CHAMBERS FOR STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF AIRFLOW VELOCITY ON PLANT GROWTH

Abstract

Three plant growth chambers were developed for studying the effect of airflow velocity on plant growth and development. Airflow delivery design was based on ASHRAE Standard 51-1985 (1) for fan testing. Each chamber consisted of five sections- a supply fan section plus two short and one long airflow settling sections preceding the plant growth section- in linear sequence along the air flow path. They delivered measured horizontal air velocities of 0.4, 0.8, and 1.5m s^<-1> to plants growing in an otherwise normal greenhouse environmental setting. Experiments conducted with soybean plants (Glycine max L. 'Carlon') to test these chambers indicated that their relatively simple design adequately provided the set airflow without otherwise constraining plant growth.