A Brushing Apparatus for Height Control of Bedding Plants

Schnelle, Michael A.; McCraw, B. Dean; Schmoll, Timothy J.

doi:10.21273/horttech.4.3.275

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Brushing does not damage tomato transplants if treatments are applied carefully. In fact, brushing often improves tomato transplant appearance (Latimer and Thomas, 1991;Schnelle et al, 1994); we found a more uniform canopy and a better ability to maintain that appearance when the flats were transported.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…It may be advantageous to delay the beginning of treatment, either to limit the amount of handling of the plants or because the plants are growing on schedule. In earlier experiments using mechanical stimulation to control tomato transplant height, brushing was begun at the cotyledon stage (Baden and Latimer, 1991;Latimer and Thomas, 1991;Schnelle et al, 1994). Our experiments show that it is not necessary to begin treatments at such an early stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) growers in Japan, ≈35% use brushing to control transplant size (Fletcher, 1984). Brushing has been tested on a small scale with tomato transplants in commercial greenhouses (Latimer and Thomas, 1991;Schnelle et al 1994). Our results should make implementation on a broader scale possible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mechanical Conditioning for Controlling Excessive Elongation in Tomato Transplants: Sensitivity to Dose, Frequency, and Timing of Brushing

Garner¹,

Björkman²

1996

jashs

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During production of plug transplants, the high plant density results in rapid stem elongation as plants compete for light. The resulting tall, weak-stemmed plants are difficult to transplant and are easily damaged. One technique that can prevent excessive elongation is mechanical stimulation by brushing. Wide adoption of brushing is limited by a lack of information on how plants respond to variations in applying the technique. Our investigation examined how tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Oh8245) seedling growth responded to varying doses of mechanical stimulation, varying intervals between brush strokes during stimulation, time of day that stimulation was applied, and growth stage at which application started. Seedlings were grown in 288-cell flats at 2100 plants/m2. Daily doses from 0 to 40 brush strokes were applied from canopy closure until the nontreated plants reached a canopy height of 15 cm. The final height was reduced by ≈20% for all brushed treatments, with little further effect with >10 strokes/d. Intervals between strokes as long as 10 minutes resulted in the same reduction in the rate of stem elongation as the same daily dose applied in one continuous treatment. Treatments were similarly effective whether applied in the morning or late afternoon. Treatments begun at a canopy height of 6 (canopy closure), 8, or 10 cm gave similar reductions in the rate of stem elongation. Plants grew 6 mm·d-1 when they were not treated and 3 mm·d-1 when treated. Therefore, the final height was directly related to the number of treatment days. Stimulation appears to be sensed and integrated over at least half an hour and the reduction in the rate of stem elongation expressed over the subsequent daily cycle of growth. All results indicate that there is substantial flexibility in applying brushing for controlling elongation in tomato transplants.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mechanical Conditioning for Controlling Excessive Elongation in Tomato Transplants: Sensitivity to Dose, Frequency, and Timing of Brushing

Garner¹,

Björkman²

1996

jashs

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“…This moveable system is mobile, set on castors and has a size of dimensions of about 6 × 5 feet with adjustable working height and width. Brushing of tomato seedlings were performed by pulling a four-bar apparatus across the tomato seedlings several times [94]. In yet another interesting case-study, various herbs (Basil, coriander, mint) were mechanically stimulated in production house style green-house with a machine using light clothes attached to an irrigation boom continuously for 108 times per day.…”

Section: Automation Of Ms Treatment For Potential Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Tomato Productivity for Changing Climatic and Environmental Stress Conditions

Narayanan¹,

Viswanathan²,

Ramanujam³

et al. 2024

Tomato Cultivation and Consumption - Innovation and Sustainability

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Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) growth, cultivation and its productivity are adversely influenced by severe environmental pressures. Several environmental abiotic factors that are limited not only to drought, salinity, temperature and heat but also to mechanical stress affect tomato yield and productivity. Salinity is a persistent problem throughout the world that affects soil properties. Further, tomato productivity due to salinity stress is affected at all stages of plant development. Seed priming, a method to alleviate salinity stress is an effective technique that can improve performance and growth. It is a method that permits controlled hydration of seeds thereby, maintaining metabolic activity, without allowing the protrusion of the radicle. Mechanical conditioning, a term applied to plant stimulation by tactile stimuli through various methods like touching, brushing, or rubbing the plant material, is another environmentally friendly and simple method to regulate plant growth and also stress tolerance. Therefore, the mechanical conditioning practice primes plants for enhanced plant growth and also allows plants to defend against an impending stress factor. These two methods can be developed into successful production practices. In this chapter, we summarize current knowledge of seed priming and mechanical conditioning for plant growth, cross-tolerance and plant productivity improvement.

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“…Taken together, it is not surprising that researchers have created devices to automatically stimulate plants through brushing [27,32,38], or vibration (see [6] for several examples). However, these efforts have not been taken up widely due to technical limitations of the systems in question [6,35].…”

Section: Plants Touch and Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Fingers: Plant Thigmo Responses as an Unexplored Area for Haptics Research

Huisman

2020

Haptics: Science, Technology, Applications

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Haptics research has been firmly rooted in human perceptual sciences. However, plants, too, possess capabilities for detecting mechanical stimuli. Here, I provide a brief overview of plant thigmo (touch) perception research with the aim of informing haptics researchers and challenging them to consider applying their knowledge to the domain of plants. The aim of this paper is to provide haptics researchers with conceptual tools, including relevant terminology, plant response mechanisms, and potential technology applications to kickstart research into plant haptics.

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A Brushing Apparatus for Height Control of Bedding Plants

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

Mechanical Conditioning for Controlling Excessive Elongation in Tomato Transplants: Sensitivity to Dose, Frequency, and Timing of Brushing

Mechanical Conditioning for Controlling Excessive Elongation in Tomato Transplants: Sensitivity to Dose, Frequency, and Timing of Brushing

Improving Tomato Productivity for Changing Climatic and Environmental Stress Conditions

Green Fingers: Plant Thigmo Responses as an Unexplored Area for Haptics Research

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