Improving lettuce plant growth and preventing tip-burn occurrence by using a multi-fan system in a plant factory

This paper is a study on a modular smart plant factory integrating intelligent solar module, LED module with high efficiency for plant growth, IoT module control system and image processing technology. The intelligent sun and modules have a corrugated structure, and the angle of the module can be adjusted to obtain a large amount of power generation. It is fully foldable for wider angles during the day and module protection at night. The LED module is designed and manufactured to distribute energy evenly over the entire wavelength range so that high efficiency can be obtained. The control system with IoT convergence technology enables control of all parts related to plant growth such as angle control of solar modules, LED lighting control, temperature/humidity control, and fan control. In particular, the control method is programmed to be controlled by a computer monitoring system and a smartphone app, so there are few places. In addition, this paper developed an image processing algorithm to extract the growth information of lettuce grown in the plant factory. The acquired images were separated into R, G, and B images using Matlab software. The applied algorithms are k-mean and improved morphological image processing. By applying this method, we can determine the area calculation and shipping of lettuce seedlings. As a result of the fusion and application of solar modules, LED modules, and IoT modules, information on plant growth and status was confirmed.

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Rice Husk Ash Incorporation in Container Substrates Effect on Romaine Lettuce Plant Growth

AGRITROPICA Journal of Agricultural Sciences ◽

10.31186/j.agritropica.4.1.30-37 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 30-37

Author(s):

Sreyhor Mot ◽

Sophary Khin ◽

Vibol Peuo ◽

Panha Pok ◽

Pao Srean

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Rice Husk ◽

Rice Husk Ash ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Stem Elongation ◽

Peat Moss ◽

Lettuce Plant ◽

Transportation Fuel ◽

Romaine Lettuce ◽

Significant Difference

Primary substrate components include peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, bark, and compost are commonly-used substrate in horticultural crop production.These substrate components are high cost due to the extreme cost of transportation, fuel for extraction, and processing. Local rice husk ash (RHA) as an alternative substrate component was used to evaluatethe growth of Romaine Lettuce plants in response to the application of different incorporations of RHA in container substrates. The test was conducted with a completely randomized design of four RHA treatment, rates at 0%, 10%, 30%, and 50% (by vol.), with 10 replicates. The results showed that plant stem elongation increased with decreased incorporations of RHA application. Although the fresh weight of plants(shoot or root)and number of leaves increased with the RHA application, no significant difference for the plant biomass produced (dry weight of root and shoot) betweenthe 30% and 50% RHA treatments. The RHA can be used as a local and low cost substrate component; and the incorporation of 30% (by vol.) RHA in container substrates is a certain amount for lettuce plant growth.

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Topical Papers on Applications of Lasers to Plant Factory. Applications of a Red Laser Diode and Blue Light Emitting Diodes to Plant Growth Experiments.

The Review of Laser Engineering ◽

10.2184/lsj.25.845 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 25 (12) ◽

pp. 845-849

Author(s):

Yoshio NISHIDA ◽

Masanobu YAMANAKA

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Blue Light ◽

Laser Diode ◽

Light Emitting Diodes ◽

Light Emitting ◽

Plant Factory ◽

Growth Experiments

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Optimization of Indole-3-Acetic Acid Concentration in a Nutrient Solution for Increasing Bioactive Compound Accumulation and Production of Agastache rugosa in a Plant Factory

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture10080343 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 343

Author(s):

Vu Phong Lam ◽

Mun Haeng Lee ◽

Jong Seok Park

Keyword(s):

Acetic Acid ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Bioactive Compounds ◽

Nutrient Solution ◽

Leaf Gas Exchange ◽

Bioactive Compound ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Gas Exchange Parameters ◽

Plant Factory ◽

Indole 3 Acetic Acid

This study aimed to determine the optimal indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) concentration in a nutrient solution to increase the bioactive compounds while enhancing the plant growth of A. rugosa grown hydroponically. Twenty-eight-day-old plants were transplanted in a plant factory for 32 days. The plants were subjected to various IAA concentrations (10−11, 10−9, 10−7, and 10−5 M) from 8 days after transplanting, and the control treatment (without IAA). Shoot and root fresh weights were effectively improved under 10−7 and 10−9 IAA treatments. Leaf gas exchange parameters were increased under 10−7 and 10−9 IAA treatments. Four of the IAA treatments, except 10−11 IAA treatment, significantly increased the rosmarinic acid (RA) concentration, as well as the tilianin concentration was significantly increased at all IAA treatments, compared with that of the control. Especially, the tilianin concentration of the 10−11 IAA treatment was significantly (1.8 times) higher than that of the control. The IAA treatments at 10−5 and 10−7 significantly raised the acacetin concentrations (1.6- and 1.7-times, respectively) compared to those of the control. These results suggested that 10−7 concentration of IAA in a nutrient solution was effective for enhancing plant growth and increasing bioactive compounds in A. rugosa, which offers an effective strategy for increasing phytochemical production in a plant factory.

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