Roots have an essential part in cannabis quality. Healthy roots are necessary for plant growth; its functions are to uptake nutrients and water, directly affecting your final product’s size and potency.
Integrated root zone management is used to consider interactions between water, temperature, gas, nutrients, and growing substrate surrounding a plant’s root zone. When making horticultural management procedures, each of these factors must be considered – a variation of one-factor impacts the others.
The most suitable temperature for root zone range from 15° to 30°C (59 to 86 °F) while perfect is 20° to 24°C (68 to 75 °F). Temperatures above 31 °C (88 °F) and below 15.5 °C (60 °F) decreases potency, retard growth, and, in extreme cases, stop growing activities and damage the plant for good. At 13 °C (55 °F) and below, the plant will suffer a mild shock and be damaged.
For example, a growing substrate’s choice is crucial because it acts as a reservoir for water and nutrients and supports the roots. Substrates have different physical and chemical properties, therefore to ensure the root zone environment to be healthy, we have to irrigate and fertilize the plants accordingly.
Root zone temperature is critical for growth, productivity, and quality in plant physiology. An environmental controller can maintain this. In a controlled environment, root zone technology that cools and heats the roots can be one worry less for the grower, maintaining optimal temperature all year around.
Important information in bullets:
1. Roots heating and cooling technology mainly work as drip irrigation, mostly targets the root zone rather than the canopy.
2. We use RZTO technology such as environment controllers for sustainable low-energy, shallow ground source coils exchange which use for both heating and cooling
3. It provides us faster ROI than standard solutions.
4. The yield of heated plants will increase by 40-270% compared to unheated crops depending on strains, grow setups, and environments.
5. At 40°C (104°F) air temp and above the root temp range ranged at 20° to 24°C (68 to 75 °F) at cooled pots.
References:
(2019). Root Zone Heating & Cooling of Cannabis. Retrieved from http://rootssat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Roots-Heating-Cooling-Cannabis-FINAL.pdf
(2016). Healthy Roots for Healthy Cannabis Plants. Retrieved from https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-healthy-roots-for-healthy-cannabis-plants-n343
Marfà, O., F. Lemaire, R. Cáceres, F. Giuffrida, and V. Guérin. 2002. Relationships between growing media fertility, percolate composition and fertigation strategy in peat-substitute substrates used for growing ornamental shrubs. Sci. Hort. 94:309–321.
Zheng, Y. (2016). Root zone environment management in container crop production. Proc. for the Veg., potato, greenhouse, small fruit & Gen. session. Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Veg. Convention, Hershey, PA. p.111-112.
Zheng, Y., M.A. Dixon, and G. Ferguson. (2011). Organic greenhouse vegetable production in Canada: Challenges and opportunities. Acta Hort. 893:1195–1200.
Zheng, Y., L. Wang, and M. Dixon. 2007. An upper limit for elevated root zone dissolved oxygen concentration for tomato. Sci. Hort. (Amsterdam). 113:162–165.
Caplan, D., M. Dixon, and Y. Zheng. (2018). Propagation and Root Zone Management for Controlled Environment Cannabis Production. The Atrium 52:1796– 1803.