Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

NE-1835 Multistate Research Project

Annual Meeting

August 3, 2020, via ZOOM

 

Multistate Research Project

Annual Station Accomplishments Report

 

PROJECT NUMBER:             NE-1835        

 

TITLE:                                    Resource Optimization in Controlled Environment Agriculture

 

PROJECT DURATION:         October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2023

 

EXPERIMENT STATION:    Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio (OSU and USDA-ARS, Toledo), Texas, Utah

 

PARTICIPANTS:                   AZ: Gene Giacomelli and Murat Kacira, CT: Rosa Raudales, FL: Celina Gomez, Ying Zhang, and Marlon Cordero, ME: Stephanie Burnett, MI: Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters, NE: Ellen Paparozzi, NJ: AJ Both, and Robin Brumfield, OH: Chieri Kubota, Peter Ling, Jennifer Boldt, and Kale Harbick, TX: Genhua Niu, UT: Youping Sun

 

 

REPORTING PERIOD:         April 15, 2019 – July 31, 2020

 

REPORT DATE:                     August 3, 2020

 

OBJECTIVES (included as a reminder):

 

1. To develop up-to-date water and nutrient as well as energy management guidelines for greenhouse crop production and provide stakeholders with educational opportunities that teach proper implementation at their own facilities.
2. To develop these guidelines using research and development involving sensors and control strategies devised by current team members, and through and future collaborations among team members who may become part of this research project.

 

METHODS (please include your activities and accomplishments where appropriate):

 

Objective 1: To evaluate and develop strategies to improve energy efficiency in controlled environment agriculture

Planned Outputs:

1. Develop recommendations for optimal lamp choices and layouts for greenhouses and indoor production facilities

 

FL

We continue to evaluate low daily light integral treatments to provide information relevant to indoor gardening, where home growers or other consumers could successfully produce edible plants (e.g., leafy greens and fruiting vegetables) in at a non-commercial scale.

 

MI

M.S. student Anthony Soster and Roberto Lopez investigated if supplemental lighting containing a moderate amount of blue light (≥15 µmol∙m⁻²∙s⁻¹) was as effective as low intensity photoperiodic or high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps at inducing long day perennials into flower. The results indicate that providing 30 µmol∙m^–2∙s^–1 of blue light is as effective as low-intensity photoperiodic and HPS lamps. Additionally, plants finished under 50 to 90 µmol∙m^–2∙s^–1 of supplemental light are generally of higher quality than those finished under photoperiodic lighting.

 

Ph.D. candidate Kellie Walters and Roberto Lopez quantified the influence of daily light integral and CO₂ concentration on growth and development of dill, parsley, and sage transplants produced indoors. The results indicate that increasing the light intensity from 100 µmol·m^–2·s^–1 to 400 or 600 µmol·m^–2·s^–1 results in increased mass at transplant and increased subsequent yields while elevating CO₂ concentration during the seedling stage has minimal to no affect.

 

NJ

We continue to evaluate a variety of lamps for light output, light distribution and power consumption using our 2-meter integrating sphere and a small darkroom. We evaluated the spectral output of a variety of lamp technologies (INC, CFL, CMH, HPS, and LED) and compared various waveband ratios with sunlight.

 

OH

We have developed a concept of targeted lighting over the short-statute row crops such as strawberry. Our previous empirical cost/return analyses suggested that, for strawberry, use of supplemental lighting was not profitable as the relatively low productivity of strawberry did not justify the additional electricity costs. However, these analyses were based on a conventional greenhouse lighting design to distribute light uniformly over a horizontal plane, which is suitable for high-wire crops (e.g., tomato) or leafy greens having continuous canopy. Strawberry is a short-stature row-crop with an aisle between rows for worker access, which results in wasteful use of lighting energy when illuminating aisle space outside of the plant canopy. Our updated analyses show that this wasteful use of energy can be as great as 30-40% at a 0.8- to 1-m row-spacing and that profitability can be largely improved by either of two strategies: 1) LED-based narrow-beamed targeted lighting over the canopy of a conventional row configuration and 2) creating a continuous canopy by introducing a movable swing-gutter system. Such strategies would: 1) reduce lamps and electricity costs by 30-40% without compromising light intensity, or 2) increase productivity by 43-67% without losing accessibility to plants. Our analyses showed that special considerations in lighting design and efficiency are crucial for strawberry supplemental lighting to make the use profitable. The research will be presented in the International Strawberry Symposium in 2021 (postpone from original date in 2020).

 

TX

Texas A&M AgriLife Research continues research on optimizing indoor sole-source light environment on the growth and nutritional quality of sweet basil and leafy greens. Most recently completed research on supplemental ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation before harvest increased phytochemical concentrations up to 169% in green basil leaves but decreased plant yield, while lower UV-B radiation doses increased antioxidant capacity in Brassica species without yield reduction. Results showed that UV radiation has a potential to increase the concentration of bioactive compounds in leafy greens and herbs and its impact depends on dosage, method of delivery, and species and cultivars.

 

 

2. Improve ventilation alternatives for high-tunnels that result in better cooling in the summer and reduced heat loss in the winter

 

NJ

We are continuing our work on a comprehensive evaluation of ventilation strategies for high tunnel crop production. We are using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to assess ventilation rates in high tunnels equipped with several different ventilation openings. We are also assessing the impact of crop canopies (short and tall) on the ventilation rates in high tunnels.

 

 

Objective 2: To reduce fresh water use and evaluate alternative fertilizers and growing substrates for the production of greenhouse crops

Planned Outputs:

1. Develop practical production guidelines to increase the efficiency of organic fertilizers in production of container-grown ornamentals and hydroponically-grown vegetables

 

NJ

We completed our work on the effects of soluble Silicon amendments used for hydroponically grown leafy greens (lettuce, bok choy, and basil). Former graduate student Yuan Li finished his dissertation, and submitted an article for peer-review. He also authored a peer-reviewed publication on the benefits of Si amendments to adjust soil pH and suppress powdery mildew on pumpkins.

 

TX

Texas A&M AgriLife Research started research on organic hydroponics in NFT and deep-water culture systems. Organic hydroponics. Organic CEA production methods are still in their infancy and there is extremely limited research-based information.  The major challenge of organic hydroponics is lower yield due to slower plant growth compared to conventional farming.  We have been conducting several experiments on comparing conventional vs. organic hydroponic lettuce production with or without inoculant of a microbial product using various propagation plugs. Preliminary results indicated that crop yield is still lower in organic fertilizer treatment but crop quality is enhanced. More research is needed on more varieties of fertilizers and how to increase the yield of organic hydroponic crops.

 

 

2. Develop practical management guidelines yield and quality of vegetables grown in recirculating hydroponics and aquaponics systems.to improve production efficiency and increase

 

AZ

Graduate student of Gene Giacomelli, Joe Alcon is in progress producing tomato (truss and cherry), cantaloupe and cucumber within a recirculating top-drip hydroponic nutrient delivery system. He is also producing basil and lettuce within a deep water culture, floating raft hydroponic system. All crops and both nutrient delivery systems are within a single-bay, gutter-connected, double-wall acyclic covered greenhouse 7.5 x 15.1 m. Crops are produced in high solar radiation, high air temperature and modest VPD conditions to determine the effect on harvest quality and yield compared to standard, optimal conditions. The work is supported by sub-contract to UC-Merced from an INFEWS-T2 NSF grant, whose primary goal is to develop a solar-energized greenhouse for the purification of the salt-laden drainage water from field production agriculture in the Central Valley of California. It will further produce edible vegetable crops while operating at its excessive air temperatures required for desalinization.

 

Chiara Amitrano, visiting PhD Student in Kacira Lab, from University of Naples Federico II, evaluated the effects of VPD and CO2 during a short term exposures of EC (as stress treatment) on green and red-leaf ‘salanova’ lettuce grown in recirculating DWC based hydroponics system within LED lighted indoor vertical farm (UAg Farm) at the UA-CEAC . The study is evaluating the Energy Cascade Model (MEC) predictions of crop biomass and photosynthesis and to be a model as decision support system. Kacira, in collaboration with Vulpes Corp., evaluated the effects of carbon nanoparticles on yield and water use efficiency with lettuce (grown in NFT system), cilantro, dill and kale (deep water culture system). Graduate student KC Shasteen in Kacira Lab is developing a machine vision and predictive modeling-based system for predicting crop growth and yield to be used in indoor vertical farming systems.

 

OH

We have developed a new web-based information resource “Hydroponics / Soilless Culture Info” (https://u.osu.edu/hydroponics/) and posted 16 comprehensive lectures on hydroponics nutrient management.

 

• Nutrient solution dynamics
• Root-zone dynamics
• Fertilizer calculation basics
• Designing nutrient solution and formula 1 & 2
• Leafy greens – Production systems, species and management
• Tomato and vine crops – Production systems and management

 

 

3. Develop recommendations for application of flexible wavelength lighting and selective cover materials or shading elements for greenhouses

 

AZ

Kacira Lab, through Binational Agriculture Research Development funds (BARD) project in collaboration with Volcani Research Center and Triangle Research Center, has evaluated the effects the effects of wavelength selective organic photovoltaic film deployed as greenhouse roof covering on growth and yield of tomato crop. Preliminary studies conducted both in Israel and UA-CEAC (with Graduate Student Rebekah Waller) have shown positive effects of OPV film on crop growth and yield. Experiments are underway with lettuce crop. The project has also determined the power output and efficiency of the OPV films. The overall efficiency of the OPV panels evaluated under the environmental conditions evaluated ranged between 2-4%.

 

Giacomelli in collaboration with Dr. Matt Bergren, UbiQD evaluating of wavelength altering properties of quantum dots in plastic film for the improvement of lettuce plant production. NASA-STTR Phase II for UbiQD, Inc, Los Alamos, NM.

 

 

4. Develop strategies to reduce water use in propagation of ornamentals and vegetables

 

FL

We continue to evaluate the use of indoor propagation systems to improve young plant production processes. Our findings indicate that the propagation period can be significantly reduced using indoor propagation compared to commercial practices in greenhouses. We are also evaluating temperature treatments to induce uniform sprouting of ginger and turmeric seed rhizomes for greenhouse propagation. Both projects can accelerate propagation processes and thus, help reduce water use.

 

ME

The University of Maine developed and tested a commercial scale version of a sub-mist propagation system that we have been working with. This system applies water to the base of cuttings, rather than overhead. The commercial scale submist system used 55 L during propagation of a variety of herbaceous perennials and woody plants. This is a 98% reduction in water compared to overhead mist, which applied 2403 L of water during propagation. Root length, number, and quality were greater for Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ and Nepeta x faassenii ‘Six Hills Giant’ in submist compared to overhead mist.

 

The commercial scale submist system consisted of an ebb-and-flow tray covered with a custom-built lid to hold the cuttings in place. The lid was made of lattice covered with a plastic film that is white on the outside and black on the inside. A manifold of mist nozzles was installed in the bottom of the ebb-and-flow tray. The nozzles were connected to a lawn pump and foot valve, which was in a sump basin filled with water.

 

 

5. Accelerate propagation timing by reducing water use

 

6. Generate new knowledge about environmental management practices that enhance beneficial microbes in hydroponic solutions

 

CT

The team at the University of Connecticut is studying the association of microbiomes and plant pathogens in nutrient solutions and their effect on plant health. We are characterizing microbiomes in continuous recirculation of nutrient solutions and comparing them with new nutrient solutions.

 

 

7. Develop management guidelines to use low-quality water for irrigating greenhouse crops

 

UT

7.1 Salt tolerance of twelve viburnum taxa

From February 14 to May 31, 2019, a greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the relative salinity tolerance of twelve viburnum taxa, including Viburnum ×burkwoodii, V. cassinoides ‘SMNVCDD’, V. dentatum ‘Christom’, V. dentatum var. deamii ‘SMVDLS’, V. dilatatum ‘Henneke’, V. בNCVX1’, V. nudum ‘Bulk’, V. opulus ‘Roseum’, V. plicatum var. tomentosum ‘Summer Snowflake’, V. pragense ‘Decker’, V. ×rhytidophylloides ‘Redell’, and V. trilobum. Plants were irrigated once a week with a nutrient solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.3 dS·m^-1 (control) or saline solution at an EC of 5.0 dS·m^-1 or 10.0 dS·m^-1 for nine weeks. Root zone salinity and pH were monitored weekly using the pour-through technique described by Cavins et al. (2008). Plant growth, visual quality, relative chlorophyll contents (SPAD readings), and physiological parameters including net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency were collected. Environmental data including temperature and solar radiation in greenhouse were recorded throughout the experimental period. In addition, plant tissues were dried, pulverized, and analyzed for mineral nutrition at the Soil, Water, and Forage Testing Laboratory at Texas A&M University (College Station, TX).

This experiment has been completed. Two manuscripts entitled “Morphological Responses of Twelve Viburnum Taxa to Saline Water Irrigation” and “Gas Exchange and Mineral Nutrients of Twelve Viburnum Taxa Irrigated with Saline Water” have been published on HortScience. Abstract “Salinity Tolerance of Twelve Viburnum Taxa” was accepted by American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) and will be presented at the Annual Conference of ASHS, Orlando, FL, August 9-13, 2020.

 

7.2 Salt tolerance of ornamental grasses

From July to November 2019, Acorus gramineus ‘Minimus Aureus’ (grassy-leaved sweet flag), Andropogon ternarius ‘Black Mountain’ (split bluestem), Calamagrostis ×acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ (reed grass), Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’ (Japanese sedge), Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’ (blue fescue), and Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed) was evaluated for salt tolerance in a UAES research greenhouse. Plants were irrigated with a fertilizer solution at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.2 dS·m^-1 (control) or saline solution at an EC of 5.0 dS·m^-1 or 10.0 dS·m^-1 every four days for 13 weeks. Root zone salinity and pH were monitored weekly using the pour-through technique described by Cavins et al. (2008). Plant growth, visual quality, relative chlorophyll contents (SPAD readings), and physiological parameters including net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency were collected. Environmental data including temperature and solar radiation in greenhouse were recorded throughout the experimental period.

This experiment has been completed. One manuscript entitled “Morphological and Physiological Responses of Ornamental Grasses to Salinity Stress” is currently in preparation for HortTechnology. Abstract “Salinity Tolerance of Six Ornamental Grass Species” was accepted by American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) and will be presented at the Annual Conference of ASHS, Orlando, FL, August 9-13, 2020.

 

7.3 Salt tolerance of penstemon plants

From October to April 2020, Penstemon barbatus (golden-beard penstemon) and Penstemon strictus (beardtongue) were screened for salinity tolerance using a near-continuous gradient dosing (NCGD) system in a Utah Agricultural Experiment Station (UAES) research greenhouse. Plants were irrigated with saline solutions at eight electrical conductivities (ECs) ranging from 1.0 to 6.7 dS·m^-1 for 12 weeks. Plant growth, visual quality, relative chlorophyll contents (SPAD readings), and physiological parameters including net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, and water use efficiency were collected. Environmental data including temperature and solar radiation in greenhouse were recorded throughout the experimental period. In addition, plant tissue samples were analyzed for mineral nutrition at Utah State University Analytical Laboratory.

This experiment has been completed. A final report “Salinity Tolerance of Penstemon Species” has been submitted to the American Penstemon Society. One manuscript entitled “Determining the Salt Tolerance of Two Penstemons Using a Near-continuous Gradient Dosing System” is currently in preparation for HortScience. Abstract “Determining the Salt Tolerance of Two Penstemons Using a Near-continuous Gradient Dosing System” was accepted by American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) and will be presented at the Annual Conference of ASHS, Orlando, FL, August 9-13, 2020.

 

 

8. Develop production guidelines to adjust nutrient programs to non-peat-based substrates

 

NE

Part of developing guidelines for growing plants in soilless systems involves knowing when plants are getting enough nutrients. To that end, we conducted experiments, over 2 years, to visually and quantitatively identify micronutrient element deficiency - specifically iron, manganese and zinc in purple leaf basil as compared to green leaf basil. The experiment design was a split-plot with 4 treatments and the 3 cultivars. The cultivars were ‘Red Rubin’ (a dark purple leaf basil), ‘Italian Large Leaf’ (a green pesto basil) and ‘Aromatto’ (a purple and green –mottled basil). Two hydroponic experiments were conducted under lab conditions and two under greenhouse conditions. Data taken included visual observations, relative greenness (SPAD) measurements and tissue nutrient analysis.

 

Objective 3: To train growers and students to utilize emerging controlled environment agriculture technologies

Planned Outputs:

1. Organize education programs that target CEA growers around the US, our target populations will include Hispanics, Native Americans, and new farmers

 

AZ

Kacira (co-PI), within NSF-NRT funded project titled “Indigenous Food, Energy, and Water Security and Sovereignty” and in collaboration with Dr. Karletta Chief (PI), continued to educate a cohort graduate students on novel and sustainable off-grid production of safe drinking water, brine management operations, and controlled environment agriculture systems to provide technical solutions for communities, currently with Navajo Nation, challenged to have access to fresh produce and safe drinking water. During this reporting period, Kacira supported and advised 3 graduate students in the project, total of 4 staff members from Dine College and Navajo Technical College were trained on hydroponic crop production during UA-CEAC’s intensive workshop program.

 

UA-CEAC continued to provide educational opportunities on CEA for new farmers through its 19th Annual Greenhouse Engineering and Crop production Short Course (70 participants, 12 exhibitors), Kacira and Giacomelli were both presenters and organizing committee members. UA-CEAC Intensive Workshops on education of growers producing hydroponics leafy greens (Myles Lewis, Instructor) and tomato crops (Dr. Stacy Tollefson, Instructor) in controlled environments (30 participants). UA-CEAC’s 1st Online Intensive Workshop on Hydroponic Leafy Greens (Lewis and Kacira presenters) was held during June 2020 with 9 industry participants in June 2020.

 

CT

Raudales (SAES, CT) has directly transferred knowledge to over 400 individuals via eight presentations, over 500 individuals via five organized-workshops—of which over 70% indicated increase in knowledge or intention to change a practice— and indirectly transferred knowledge via ten articles in trade magazines (with readerships of 4K-28K individuals).

Raudales (SAES, CT) is mentoring one Ph.D. student dedicated to this project and mentored one undergraduate student.

 

FL

A two-day short-course about ‘Greenhouse Ornamental Plant Production’ organized by the USAID’s Partners Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program was delivered to 20 greenhouse producers in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

 

MI

Coordinated several outreach programs that delivered unbiased, research-based information on producing plants in controlled environments, including the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo, e GRO and the Floriculture Research Alliance annual meeting.

 

Developed a new page on the MSU Extension Floriculture & Greenhouse Crop Production website that includes MSU-authored resources on the production of plants in controlled environments, with categories such as “greenhouse temperature management” and “light management in greenhouses & controlled environments”.

 

NJ

Our planned two-day short course titled Greenhouse Crop Production that was scheduled for March 19-20, 2020 was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Six-Week Annie’s Project: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe, 128 Blake Hall, Cook Campus, New Brunswick, NJ, and via WebEx to Roseland and Mays’ Landing, NJ, December 3, 2019 – January 21, 2020. Target audiences were women farmers, beginning farmers, and veterans.

 

OH

We organized three workshops during the reporting period as follow:

• The 2020 Greenhouse Management Workshop was organized on January 16 and 17, 2020 by Peter Ling and Chieri Kubota with 79 participants (including 19 online). This year’s focus was ‘Sustainable & Safe Crop Production’ covering both ornamental and vegetable crops delivering basics of plant physiology, engineering physics, plant pathology, entomology, and food safety.
• A “Plant Empowerment Workshop Online” was organized on July 9 and 10, 2020 by Chieri Kubota with 215 participants. This workshop is to introduce the integrative approach of greenhouse climate management to reduce the use of energy and other resources.
• Three private online one-day workshops were offered to 5 participants to learn basics of physiology and technologies of soilless strawberry and tomato production.
• On-demand lectures were offered to cover basics of ‘psychrometrics and moist air’, ‘leaf energy balance’ and ‘greenhouse energy balance’ to 6 participants.

TX

First urban agriculture -controlled environment conference was held in December 2019 with nearly 60 participants.  Positive feedback was received (see impact statements).

 

 

2. Publish a hydroponic production book and an eight-part article series on urban agriculture

 

NJ

Two recently published articles are closely related to this effort:

Gomez, C., C.J. Currey, R.W. Dickson, H.J. Kim, R. Hernandez, N.C. Sabeh, R.E. Raudales, R.G. Brumfield, A. Laury-Shaw, A.K. Wilke, R.G. Lopez, and S.E. Burnett. 2019. Controlled Environment Food Production for Urban Agriculture. HortScience 54(9):1448–1458. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14073-19.

Brumfield, R.G. and C. Singer. 2018. Economics of Urban Ag: Targeting high-value, niche markets or products, and adapting a social business model can help urban greenhouses derive profit. Produce Grower. October 2018: 18-20. https://www.producegrower.com/article/economics-urban-ag-agriculture-series-rutgers-university/. 

 

 

3. Enhance undergraduate research training in the area of controlled environment plant production to prepare the students for independent studies

 

AZ

Gene Giacomelli has hired, trained educated and/or advised 19 undergraduate students working on grant supported research projects to learn and be competent in CEA hydroponic crop production systems design and operations.

Kacira mentored 4 undergraduate students, one working on a low-cost vapor pressure deficit sensing unit integrated with a microcontroller, and others evaluating lettuce crop yield and quality in NFT based hydroponic production systems.

 

FL

A new ‘Controlled Environment Plant Production’ course is being offered at the University of Florida, co-taught by the Departments of Environmental Horticulture and Agriculture and Biological Engineering, covering topics about plant production and physiology, engineering, and economic aspects of CEA.

 

A new course ‘Controlled Environment Systems Design’ is in development and will be available in Spring 2021 taught by Ying Zhang in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. The course will provide a concentrated study of design criteria, analysis techniques, and new technologies for plant production under controlled environments. Greenhouse operation and management techniques including CO₂ enrichment, irrigation and fertigation, and sensing and control will be introduced to students in the course.

 

NJ

We have been actively pursuing various funding opportunities to restart our instructional and research efforts in controlled environment plant production systems.

 

OH

During this reporting year:

• Four undergraduate students were engaged in controlled environment research programs in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science.
• Ten undergraduate students were engaged in controlled environment plant production research programs in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

 

 

4. Submit at least three grants to enhance our collaboration within the team

 

AZ

Kacira has continued to collaborate with several colleagues in NE-1835 team who are part of the USDA-AFRI/SCRI funded project OptimIA: Optimizing Indoor Agriculture for leafy green production

 

FL

Celina Gómez (UF) and Stephanie Burnett (UMaine) submitted a grant to the USDA Higher-Education Challenge grant program to seek funding for the development of virtual field trips for CE-related courses (not funded).

 

NJ

None. We are already collaborating with colleagues at other institutions as part of the USDA-NIFA SCRI project LAMP and the GLASE project.

 

OH

USDA SCRI grant proposal to develop key technologies for indoor agriculture was submitted and funded for 2019-2013. The collaboration team includes Michigan State University, Purdue University and University of Arizona. Project website: http://scri-optimia.org/

 

 

 

Other accomplishments you want to report that do not necessarily relate to the NE-1835 Multistate Research Project objectives:

 

AZ

UA-CEAC was approved by the University of Arizona to be “essential” operation and has continued its activities during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Throughout pandemic, faculty, staff, and students at the UA-CEAC have banded together to serve our local communities to provide fresh produce including Arizona’s Indigenous peoples in Navajo Nation, food bank, campus pantry, and various refugee groups.

 

MI

Principal investigator and Extension co-coordinator in a new, four-year project supported by the USDA Specialty Crops Research Initiative entitled “Improving the profitability and sustainability of indoor leafy-greens production”, in collaboration with colleagues at Arizona, Michigan State, Purdue, Ohio State, and the USDA-ARS.

 

M.S. student Annika Kohler and Roberto Lopez quantified how air and root-zone temperature influence rooting and morphology of cold-tolerant, cold-intermediate, and cold-sensitive bedding plants and herbs. The results indicate that un-rooted cutting responses to air and root-zone temperature are species-dependent. Most cold-tolerant species can be propagated with air average daily temperatures and root-zone temperatures of 16 °C and 21 to 24 °C, respectively, without sacrificing plant quality or delaying rooting.

 

NJ

Professor emeritus William (Bill) J. Roberts passed away on May 21, 2020 at the age of 88. Bill is perhaps best known for the invention of the air-inflated, double-layer polyethylene film system for covering the roof of a greenhouse. In 2004, the site of the original greenhouse at Rutgers University was designated as ASABE’s 44^th National Historic Landmark. Bill was a longtime contributor to our committee and retired in 1999. He will be especially remembered for his warm personality that included many hugs, jokes, and stories. We are working on a repository of Bill’s publications that span his 50-year career in agricultural engineering. We plan to make this repository available online later this year.

 

Tom Manning, greenhouse engineer and longtime contributor to our committee retired in 2019. He continues to offer consulting services, but is no longer involved with the research and outreach at the NJ Ag Experiment Station.

 

OH

We have improved the performance of a previously developed variable-rate sprayer for greenhouse applications. The new system was found effective and efficient from a deposition study in a commercial greenhouse. The system is 53% and 86% more efficient than the variable-rate system reported by Yan et al. (2019) and the conventional system with a fixed spray rate, respectively.

 

 

Impact statement (Note that submitting this statement is mandatory):

 

AZ

• Gene Giacomelli, using the controlled environment changed the future in the development of new varieties of field corn for animal feed. Stefanie Boe, Monsanto Company’s Community Relations/Site Enablement Lead stated that: “The UA-CEAC has been an instrumental partner in developing the necessary technology and capacity to conceive and build our new $100M Marana, Arizona Greenhouse Complex, creating 40 - 60 new local jobs which range from HVAC engineers to plant biologists, and access for others within the company." The Marana facility represents a highly automated greenhouse hydroponic crop production system for the continuous yearly production of seed corn for breeding new varieties. Future benefits to the farmer include new breeding lines, developed up to 3 years faster (7 rather than 10 years), that ultimately create new corn varieties with attributes farmers will need, such as drought or salt tolerance to meet the effects of climate change. Given that the Monsanto Company supplies 70% of the world’s feed corn production our science and engineering technology will be affecting billions of dollars of the global agricultural economy. This new system recycles all its irrigation water and nutrients for seed corn production, and it requires only 20% of the total amount that is used in field production. Furthermore, with recycling, there is no discharge to the environment of wastewater or plant nutrients. The closed environment of the greenhouse makes IPM [Integrated Pest Management] highly effective for control of pests and diseases, effectively eliminating the need for chemical pesticides.
• UA-CEAC organized the 19th Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course (March 2020) with ~70 participants. Hands-on workshops were given to attendees during the short course. These workshops included demonstrating hydroponics crop production and systems basics, greenhouse sensors and instrumentation basics with theory and practical use. UA-CEAC Intensive workshops helped to educated about 40 participants, mostly new/beginner CEA growers, on hydroponic crop production and CEA systems.
• Total of 10 graduate students (five supervised by Giacomelli and five by Kacira), and 23 undergraduate students [19 Giacomelli and 4 Kacira] were educated on hydroponics crop production, greenhouse, and indoor vertical farming-based systems at UA-CEAC.
• In our research at experimental scale, consideration of various DLI and CO2 concentration injection combinations evaluated and strategies developed, can help achieving energy savings, and the CFD models developed in our research can help improving environmental uniformity with alternative air distribution system hardware and designs and environmental control strategies in indoor vertical farm-based operations.
• The outcomes and information generated by our research programs at UA-CEAC with the wavelength selective organic photovoltaics based, and quantum dots-based film technologies can lead to innovation and new frontiers for greenhouse covering material alternatives.

 

CT

• Raudales (SAES, CT) is advancing our understanding of non-chemical alternatives to control pathogens in nutrient solutions and prevent plant disease development. Her team has transferred knowledge directly and indirectly to hundreds of stakeholders. She is currently mentoring one Ph.D student.

 

FL

• Three courses are available to train students in CEA at the University of Florida (‘Controlled Environment Plant Production’, ‘Hydroponic Systems’, and ‘Greenhouse and Nursery Crop Culture’). All three courses are offered online to support distance education, and the last two are also offered live. Our research findings are presented to our stakeholders through presentations and written publications. Our program targets small-scale growers/consumers with no horticultural background interested in gardening, and commercial growers interested in producing plant material for this market. Research in this area has focused on developing protocols about minimum light inputs, and resilient nutrient management. We are currently evaluating cultivars of fruiting vegetables that will be of high-quality and will grow well in indoor residential environments. We also serve large-scale commercial producers that are interested in indoor farming technologies, particularly for propagating hard-to-root high-value crops that tend to represent significant economic losses when grown in greenhouses. We continue to conduct research to help optimize leafy green production processes for the indoor farming industry.

 

 

ME

• Sub-mist propagation systems reduce water applied by 98% compared to traditional, overhead mist propagation systems.

 

MI

• The Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo, Electronic Grower Resources Online, and The Floriculture Research Alliance meetings delivered unbiased, research-based information to over 3000 greenhouse growers, plus additional growers and marketers of vegetable and fruit crops.
• Due to increased plant densities during seedling production, fewer inputs per plant are required, creating the potential to increase production efficiency. Faster growth rates can result in reduced production time and increased yields. By understanding and modeling the effect of daily light integral and CO₂ concentration on culinary herbs, growers can conduct cost-benefit analysis to increase profitability and group plants with similar daily light integral and CO₂ responses in a common environment.

 

NE

• When leaves of purple basil are deficient in iron, manganese or zinc, they do not display the typical interveinal yellowing (chlorosis) or whole leaf chlorosis. The loss of the deep purple pigment in the leaves is the initial symptom. This should also be true for other purple leaf plants.

 

NJ

• Nationwide, Extension and NRCS personnel and commercial greenhouse growers have been exposed to research and outreach efforts through various presentations and publications. It is estimated that this information has led to improved designs of controlled environment plant production facilities and to updated operational strategies that saved an average sized (1-acre) business a total of $25,000 in operating and maintenance costs annually. Greenhouse growers who implemented the information resulting from our research and outreach materials have been able to realize energy savings of between 5 and 30%.

 

OH

• During the reporting year, Ohio reached out to 324 stakeholders and 64 undergraduate and 18 graduate students through educational programs. Two information websites (https://u.osu.edu/indoorberry and https://u.osu.edu/hydroponics) recorded a total of 892 sessions with 3119 pageviews.

 

TX

• The second edition of the book “Plant Factory – Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production” (edited and co-authored) has received positive feedback from indoor farming industry and scientific community, which is why we were asked to work on the second edition. The first edition book was published in 2015.
• Our first conference in “urban agriculture – controlled environment agriculture” at the Dallas Center attracted 60 participants and received positive feedback from many participants. One grower learned how to prevent lettuce tipburn in his hydroponic production from our conference by installing fans to improve air circulation in his greenhouse. Shortly after installing vertical fans, he noticed an immediate stop of tipburn, while the area without fans still had tipburn. The conference provided a platform to growers who introduced each other and thereafter connected with each other for their business purposes.

 

UT

• Greenhouse and nursery growers will increase their production of stress tolerant plants and the general public will increase their purchase and use of stress tolerant plants in their own landscapes.
• Selecting salt tolerant plants for greenhouse and nursery production will enhance the competitiveness of the green industry through improved specialty crop quality, reduced culinary water consumption, reduced inputs, and/or increased economic returns.
• Increasing the knowledge about whole plant responses to water stress will allow us to promote the use of stress tolerant plants for water-efficient landscaping for water conservation.

 

Annual Meeting

Virtual Meeting, Hosted by University of Florida

via Zoom

August 3^rd, 2020

 

Multistate Research Project

Annual Station Publications Report

 

PROJECT NUMBER:             NE-1835        

 

TITLE:                                    Resource Optimization in Controlled Environment Agriculture

 

PROJECT DURATION:         October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2023

 

EXPERIMENT STATION:    Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio (OSU and USDA-ARS, Toledo), Texas, Utah

 

PARTICIPANTS:                   AZ: Gene Giacomelli and Murat Kacira, CT: Rosa Raudales, FL: Celina Gomez, Ying Zhang, and Marlon Cordero, ME: Stephanie Burnett, MI: Roberto Lopez and Kellie Walters, NE: Ellen Paparozzi, NJ: AJ Both, and Robin Brumfield, OH: Chieri Kubota, Peter Ling, Jennifer Boldt, and Kale Harbick, TX: Genhua Niu, UT: Youping Sun

 

 

REPORTING PERIOD:         April 15, 2019 – July 31, 2020

 

REPORT DATE:                    August 3, 2020

 

PUBLICATIONS:

 

Dissertations, Theses (Published):

 

AZ

Allgeyer, Allie. 2020. Evaluating Mini Tomato Production in a Closed Loop Hydroponic System. Professional Science Master’s Thesis, June 2020, Applied Biosciences, CEA Track, GIDP, the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. [Advisor Gene Giacomelli]

Heintz, Robert. 2020. Curative Peracetic Acid Treatment for Reuse of Organic Hydroponic Substrates. Professional Science Master’s Thesis, March 2020, Applied Biosciences, CEA Track, GIDP, the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. [Advisor Gene Giacomelli]

Parrish, Charles. 2020. Quantum Dots Optimize Spectral Quality to Enhance Crop Yield in Controlled Environments. Professional Science Master’s Thesis, July 2020, Applied Biosciences, CEA Track, GIDP, the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. [Advisor Gene Giacomelli]

Recsetar, Matthew. 2019. Design and Performance of a Hydroponic Bioreactor for Removing Emerging Contaminants from Wastewater Effluent. PhD Dissertation, July 2019, Biosystems Engineering Department, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. [Advisors Joel Cuello and Kevin Fitzsimmons]

Zhang, Ying. 2019. Improving Climate Uniformity and Energy Use Efficiency in Controlled Environment Agriculture. PhD Dissertation, November 2019, Biosystems Engineering Department, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. [Advisor Murat Kacira]

 

MI

Craver, J.K. (Ph.D.) 2019. Manipulating light quality, light intensity, and carbon dioxide

concentration to optimize indoor and greenhouse production of annual bedding plant seedlings.

 

NJ

Li, Y. 2020. The effects of Silicon nutrition on hydroponically grown lettuce, bok choy, and basil. Ph.D. Dissertation. Rutgers University Libraries. 219 pp. (A.J. Both served as major advisor)

 

OH

Gillespie, D.P. 2019. Influence of Nutrient Solution pH on Hydroponic Basil and Spinach Plant Growth, Nutrient Concentration, and Pythium Disease Incidence and Severity. Dept. of Horticulture and Crop Science. The Ohio State University., Columbus, OH, MS Thesis.

McKean, T.W. 2019. Effects of Soilless Substrate Systems and Environmental Conditions on Yield, Total Soluble Solids, and Titratable Acidity of Greenhouse Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa). Dept. of Horticulture and Crop Science. The Ohio State University., Columbus, OH, MS Thesis.

Ertle, J.M. 2020. Effects of Short-term Chilling Stress on Seedling Quality and Post-transplanting Growth of Grafted and Nongrafted Watermelon. Dept. of Horticulture and Crop Science. The Ohio State University., Columbus, OH, MS Thesis.

 

 

Books (Published):

TX

Kozai, T., G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.). 2019. Plant factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition, pp. 487.

Book Chapters (Published):

 

AZ

Afterward written by G. Giacomelli for the 10th anniversary edition of The Vertical Farm by Dickson Despommier 2020.

Forward written by G. Giacomelli in Growing by Plant Empowerment by P.A.M Geelen, J.O. Voogt and P.A.M. van Weel. 2019.

 

CT

Raudales RE, PR Fisher, N Mattson. Water Quality CH1 in: Ball Red Book 19^th Edition (in press)

 

NJ

Shelford, T.J. and A.J. Both. 2020. Plant production in controlled environments. In Introduction to Biosystems Engineering, N.M. Holden, M.L. Wolfe, J.A. Ogejo, and E.J. Cummins (Eds.). Published by ASABE in association with Virginia Tech Publishing. 28 pp.

 

OH

Kubota, C. 2019. Understanding crop responses to controlled climates in greenhouses. Chapter 7. (P.205-223) In: (L.F.M. Marcelis and E. Heuvelink eds.) Achieving sustainable greenhouse cultivation. Burleigh Dodds Science, Cambridge, UK.

 

TX

Dou, H. and G. Niu. 2019. Plant responses to light. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 153-166. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.

Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2019. Role of plant factory with artificial lighting (PAFL) in urban areas, In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 7-34. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.

Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2019. Plant factory as a resource-efficient closed plant production system. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 93-115. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.

Niu, G., T. Kozai, and N. Sabeh. 2019. Physical environmental factors and their properties. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 185-195. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher, Second Edition.

Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2019. Challenges for the next generation PFAL. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 463-469. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher

Kozai, T. and G. Niu. 2019. Conclusions: resource-saving and resource-consuming characteristics of PFALs. In: Plant Factory: An Indoor Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, T. Kozai, G. Niu, and M. Takagaki (eds.), pp. 471-475. Academic Press, Elsevier Publisher.

He, D., T. Kozai, G. Niu, X. Zhang. 2019. Light-emitting diodes for horticulture. In: Light-Emitting Diodes, Solid State Lighting Technology and Application Series 4, edited by Li, J and G.Q. Zhang, Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature.

 

Refereed Journal Articles (Published):

 

AZ

Zhang, Y., M. Kacira. 2020. Comparison of energy use efficiency of greenhouse and indoor plant factory system. European Journal of Horticultural Science, Special Thematic Issue. (In Press).

Magadley, E., Teitel, M., Peretz, M. F., Kacira, M., Yehia, I. 2020. Outdoor Behavior of Organic Photovoltaics on Greenhouse Roof. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 37:100641.

Perezt, F. A., S. Ozer, F. Geoola, E. Magadley, I. Yehia, A. Levi, R. Brikm, S. Gantz, A. Levy, M Kacira, M Teitel. 2020. Microclimate and crop performance in a tunnel greenhouse shaded by organic photovoltaic modules – Comparison with conventional shaded and unshaded tunnels. Biosystems Engineering, 197: 12-31.

Peretz, M. F., F. Geoola, I. Yehia, S. Ozer, A. Levi, E. Magadley, R. Brikman, L. Rosenfeld, A. Levy, M. Kacira, M. Teitel. 2019. Testing organic photovoltaic modules for application as greenhouse cover or shading elements. Biosystems Engineering, 184, 24-36.

Rojano, F., P. E. Bournet, M. Hassouna, P. Robin, M. Kacira, C. Choi. 2019. Modelling the impact of air discharges caused by natural ventilation in a poultry house. Biosystems Engineering, 180, 168-181.

 

CT

McGehee CS, P Apicella, RE Raudales, G Berkowtiz, Y Ma, S Durocher, J Lubell. 2019. First Report of root rot caused by Pythium myriotylum on hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in the United States. Plant Disease https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-11-18-2028-PDN

Gomez C, C Currey, R Dickson, HJ Kim, R Hernández, N Sabeh, R Raudales, R Brumfield, A Laury–Shaw, A Wilke, S Burnett. 2019. Controlled Environment Food Production for Urban Agriculture. HortScience 54(9): 1448–1458 https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14073-19

McGehee CS, RE Raudales, WH Elmer, RJ McAvoy. 2019. Efficacy of Biofungicides against root rot and damping-off of microgreens caused by Pythium spp. J. Crop Protection 121:96-102 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2018.12.007

 

FL

Shahid, M.A., A. Sarkhosh, N. Khan, R.M. Balal, S. Ali, L. Rossi, C. Gómez, N.S. Mattson, F. García-Sánchez. 2020. Insights into the physiological and biochemical impacts of salt stress on plant growth and development. Agronomy 10:938.

Gómez, C. and J. Jimenez. 2020. Effect of end-of-production high-energy radiation on nutritional quality of indoor-grown red-leaf lettuce. HortScience 55:1055–1060.

Gibson, K.E., A.J. Lamm, F. Masambuka-Kanchewa1, P.R. Fisher, and C. Gómez. 2020. Identifying indoor plant propagation research and education needs of specialty crop growers. HortTechnology doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04622-20.

Solis-Toapanta, E., A. Kirilenko, and C. Gómez. 2020. Indoor gardening with hydroponics: A reddit community analysis to identify knowledge gaps. HortTechnology. 29:880–888.

Solis-Toapanta, E., P. Fisher, and C. Gómez. 2020. Growth rate and nutrient uptake of basil in small-scale hydroponics. HortScience. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14727-19

Solis-Toapanta, E. and C. Gómez. 2019. Effects of increasing daily light integral on growth and photosynthetic capacity of basil grown indoors. HortTechnology. 29:880–888.

Paz, M., P.R. Fisher, and C. Gómez. 2019. Minimum light requirements for indoor gardening of lettuce. Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems 4:1–10.

Gómez, C., C.J. Currey, R.W. Dickson, H-J. Kim, R. Hernández, N.C. Sabeh, R.E. Raudales, R.G. Brumfield, C. Singer, A. Laury-Shaw, A. Wilke, R.G. Lopez, and S.E. Burnett. 2019. Controlled environment food production for urban agriculture. HortScience 9:1448-1458.

 

ME

2020. Sanchez, S.E. Burnett, and B.J. Peterson. Environment, photosynthesis, and adventitious rooting of manchurian lilac cuttings propagated in overhead mist, submist, and combination systems. 2020. HortScience 55:78-82.

 

2019. Gómez, C.J. Currey, R.W. Dickson, H.J. Kim, R. Hernández, N. Sabeh, R.E. Raudales, R.G. Brumfield, A. Laury-Shaw, A.K. Wilke, R.G. Lopez, and S.E. Burnett. 2019. Controlled Environment Food Production for Urban Agriculture. HortScience 54:1448-1458.

 

MI

Gomez. C., C.J. Currey, R.W. Dickson, H. Kim, R. Hernández, N.C. Sabeh, R.E. Raudales, R.G.

Brumfield, A. Laury-Shaw, A.K. Wilke, R.G. Lopez, and S.E. Burnett. 2019. Controlled environment food production for urban agriculture. HortScience 54(9):1448–1458.

Hurt, A., J.K., Craver, and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Supplemental but not photoperiodic lighting increased seedling quality and reduced production time of annual bedding plants. HortScience 54(2):289–296.

Owen, W.G. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Comparison of sole-source and supplemental lighting on callus formation and initial rhizogenesis of Gaura and Salvia cuttings. HortScience 54(4):684–691. 

Owen, W.G. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Stacking substrate-filled containers influence root and shoot growth of bedding plants. Acta Hort. 1266:369–374

Walters, K.J., A. Hurt, and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Flowering, stem extension growth, and cutting

yield of foliage annuals in response to photoperiod. HortScience 54(4):661–666.

Manjot, K.S., R.G. Lopez, S. Chaudhari, and D. Saha. 2020. A review of common liverwort

control practices in container nurseries and greenhouse operations. HortTechnology 30(4):471–479. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04652-20

Garcia, C. and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Supplemental radiation quality influences cucumber, tomato,

and pepper transplant growth and development. HortScience 55(6):804–811. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14820-20

Walters, K.J., B.K Behe, C.J. Currey, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Historical, current, and future

perspectives for controlled environment hydroponic food crop production in the United States. HortScience 55(6):758–767. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14901-20

 

Lopez, R.G., Q. Meng, and E.S. Runkle. 2020. Blue radiation signals and saturates photoperiodic

flowering of several long-day plants at crop-specific photon flux densities. Scientia Hort. 271:1–5.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109470

Craver, J.K., K.S. Nemali, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Acclimation of growth and photosynthesis in

petunia seedlings exposed to high-intensity blue radiation. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci.

145:152–161. https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS04799-19

 

NE

Stewart, Z. P, Ellen T. Paparozzi, M. Djanaguiraman, Charles A. Shapiro. 2019. Lipid-based Fe- and Zn- nanoformulation is more effective in alleviating Fe- and Zn- deficiency in maize. J. Plant Nut. 42:1693-1708. DOI: 10.1080/01904167.2019.1617314

 

NJ

Li, Y., A.J. Both, C.A. Wyenandt, E.F. Durner, and J.R. Heckman. 2019. Applying Wollastonite to soil to adjust pH and suppress powdery mildew on pumpkin. HortTechnology. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04391-19. 10 pp.

Gomez, C., C.J. Currey, R.W. Dickson, H.J. Kim, R. Hernandez, N.C. Sabeh, R.E. Raudales, R.G. Brumfield, A. Laury-Shaw, A.K. Wilke, R.G. Lopez, and S.E. Burnett. 2019. Controlled environment food production for urban agriculture. HortScience 54(9):1448–1458. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14073-19.

 

OH

Gillespie, D.P., C. Kubota, and S. Miller. 2020. Effects of low pH of hydroponic nutrient solution on plant growth, nutrient uptake, and root rot disease incidence of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). HortScience. 55:1251-1258.

Wang, Jizhang, W. Lee, and P. Ling. 2020. Estimation of Thermal Diffusivity for Greenhouse Soil Temperature Simulation. Applied Sciences. 10. 653. 10.3390/app10020653.

Cui, S., E. Inocente, N. Acosta, H. Keener, H. Zhu, and P. Ling. 2019. Development of Fast E-nose System for Early-Stage Diagnosis of Aphid-Stressed Tomato Plants. Sensors 2019, 19(16), 3480; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19163480

Lin, Jeng-Liang, Heping Zhu, and Peter Ling. 2019. Amendment of herbicide spray solutions with adjuvants to modify droplet spreading and fading characteristics on weeds. Applied Engineering in Agriculture Vol. 35(5): 713-721.

Yan, Tingting, Heping Zhu, Li Sun, Xiaochan Wang, and Peter Ling. 2019. Investigation of an experimental laser sensor-guided spray control system for greenhouse variable-rate applications. Transactions of the ASABE 62(4): 899-911.

Yan, T., X. Wang, H. Zhu, and P. Ling. 2019. Evaluation of object surface edge profiles detected with a 2-D laser scanning sensor. Sensors. 18(11): 1-17.

Chowdhury, B.D.B., S. Masoud, Y.J. Son, C. Kubota, and R. Tronstad. 2020. A dynamic data driven indoor localization framework based on ultra high frequency passive RFID system. Int. J. Sensor Networks. (accepted for publication)

 

TX

Yan, Z., D. He, G. Niu, Q. Zou, and Y. Qu. 2019. Growth, nutritional quality, and energy use efficiency of hydroponic lettuce as influenced by daily light integrals exposed to white versus white plus red light-emitting diodes. HortScience 54(10): 1737-1744.

Dou, H., G. Niu, and M. Gu. 2019. Photosynthesis, morphology, yield, and phytochemical accumulation in basil plants influenced by substituting green light for partial red and/or blue light. HortScience 54(10): 1769–1776. 2019. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14282-19.

Cheng, Y., D. He, J. He, G. Niu, and R. Gao. 2019. Effect of light/dark cycle on photosynthetic pathway switching and CO2 absorption in two Dendrobium species. Frontiers in Plant Science. Vol 10, article 659, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00659

Yan, Z., D. He, G. Niu, and H. Zhai. 2019. Evaluation of growth and quality of hydroponic lettuce at harvest as affected by the light intensity, photoperiod, and light quality at seedling stage. Scientia Horticulturae. 248: 138-144.

 

UT

Sun, Y., J. Chen, H. Xing, A. Paudel, and G. Niu. 2020. Morphological responses of twelve viburnum taxa to saline water irrigation. HortScience 55: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14940-20.

Chen, J., H. Xing, A. Paudel, Y. Sun, and G. Niu. 2020. Gas exchange and mineral nutrients of twelve viburnum taxa irrigated with saline water. HortScience 55: 1-9. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14941-20.

Sun, Y., L. Li, Y. Wang, and X. Dai. 2020. Morphological and physiological responses of spirea species to saline water irrigation. HortScience 55:1-8. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14861-20

Paudel, A., J. Chen, Y. Sun, Y. Wang, and R. Anderson. 2019. Salt tolerance of Sego Supreme™ plants. HortScience 54(11):2056-2062. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI14342-19

Chen, J., Y. Wang, A. Paudel, and Y. Sun. 2019. Comparing the salt tolerance of three landscape plants using a near-continuous gradient dosing system. HortTechnology 29(5):1-8. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH04385-19.

Wang, Y., Sun, Y., G. Niu, Z. Deng, Y. Wang, and J. Gardea-Torresdey. 2019. Growth, gas exchange, and mineral nutrients of ornamental grasses irrigated with saline water. HortScience 54(10):1840-1846. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13953-19

 

 

 

 

Symposium Proceedings Articles (Published):

 

AZ

Giacomelli, G.A., P.A. van Weel, and C. Blok, 2020, Ebb and Flood Nutrient Delivery System for Sustainable Automated Crop Production, ActaHorticulturae, GreenSys2019, Angers, France. (In Press)

Gellenbeck, S., R. Furfaro. G. Giacomelli and R. Lepore, 2019. A Predictive Model For The Production Rates Of A Bioregenerative Life Support System. 49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7-11 July 2019, Boston, Massachusetts. ICES-2019-258.

Staats, K., I. Molavanov, J. Adams, J. Deleeuw, K. Morgan, G. Schoberth, T. Curry, G.A. Giacomelli, 2019. An agent-based model for high-fidelity ECLSS and bioregenerative simulation. 49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7-11 July 2019, Boston, Massachusetts. ICES-2019-258.

Montoya, A.P., M. Kacira, F.A. Obando. 2020. Design and implementation of a low-cost microcontroller in controlled environment agriculture. ActaHorticulturae. 1279: 287-294.

Zhang, Y., and M. Kacira. 2019. Enhancing Resource Use Efficiency in Plant Factory. ActaHorticulturae, 1271: 307-313

 

FL

Freyre, R., S. Flores, C. Gómez and P.R. Fisher. 2019. Evaluation of ginger as a greenhouse crop. Acta Hort. 1251:119–124.

Zhang, Y. and Kacira, M. (2020). "Enhancing Resource Use Efficiency in Plant Factory," Acta Horticulturae, 1271, 307-314

 

Popular (Trade Journal) Articles (Published): 

 

AZ

Giacomelli, G. and E. Roth, 2020. Feeding the World with Controlled Environments. Agritecture blog post, July 16.

Giacomelli, G. 2020. The Critical Technologies That Sparked the CEA Revolution. Agritecture blog post, July 16.

CT

Raudales RE. 2020. Match the filter to the problem. e-Gro Alert 9(15):1-5

Raudales RE. 2020. Surface disinfectant for use against SARS-CoV-2. E-Gro Edible: 5(07):14

Raudales RE. 2020. Test & adjust nutrient in hydroponics. e-Gro Edible 5(3): 1-4

Raudales RE. 2020. Three steps to ensure water quality for greenhouse crops. Greenhouse Grower, February: https://www.greenhousegrower.com/technology/3-steps-to-ensure-water-quality-for-greenhouse-crops/

Raudales RE. 2020. The trigonometry of root rot diseases. GrowerTalks. February: 68-69

McGehee, C.S., R.E. Raudales, L. Pundt. Put a hold on gray mold. Produce Grower. December 2019.

Raudales RE. 2019. Three reasons pursuing work-life balance should be your priority. Greenhouse Grower, November. 2019.

McGehee CS, RE Raudales. 2019. Put a hold on gray mold. Produce Grower Magazine: December: http://magazine.producegrower.com/article/december-2019/pest-and-disease-put-a-hold-on-gray-mold.aspx

Cabrera JC, RE Raudales. 2019. The insoluble iron issue. Greenhouse Grower Magazine: July 2019. https://www.greenhousegrower.com/technology/how-to-address-insoluble-iron-issues-in-the-greenhouse/

Fisher P, G Grant, R Raudales. 2019. Clean up your water with carbon filtration. GPN Magazine: 32-36

 

FL

2019. Fisher, C. Gómez, M. Poudel, and E. Runkle. 2019. The economics of lighting young plants indoors. GrowerTalks, June issue https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?articleid=24186

 

ME

Burnett, S., A. Bayer, and M. van Iersel. 2020. How to use moisture sensors to automate irrigation. Greenhouse Grower. https://www.greenhousegrower.com/technology/how-to-use-moisture-sensors-to-automate-greenhouse-irrigation/

 

MI

Craver, J., K. Nemali, and R. Lopez. 2019. Monitoring growth of bedding plant seedlings using

images. Greenhouse Management 39(10):53−56.

Soster, A., K. Walters, B. Poel, M. Yelton, and R. Lopez. 2019. Forcing long-day perennials into

flower with high-intensity LEDs. Greenhouse Grower 37(11):28–30.

Walters, K.J. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Lighting basil seedlings. Produce Grower:28−32.

Walters, K.J. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) carbon dioxide

injection. Produce Grower:26−28.

Lopez, R.G. 2020. LED supplemental lighting providing red and blue radiation = purple leaves

on some young plants. e-GRO edible Alert 5(11):1‒5.

Hausbeck, M., B. Harlan, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. 2020 Impatiens downy mildew refresher: Use

fungicides preventively. e-GRO eAlert 9(21):1‒5.

Behe, B.K. and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Retail garden center and florist strategies to sell in the current

environment. e-GRO Alert 9(19):1‒6.

Lopez, R.G. 2020. Tips for rooting difficult or slow-to-root cuttings. e-GRO Alert 9(4):1‒5.

Lopez, R.G., R. Heins, E.S. Runkle, and H. Lindberg. 2020. Tips for holding greenhouse crops

during COVID-19 restrictions. e-GRO Alert 9(24):1‒6.

Jubenville, J., B.K. Behe, R.G. Lopez and H. Lindberg. 2020. Garden center retail survival

strategy series: Overcoming challenges with a holistic approach. Michigan State

University Floriculture Extension News. April 9, 2020.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/garden-center-retail-survival-strategy-series-overcoming-challenges

Hausbeck, M. and B. Harlan, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Don’t let downy mildew on impatiens

surprise you. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April 9, 2020.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/dont-let-downy-mildew-on-impatiens-surprise-you

Runkle, E.S., R.D. Heins, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Holding greenhouse crops – When temperature

and PGRs don’t suffice. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April

16, 2020.https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/holding-greenhouse-crops-when-temperature-and-pgrs-don-t-suffice

Lindberg, H., J. Jubenville, W.G. Owen, R.G Lopez, E.S. Runkle and B.K. Behe. 2020.

Resources for greenhouse growers, florists and retailers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April 20, 2020. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/resources-for-greenhouse-growers-florists-and-retailers-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

Lindberg, H., Jubenville, J., B.K. Behe, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Garden center retail survival

strategy series: Thinking through the shopping experience. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April 20, 2020. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/garden-center-retail-survival-strategy-series-thinking-through-the-shopping-experience

 

Lindberg, H., Jubenville, J., B.K. Behe, and R.G. Lopez. 2020. Garden center retail survival

strategy series: Marketing and merchandizing. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April 20, 2020. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/garden-center-retail-survival-strategy-series-marketing-and-merchandizing

Jubenville, J., B.K. Behe, R.G. Lopez and H. Lindberg. 2020. Garden center retail survival

strategy series: Communicating in extraordinary times. Michigan State University Floriculture Extension News. April 20, 2020. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/garden-center-retail-survival-strategy-series-communicating-in-extraordinary-times

Kohler, A.E. and R.G. Lopez. 2020. How adding far-red radiation to supplemental lighting

affects plugs. Greenhouse Grower 38(12):61–62.

R.G. Lopez and C. Garcia. 2020. Beyond red and blue radiation: Explore the efficacy of LED

supplemental lighting for high-wire vegetable transplants. Produce Grower 18–21.

 

NJ

Both, A.J. 2019. Revisiting the measurement of light. GLASE Technical Article Series. Available at: https://glase.org/

 

OH

Wicks, Mary and Peter Ling. 2019. Sustainable and Safe Greenhouse Crop Production. Ohio Country Journal, Mid-December issue. October issue.

Ling, Peter and Mary Wicks. 2019. Space Age Crop Production on Planet Earth. Ohio Country Journal, Mid-December issue.

UT

Paudel, A., J. Chen, and Y. Sun. 2019. Determining the salt tolerance of two penstemon species using a near-continuous gradient dosing system. Bulletin of the American Penstemon Society 78:29-35.

Chen, J. and Y. Sun. 2019. Evaluating physiological responses of viburnums species to salinity stress. PP system application note. <https://ppsystems.com/application-notes>.

 

Presentations (Papers): 

 

AZ

Gellenbeck S., Pryor B., and Giacomelli G. 2019, Mushrooms on Mars: A Subsystem for Human Life Support, 49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, July 2019, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Giacomelli, G., S. Gellenbeck and B. Pryor; 2019. Mushrooms on Mars project. Dubai Future Foundation (DFF), Dubai, UAE, (Invited)

Giacomelli, G, 2019. Seed Breeding panel Indoor AgCon 2019, with Aaron Crawford, Bayer Crop Science, Stacy Davis, Germains Seed, Kimberly Kuden, Sakata Seed. (Invited)

Giacomelli, G GreenSys 2019 Conference, Angers, France. Ebb and Flood Nutrient Delivery System for Sustainable Automated Crop Production.

Giacomelli, G, C. Parrish, S. Gellenbeck and KC Shasteen, 2019. Mars-Lunar Greenhouse - 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, 19th July. Poster and booth display at special commemoration event at the University of Arizona Lunar & Planetary Lab.

Kacira, M. 2019. Climate Management and Control in Controlled Environment Agriculture Systems. 3rd International Congress on Controlled Environment Agriculture, Nov 6-8, Panama City, Panama. (Invited)

Kacira, M. 2019. Climate Control in Vertical Farming. 1st International Workshop on Vertical Farming, Oct. 13-15, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. (Invited)

Kacira, M. 2019. Engineering Challenges and Opportunities in CEA. USDA-NIFA AzCEA Workshop, Sep. 9-12, Biosphere 2, Tucson, AZ. (Keynote)

Kacira, M. 2019. Environmental Uniformity and Climate Control in Plant Factory with Artificial Lighting. Indoor AgCafé, hosted by Ohio State University, April 23. (Invited)

CT

McGehee CS, RE Raudales (2020) Characterization of oomycetes and fungi from the substrate of marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) plants. 79^th Annual Meeting of the Northeast Division of the American Phytopathological Society.12 March 2020. Northampton, MA. Award to Best Graduate Oral Presentation

Arrunategui M, CS McGehee, RE Raudales (2020) Efficacy of biological fungicides against Pythium root rot of Cannabis sativa. 79^th Annual Meeting of the Northeast Division of the American Phytopathological Society.12 March 2020. Northampton, MA (Poster).

 

FL

Gómez, C. 2020. Indoor propagation research and education needs, webinar presented during the GLASE Consortium Webinar Series on July 23, 2020.

2020. Gómez. 2020. Indoor home gardening, webinar presented during the Orange County Extension Master Gardener Lunch 'N' Learn series on May 20, 2020.

Gómez, C. 2019. Physiological disorders in Controlled Environments. Plant Health on The Go! Apopka, FL.

Gómez, C. 2019. The ‘ultimate’ plug. Vertifarm, Wageningen, The Netherlands. (poster pitch and poster)

Gómez, C. 2019. The ‘ultimate’ plug. USDA NIFA ‘Controlled Environment Indoor and Vertical Food Production Coordinated Research Conference’, Tucson, AZ.

ME

Sanchez, O., S. Burnett, and B.J. Peterson. 2019. Photosynthesis of cuttings propagated in overhead mist, submist, and a combination system. HortScience 54:202.

Machesney, L.M., S. Burnett, and B.J. Peterson. 2019. Effects of commercial fertilizers and mycorrhizal inoculants during commercial production of ‘Mrs. Burns Lemon Basil’. HortScience 54:292.

 

MI

Walters, K.J. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. The influence of average daily temperature and daily light integral on growth, development, and color of purple basil, sage, and spearmint. HortScience, 54(9), S75.

Walters, K.J., B.K. Behe, and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Consumer sensory preferences in response to manipulating fresh basil flavor through controlled environment light, temperature, and carbon dioxide management. HortScience, 54(9), S90. Second Place Award

Kohler, A.E. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Short duration prior-to-shipping cooling and red and blue radiation enhances foliage color of ornamental cabbage and kale. ISHS International symposium on advanced technologies and management for innovative greenhouses. Meeting, 16−20 June, 2019. Angers, France.

Lopez, R.G., A.J. Soster, and K.J. Walters. 2019. Supplemental lighting providing blue radiation induces flowering of long-day perennials. ISHS International symposium on advanced technologies and management for innovative greenhouses. Meeting, 16−20 June, 2019. Angers, France.

Walters, K.J. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Temperature and daily light integral influence growth and development of sweet basil. ISHS International symposium on advanced technologies and management for innovative greenhouses. Meeting, 16−20 June, 2019. Angers, France.

Kohler, A.E. and R.G. Lopez. 2019. Enhancing foliage color of ornamental cabbage and kale

with prior-to-shipping light and temperature treatments in coolers. NCERA 101: Committee on Controlled Environment Technology and Use Annual Meeting. 14-17 Apr., 2019. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

 

NE

Meyer, G. E., E. T. Paparozzi, Erin Stevens.  2020. Classification of Plant Moisture Conditions Using Canopy and Leaf Temperature Responses to Step Changes of Incident Radiation. ASABE paper 2001085. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. 16 pp.

 

NJ

Brumfield, R.G., D. Greenwood, M. Flahive DiNardo, A. Rowe, J. Zientek, R. VanVranken, J. Heckman, M. Melendez, L. Lawson, N. Polanin, A.J. Both, A. Rouff, and M. Taylor. 2020. Annie’s Project: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe. Presented Virtually at the Extension Risk Management Educators National Conference, April 1-2, 2020.

Brumfield, R.G., B. Özkan, and E. Ilbasmis. 2020. A profile of women farmers who participated in Empowering Women Farmers with Agricultural Business Management Training (EMWOFA) training program. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2020 Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Virtual, August 9-13, 2020.

Gottlieb, P.D., R.G. Brumfield, and R. Cabrera. 2020. Estimating the private return for water recycling investments at nurseries: multiple simulations using the beta version of an online computer tool. Paper accepted for presentation at the 2020 Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Virtual, August 9-13, 2020.

Brumfield, R.G., P. Gottlieb, and R. Cabrera. 2019. Recycling irrigation water at New Jersey nurseries: Creation of a comprehensive decision-making system. Paper Presented at the 2019 Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Las Vegas, NV, July 21-25, 2019. https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2019/oral/papers/index.cgi?username=31189&password=143123.  

Brumfield, R.G., B. Özkan, and E. Ilbasmis. 2019. Empowering women greenhouse owners in Antalya, Turkey by teaching them best management practices. Paper Presented at the 2019 Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Las Vegas, NV, July 21-25, 2019. https://ashs.confex.com/ashs/2019/oral/papers/index.cgi?username=31201&password=242815. 

Brumfield, R.G., B. Özkan, and R. Vezne. 2019. Using Workbooks and E-Learning Videos using adult learning techniques to help Small Scale Vegetable Farmers better manage their farms. Presented at the Extension Risk Management Educators National Conference, Louisville, KY, April 3-4, 2019. https://agrisk.umn.edu/Conferences/Presentation/using_workbooks_and_elearning_videos_using_ad.

 

OH

Ling, Peter. 2019. Greenhouse Environmental Control - basics. Workshop for K-12 Educators. Wooster, OH. 6/12/2019.

Ling, Peter. 2019. Greenhouse Control – aerial environment. Workshop for K-12 Educators. Wooster, OH. 6/13/2019.

Ling, Peter. 2020. Greenhouse temperature & humidity management. Greenhouse Management Workshop. Wooster, OH. 1/16/2020.

Ling, Peter. 2020. Greenhouse balance of energy, water and CO2. Greenhouse Management Workshop. Wooster, OH. 1/16/2020.

 

UT

Chen, J. and Y. Sun. (2019, July 24). Comparing the salt tolerance of three landscape plants using near-continuous gradient dosing system, Annual Conference of ASHS, Las Vegas, NV.

Hershkowitz, J. and Y. Sun. (2019, July 24). Salt tolerance of five spirea species. Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Las Vegas, NV.

Palmer, A. and Y. Sun. (2019, July 23). Responses of four ornamental grasses to saline irrigation water, Annual Conference of American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS), Las Vegas, NV.

Paudel, A. and Y. Sun. (2019, July 24). Salt tolerance of Sego Supreme™ plants, Annual Conference of ASHS, Las Vegas, NV.

 

 

 

Other Creative Works:

 

AZ

Giacomelli, G. Panel member for the FY2019 USDA-NIFA-AFRI Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural Production Systems (A1102) program.

Giacomelli, G. Design/Operations assistance for the Roof Top Greenhouse to Todd Miley, Executive Director Student Union Memorial Center.

FL

Peer-reviewed Extension Publications in the Electronic Data Information Source (EDIS)

J.A. Watson, C. Gómez, D.E. Buffington, R.A. Bucklin, R.W. Henley, and D.B. McConnell. 2019. Heating greenhouses. UFL Ag. Bio. Eng. Dept. AE11 https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae015  

J.A. Watson, C. Gómez, D.E. Buffington, R.A. Bucklin, R.W. Henley, and D.B. McConnell. 2019. Greenhouse ventilation. UFL Ag. Bio. Eng. Dept. AE10 https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae030

J.A. Watson, C. Gómez, R.A. Bucklin, J.D. Leary, D.B. McConnell, and E.G. Wilkerson. 2019. Fan and pad greenhouse evaporative cooling systems UFL Ag. Bio. Eng. Dept. CIR1135 https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ae069 

Gómez, C. 2020. Visited six commercial farms in Guatemala and provided individual best production practice recommendations as part of the ‘Greenhouse Ornamental Commission’ organized by the USAID’s Partners Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program.

NJ

Both, A.J. 2020. High tunnel design and control. Abstract in the Proceedings of the 65^th New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show. Atlantic City, NJ. February 4.

Lewus, D.C. and A.J. Both. 2020. Using CFD to improve high tunnel ventilation. Abstract in the Proceedings of the 65^th New Jersey Agricultural Convention and Trade Show. Atlantic City, NJ. February 4.

Lubna, F. and A.J. Both. 2020. Poster: Life cycle assessment (LCA) of supplemental lighting systems used for controlled environment crop production. Northeastern Plant, Pest, and Soils Conference. Philadelphia, PA. January 6-9.

Mattson, N. and A.J. Both. 2020. Horticultural lighting systems energy-savings calculations. GLASE Webinar. February 20. Available at: https://glase.org/resources/webinars/

Both, A.J. 2019. Greenhouses: An overview. Presentation for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Orange, NJ. May 3.

Both, A.J., K. Demchak, E. Hanson, C. Heidenreich, G. Loeb, L. McDermott, M, Pritts, and C. Weber. 2019. High tunnel production guide for raspberries and blackberries. Available at: https://www.tunnelberries.org/

 

OH

Website and social media

• Kubota Lab (Controlled Environment Plant Physiology and Technology): http://u.osu.edu/cepptlab
• Hydroponics / Soilless Culture Information

https://u.osu.edu/hydroponics

• Controlled Environment Berry Production Information

https://u.osu.edu/indoorberry

• Facebook for Controlled Environment Plant Physiology and Technology Lab: https://www.facebook.com/CEPPTLAB/
• Indoor Ag Science Café YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjwIeYlKrzH_uppaf2SwMIg4JyGb7LRXC

 

UT

Palmer, A., Y. Wang, and Y. Sun. 2019. Responses of four ornamental grasses to saline irrigation water. HortScience 54(9): S111.

Chen, J., Y. Wang, A. Paudel, and Y. Sun. 2019. Comparing the salt tolerance of three landscape plants using near continuous gradient dosing system. HortScience 54(9): S283.

Hershkowitz, J., L. Li, Y. Wang, Y. Sun, and X. Dai. 2019. Salt tolerance of five spirea species. HortScience 54(9): S290.

Paudel, A., S. Guo, J. Chen, Y. Wang, Y. Sun, L. Rupp, and R. Anderson. 2019. Salt tolerance of Sego Supreme^TM plants. HortScience 54(9): S283.

 

 

 

Workshop Sponsor:

 

AZ

Giacomelli, G., M. Kacira and J. Ruiz, 2019. USDA-NIFA AzCEA Conference Indoor Agriculture, Sept 9 – 12, Biosphere 2. Tucson, AZ.

Kacira, M., G. Giacomelli, S. Tollefson, B. Pryor, E. Worth. 2020. 19th Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course. The University of Arizona, Controlled Environment Agriculture Center, March 2020.

CT

Raudales, RE. L, Pundt. Tomato Production in Soilless Media in Greenhouses: Pest & Disease Control. 25 March 2020 (Webinars)

Raudales, RE. L, Pundt. Tomato Production in Soilless Media in Greenhouses. 18 March 2020 (Webinars)

Pundt L, RE Raudales. Bedding plant meeting. Vernon & Torrington, CT. 7 & 22 February 2018

Raudales RE, CS McGehee. A Week in Hydroponics.3-7 December 2019 (Webinars)

Raudales, RE, L Pundt. Water & Nutrient Management for Container Production. New Haven, CT. 11 July 2019

 

FL

Gómez, C. 2020. Two-day short-course about ‘Greenhouse Ornamental Plant Production’ organized by the USAID’s Partners Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program, Guatemala City, Guatemala.

 

ME

Co-organized the Educational session at the National Floriculture Forum in Charlotte, NC (February 28-29, 2020) with Marc van Iersel

 

NJ

Our annual Greenhouse Crop Production Short Course was cancelled due to COVID-19. It was originally scheduled for March 19-20, 2020.

Six-Week Annie’s Project: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe, 128 Blake Hall, Cook Campus, New Brunswick, NJ, and via WebEx to Roseland and Mays’ Landing, NJ, December 3, 2019 – January 21, 2020.

 

OH

See the Ohio accomplishment report

• The 2020 Greenhouse Management Workshop was organized by Peter Ling and Chieri Kubota with 106 participants (including 16 online). This year’s focus was ‘Sustainable & Safe Crop Production’ covering both ornamental and food crops. (1/16-17/2020) 
• A new workshop series “Basics of the Greenhouse Environment for K-12 Educators” was offered second time in 2019. The workshop was organized by Uttara Samarakoon, Kimberly Sayers, and Peter Ling with 24 participants. (6/12-13/2019).

 

Workshop Participant

 

AZ

Giacomelli, G. 2019. AzCEA Conference Session Moderator, Sept -12. Biosphere 2.

Giacomelli, G. 2020. Greenhouse Structures- Glazing and Environmental Control. Presented at 19th UA-CEAC Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course, March 2-6, Marriott Park University Hotel, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Giacomelli, G. 2020. Greenhouse Energy Conservation Practices. Presented at 19th UA-CEAC Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course, March 2-6, Marriott Park University Hotel, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Giacomelli, G. 2020. Design, Monitoring and Control of Recirculating Nutrient Delivery Systems. Presented at 19th UA-CEAC Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course, March 2-6, Marriott Park University Hotel, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Kacira, M. 2020. Monitoring Your Greenhouse Environment: Simple Tools to Technology Trends, Presented at 19th UA-CEAC Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course, March 2-6, Marriott Park University Hotel, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

Kacira, M. 2020. Sensors and Environmental Controls. Hands-on Workshop, 19th UA-CEAC Annual Greenhouse Crop Production and Engineering Design Short Course, March 2-6, Marriott Park University Hotel, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

 

CT

Raudales RE. 2020. “Clean Surfaces to Prevent Diseases” Cultivate’20 Virtual. 13 July 2020

Raudales RE. 2020. “Recirculation, microbial issues, and treatment systems” Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course. Tucson, AZ. 3 Mar 2020  

Raudales RE. 2020. “Nutrient programs based on analyses of water, nutrient solutions & plant tissue” Greenhouse Crop Production & Engineering Design Short Course. Tucson, AZ. 3 Mar 2020  

Raudales RE. “What do growers ask a greenhouse specialist?” Bedding Plant Meeting. Vernon, CT. 10 Feb 2020

Raudales RE. “What do growers ask a greenhouse specialist?” Bedding Plant Meeting. Vernon, CT. 6 Feb 2020

Raudales RE. “Water management in containers: How to train your staff” Connecticut Landscape and Nursery Association Annual Meeting, Plantsville, CT, 23 Jan 2020.

Raudales RE. “Manejo de nutrientes y agua en propagación” Plug & Cutting Conference. Raleigh, NC. 5 Sept, 2019

Raudales RE. “Enfermedades de raíz: Diagnóstico y control” Plug & Cutting Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina 5 Sept, 2019

Raudales RE. “Selecting water treatments for control of plant pathogens” Plug & Cutting Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina 5 Sept, 2019

Raudales RE. “Water quality for healthy crops and clean irrigation lines” Plug & Cutting Conference. Raleigh, North Carolina 5 Sept, 2019

Raudales RE. “Testing water quality” Water & Nutrient Management for Container Production. UConn Extension. New Haven, CT. 11 July 2019

 

FL

Gómez, C. 2019. Presenter at the Plant Health on The Go! Workshop, Apopka, FL.

Gómez, C. 2019. Panel member for the ‘Production Systems’ session during the ‘Controlled Environment Indoor and Vertical Food Production Coordinated Research Conference’, Tucson, AZ.

ME

Burnett, S. Integrating Service Learning into Floriculture Classes and Labs. National Floriculture Forum. February 29, 2020. Charlotte, NC.

NJ

Both, A.J. 2019. Hydroponics: Benefits and risks. Presentation during the Annie’s Project Workshop titled: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe. New Brunswick, NJ.

Brumfield, R.G. 2020. Developing a mission/vision statement for your farm. Presentation during the Annie’s Project Workshop titled: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe. New Brunswick, NJ. December 10, 2019

Brumfield, R.G. 2020. Rutgers cost accounting program: A tool to estimate your production costs. Presentation during the Annie’s Project Workshop titled: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe. New Brunswick, NJ. January 7, 2020.

 

OH

See the Ohio accomplishment report

Refereed Journal Articles (Pending):

 

AZ

2020. H. Parrish II, D. Hebert, A. Jackson, K. Ramasamy, H. McDaniel, G.A. Giacomelli and M.R. Bergren. 2020. Optimizing spectral quality with quantum dots to enhance crop yield in controlled environments. Manuscript submitted to Communications Biology (COMMSBIO- 20-2162-T) (In review)

 

FL

Solis-Toapanta, E.G, P.R. Fisher, and C. Gómez. 2020. Effects of nutrient solution management and environment on tomato in small-scale hydroponics. HortTechnology accepted pending revision.

Zhang, Y. and Kacira, M. (Forthcoming). "Comparison of energy use efficiency of greenhouse and indoor plant factory system," European Journal of Horticultural Science.

 

NE

Paparozzi, E.T., Z. Li, E. E. Blankenship and M. E. Conley.  Purple leaf basil plants express micronutrient deficiencies symptoms differently than green leaf basil plants. Scientia horticulturae (in review).

Paparozzi, E. T. and M. E. Conley. Static Liquid Hydroponic Systems for Teaching. HortTechonolgy (in submission).

 

NJ

Shelford, T., C. Wallace and A.J. Both. 2019. Calculating and reporting key light ratios for plant research. Accepted for publication in Acta Horticulturae.

Lewus, D. and A.J. Both. 2019. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to improve high tunnel ventilation. Accepted for publication in Acta Horticulturae.

Both, A.J. 2020. Crop irrigation. Chapter submitted for the 19^th edition of the Ball Redbook. 4 pp.

Both, A.J. 2020. Glazing. Chapter submitted for the 19^th edition of the Ball Redbook. 6 pp.

Li, Y., J. Heckman, A. Wyenandt, N. Mattson, E. Durner, and A.J. Both. 2020. Potential benefits of Silicon nutrition to hydroponically grown sweet basil. Submitted for review to HortScience.

Greenwood, D., R.G. Brumfield, M. Flahive DiNardo, A.J. Both, J.R. Heckman, N. Polanin, A. Rouff, A. Rowe, and R. VanVranken. 2020. Annie’s Project: Farming in New Jersey’s Cities and the Urban Fringe. Submitted for review to the Journal of Extension.

Llewellyn, D., T.J. Shelford, Y. Zheng, and A.J. Both. 2021. Measuring and reporting lighting characteristics important for controlled environment plant production. Submitted for review to Acta Horticulturae. (The LightSym meeting in Malmö, Sweden was postponed to 2021).

Shelford, T.J., N. Mattson, and A.J. Both. 2021. A greenhouse daily light integral control algorithm that takes advantage of day ahead market electricity pricing. Submitted for review to Acta Horticulturae. (The LightSym meeting in Malmö, Sweden was postponed to 2021).