Morphogenesis

How does FR light influence the fruit set of sweet pepper through sugar metabolism?

Light spectrum has a huge impact on plant growth and development. FR light (700-800nm) was found influences a wide range of morphological and physiological processes in plants, for example, germination, stem ...

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The response of nitrate uptake at root and whole plant utilization to photosynthetic activity at shoot in Arabidopsis

Nitrate (NO3-) is one of the main nitrogen sources used in horticulture and is often used in relatively high concentrations. However, a high rhizosphere nitrate ...

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Move it to improve it! Dynamic planting density in dwarf tomato

Vertical farming is a highly efficient production system for fresh vegetables. Plants are grown under LED lights, with a full control of all growing conditions. A high land, water and nutrient use efficiency can be obtained and no pesticides ...

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Greener than greenhouses? A comparison between greenhouse and vertical farm tomatoes.

Vertical farming is a highly efficient production system for fresh vegetables. Plants are grown under LED lights, with a full control of all growing conditions. A high land, water and nutrient use efficiency can be obtained ...

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Remove it to Improve it: Kopdikte (stem thickness) as a potential feedback parameter for leaf pruning

Feedback parameters are quite useful in the controlled environment agriculture industry as they allow growers to identify potential health problems in situ. Kopdikte, or the stem width near the apex of the plant, is curently being ...

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Remove it to Improve it: Location of Leaves Pruned

Leaf removal is a common strategy utilized by greenhouse growers to maintain a specific leaf area index (LAI). Leaves can be removed from along the entire height of the canopy. Young leaves, near the top of the plant canopy consume assimilates whereas mature leaves ...

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FSPM to determine dwarf tomato architectural ideotype for improved carbon assimilation in vertical farming

The aim of this project is to identify one or more architectural ideotypes of dwarf tomato plants that improve carbon assimilation in vertical farming. An existing Functional Structural Plant Models (FSPM) for juvenile high-wire tomatoes ...

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Disentangling the effect of photoperiod lenght and PPFD and DLI within a 24h diel cycle

Vertical Farming is a new model in food production with high water, fertilizer and land use efficiency compared to traditional cultivation. No pesticides are applied and since this novel system allows worldwide cultivation, it reduces food ...

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Can lettuce plants grow under continous light, challenging crops to grow in un natural environment

Vertical Farming is a new model in food production with high water, fertilizer and land use efficiency compared to traditional cultivation. No pesticides are applied and since this novel system allows worldwide cultivation, it reduces food ...

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Cultured fruit; growing a tomato without a plant

Great progress has been made in developmental biology in recent decades. In animal biology this has led to the advent of ‘lab-grown meat’. (Also known as ‘cultured meat’). We have proposed ‘cultured fruit’ as a sustainable technology for industrial fruit production. A 4-step process for ...

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Dual environmanetal entrainment of circadian clock. Can day/night temperature and light/dark periods together entrain the clock?

Vertical Farming is a new model in food production with high water, fertilizer and land use efficiency compared to traditional cultivation. No pesticides are applied and since this novel ...

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Far-red perception in fruiting tomato plants

The advent and spread of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) has allowed scientists to manipulate plants light environment and to explore the effects of light quality on plant growth and development. Far-red light includes wavelengths between 700 and 800 nm and it is ...

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Optimizing the environment to minimize tipburn

Tipburn is a major problem for vertical farm production because lettuce plants that develop this disorder are unsaleable. The primary theory is that tipburn is caused by a calcium deficiency in the tips of young developing leaves. Yet, supplying more calcium to the rootzone ...

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Is tipburn really caused by a calcium deficiency?

Tipburn is a major problem for vertical farm production because lettuce plants that develop this disorder are unsaleable. Despite the importace of minimizing this problem in vertical farms, the actual cause of the disorder is still debated. The most common hypothesis is that ...

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Morphological effect of increased penetration resistance

Optimizing rootzones for crop cultivation must investigate both chemical and physical aspects of the rootzone media. This project investigates the physical properties of rootzone media, specifically root penetration resistance or rootzone compactness/density, on plant shoot ...

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Quantifying the relationship between root restriction and shoot elongation

Optimizing rootzones for crop cultivation must investigate both chemical and physical aspects of the rootzone media. This project investigates the physical properties of rootzone media, specifically root penetration resistance or rootzone compactness/density, ...

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Questions or other ideas for thesis topics? Please contact the HPP student coordinator Katharina Hanika.