-type greenhouse with a structure in raspa y amagado (Sc=1922 m2) were divided by a polyethylene sheet in two similar sectors.
The western sectors were equipped with standard roof and side openings, providing ventilation surface areas of 16.8 and 9.6% (in relation to the floor area) for the multispan and Almería greenhouses, respectively.
In the eastern sectors of both greenhouses, the surface of side openings was increased with a new window 3.3 m high (instead of 1 m for the standard) in the multispan greenhouse, and using an additional side opening in the Almería-type.
In this way, ventilation surface area reached 33.8 and 15.3% of cultivated area for the multispan and Almería greenhouses, respectively.
A first spring-summer crop (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill ‘Marenza’) was grown in the multispan greenhouse from 2017/5/4 to 2017/8/2. A second long cycle tomato crop ‘Ventero’ was grown in both greenhouses from 2017/9/11 to 2018/4/10. As consequence of the increase of side ventilation surface, reductions of maximum inside air temperatures of 1.4-2.5°C were observed.
Tomato yield increased in the eastern sectors of both greenhouses.
In the multispan greenhouse, production improved 8.3% (from 4.8 to 5.2 kg m‑2) for the spring-summer crop and 4.3% for the long cycle crop (from 16.0 to 16.7 kg m‑2). In the Almería greenhouse, production augmented from 16.7 to 17.6 kg m‑2 (5.4%) when the area of side vents was enlarged.
Publication
Authors
F.D. Molina-Aiz, D.L. Valera, A. López, M.A. Moreno, P. Marín, M. García-Valverde
Keywords
greenhouse, ventilation, temperature, tomato, yield
Groups involved
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Working Group Organic Greenhouse Horticulture
- Working Group Protected Cultivation, Nettings and Screens for Mild Climates
- Working Group Light in Horticulture
- Working Group Vegetable Grafting
- Working Group Computational Fluid Dynamics in Agriculture
- Working Group Mechanization, Digitization, Sensing and Robotics
- Working Group Modelling Plant Growth, Environmental Control, Greenhouse Environment
- Working Group Greenhouse Environment and Climate Control
- Working Group Design and Automation in Integrated Indoor Production Systems
- Commission Agroecology and Organic Farming Systems
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
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