Impact of Greenhouse Microclimate on Plant Growth and Development with Special Reference to the Solanaceae

Solanaceous crops (tomato, pepper and eggplant) constitute about 60% of greenhouse-cultivated areas. Their importance is also obvious when considering the large volume of scientific papers published on relevant subjects. Among Solanaceae, the most researched crop is tomato. Considerable attention has been paid to pepper during the last few years, while eggplant is less studied. The great volume of research carried out on tomato does not mean that nothing more left to be investigated. Most of the work done was carried out in greenhouses in Northern countries, while much less has been done in Mediterranean, arid or tropical climates. In modern greenhouses, the role of the computer environment management and control is very important. In order to achieve computer control and management of all the principal greenhouse cultivation procedures, such as climate control, irrigation, fruit harvest etc., it is important to know the effects of greenhouse microclimate on crop response. From this point of view, the present paper addresses the information available to be taken into account when it comes for greenhouse climate control. The growth of Solanaceous plants in a greenhouse is a complex process, governed by the interactions between the plant’s genetic properties and the environmental conditions, as modified by climate control. It is therefore difficult to predict intuitively, the management measures necessary to create optimal crop growing conditions and resource use. In the present paper a survey of the effects of greenhouse microclimate on crop response in general, and on tomato, pepper and eggplant in particular, was carried out and the findings are presented and discussed. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________