Articles
THE EFFECT OF CO2 ENRICHMENT IN GREENHOUSE ENVIRONMENT ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO PLANTS
Agrotechnical measures as well as proper soil substrates, control of light conditions, optimal temperature and humidity of substrates and of the air in the greenhouse enable the shortening or lengthning of the vegetation period and may retard or force the flowering and fruiting of plants.
The basic activity of all green plants is photosynthesis.
As the only natural process of binding the radiant energy and converting it into the chemical one, it is decisive for the growth of plants.
The modification of such factors as temperature, intensity of the photosynthetically active radiation, and the concentration of CO2, is necessary if an increase in the photosynthetic production of the assimilation organs is the aim.
Greenhouse techniques make possible the optimal modification of the above-mentioned factors.
A number of Polish and foreign workers [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10] investigated the problem of one of these factors: the CO2 enrichment.
Using various methods of obtaining and distributing CO2, a significant increase in early and total yield was noted in all experiments with greenhouse tomatoes.
Many authors [1, 4, 9] also stress lower effectiveness of the CO2 enrichment in autumn cycles of experiments, this being connected with poor light conditions.