Dr. Mark Rose is directing the following research projects in the Floriculture Research and BioContainment Facility:
- Water-use patterns in major floriculture crops (poinsettia, rose, sunflower, bedding plants) during clear, cloudy, nighttime, and HID night lighting over entire production cycles (with Mr. Hao Wang) and under photoselective filters (with Dr. Peg McMahon).
- Irrigation scheduling based on changing moisture tension setpoints depending on plant phenology, media properties and transpiration demand by the environment, (with Dr. Mary Ann Rose and Mr. Hao Wang). Dynamic setpoints have been established for woody ornamentals in nursery media, hybrid-tea roses in coir trough sand potted poinsettias in peat-based media.
- Development and evaluation of plant process sensors; including sap-flow gauges, lysimeters, leaf temperature, and gas-exchange systems; for use in a "Speaking Plant" computer network (with Dr. Niels Ehler and Mr. Hao Wang).
- Programming and presentation of on-line environmental and plant information on personal computers for interactive research and teaching on climate computers, the intranet network in the FRBF, and a web server site now operating on the internet (with Dr. Niels Ehler, Mr. Hao Wang, and Mr. Lee Ayers).
Dr. Rose has just returned from an International Symposium on Growing Media and Hydroponics lasting 8 days in Windsor, Ontario. Scientists from 38 countries joined growers from North America to present talks and posters; attend a trade show; and visit commercial greenhouses, research stations, and universities in southern Ontario.
