"The plant has never been the center of attention when designing a growth system"
Source: VFD.com
linking airflow to 35 percent higher basil yield "The plant has never been the center of attention when designing a growth system" Growers designing a controlled environment typically specify temperature, humidity, and light, then leave a climate company to engineer a room that hits those set points. "The plant has never been the center of attention when designing a growth system." Celine leads a research group at the Brightlands Future Farming Institute in Venlo, working alongside Maastricht University on a project examining how the boundary layer, the thin layer of stagnant air that forms around every leaf, affects growth in controlled environments.
The research draws on a 2025 review in the Journal of Experimental Botany by Killian Dupont and colleagues, which found that short-term increases in wind can raise steady-state photosynthesis by up to thirty percent through removal of that boundary layer. The trial used three basil cultivars, Marian, Piccolino and Dolly, grown at a density of 49 pots per square metre under a PPFD of around 500 micromoles per square metre per second, high temperature and high humidity, while keeping CO2 low to mirror a fully electrified greenhouse with no free CO2 supply.
Airflow velocity at canopy height measured 0.2 to 0.3 metres per second on the ventilated table, against 0.05 to 0.1 metres per second on the control, close to the detection limit of the sensors used. researchers study food safety risks in hydroponic lettuce Related Articles Enhancing Spaceflight imaging data using Simple Online Automated Plant Phenomics Saint Maarten: Despite hydroponic training in 9 schools, initiative still not part of curriculum Looking at the trade-offs between hydroponic growing and conventional growing Vertical farming as a climate-smart solution for urban food security "The plant has never been the center of attention when designing a growth system" Related Articles Examining the need for urban and peri-urban intensive farming systems in India US (GA): Hydroponic tower brings fresh greens and grower education to students Soilless farming system design impacts the diversity and composition of microbiota Design and experimental evaluation of an orderly harvesting device for hydroponic leafy vegetables U.S.
Why this matters: For operators, this is a water-management story. The useful signal is that direct substrate measurements can help cut drain loss materially without giving up yield or fruit quality, which is exactly the kind of controllable efficiency gain a facility can build on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does substrate sensing matter in free-drain strawberry systems?
Because drain percentage tells a grower what already happened, while substrate moisture and EC data show root-zone conditions directly. That makes it easier to cut water loss without guessing.
What is the operator takeaway from this trial?
If the thresholds are understood well enough, growers can reduce drain water materially while protecting yield and fruit quality, which makes sensing an operational tool instead of a reporting tool.
