Getting the most from your retractable roof systems

The following series of educational videos will give you a detailed explanation for how automatic retractable roof cooling houses, greenhouses, field and orchard covers will improve how your grow, expand when you can grow and can change where you can grow.

Watch these videos in order for a full understanding of the information presented.

Introduction to the Retractable Roof Production System

Why leaf, fruit and soil temperatures are often significantly different than air temperatures in the direct sun, and how a roof covering alters plant temperatures

How the rate of water loss from plants changes when plants are outside in direct sun compared to when plants are in a protected environment.

How plants respond based on whether they are experiencing low water stress, optimal water stress or severe water stress.

The Difference Between a Retractable "Cooling House" and a Conventional Greenhouse How plants respond based water stress

Creating the best possible growing conditions by combining plant physiology, nature, protection and a black plate temperature sensor.

Webinar: Preventing or reducing disease, insect damage, and fruit problems using retractable roofs (2 hours, 26 minutes)

Topics

1. List of diseases, insects and problems of fruit quantity and quality

2. The 4 climatic factors which impact plant health, fruit quality, disease, and insect pressure

3. Plant responses to changes in the 4 climatic factors

4. The limitations in managing the 4 climatic factors in the open field, in net houses, tunnels and conventional greenhouses

5. How plants develop differently when they are exposed to the natural outdoors versus an indoor protected environment

6. Disease: How to break all three sides of the disease triangle (host, pathogen, climate)

7. Insects: How to prevent the need to move to more severe forms of treatment (Prevention, Cultural/ Sanitation, Physical/ Mechanical, Biological, Chemical)

8. Problems with fruit quantity and quality: How to prevent Insufficient flowers, poor pollination, physiological problems affecting the fruit shape, size, firmness, color, uniformity

9. Limitations: Problems that are difficult to solve using retractable roof.

Strategies to profitably increase local fresh vegetable, berry & fruit production in hot climates

How new users get the best support from the Cravo Grower Success Team

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The Science behind using retractable roof houses to grow insect-resistant plants

There is a physiological reason why plants in a retractable roof are more resistant to insects than those under a stationary covering.  Dr Jorge Berni wrote his PhD thesis documenting how leaves in a retractable roof house are thicker and consequently have more resistance to insect attack.

Morphological_leaf_adaptations_in_tomatos_grown_in_a_Cravo_retractable_roof_greenhouse_Dr

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Download and read Morphological leaf adaptations in tomatoes grown in a Cravo retractable roof green house Dr. Jorge Berni