Shadehouses with photoselective nets featured in study of growing conditions
Shade nets are widely used in ornamental crop production systems to protect crops from radiation, wind, hail, and birds. According to a 2011 study from the United States Department of Agriculture, 43% of floricultural crop production in the United States occurred under shade or other temporary cover. Although black nets are most common, growers have begun experimenting with colored, gray, and white "dispersive" netting in order to determine effects of the colored nets on crop vigor, dwarfing, branching, leaf variegation, and flowering time. Researchers from the University of Florida's Mid-Florida Research and Education Center published results of a 12-month research study in HortScience, in which they evaluated light quantity, light quality, and other environmental variables inside shadehouses fitted with photoselective and color-neutral nets. They anticipate that their study findings will be helpful to growers, horticulturists, and agricultural engineers.