Folium Plant Temperature Sensor installation instructions and troubleshooting
Why is plant temperature important?
Plant temperature (e.g., leaf, fruit, flower temperature) provides an indication of plant status in response to its environment. Therefore, in addition to measuring air temperature, measuring plant temperature allows growers to understand the plant status.
As an example, if the leaf temperature is higher than the surrounding air temperature, it may be an indication that the plant is under stress. These measurements can be used to further investigate the possible causes for plant stress and take necessary actions to correct the issue.
How does the plant temperature sensor work?
The plant temperature sensor has a thermistor in the center which works as a touch probe to measure surface temperature of the leaf. The thermistor is supported by the stainless-steel clips. Plant temperature sensor is supplied with two options: single clip and four clip sensors. Four clip sensor reports the average of the four probes’ readings.
Installation Instructions
- Before installation, select which leaf/leaves that will be used to measure the leaf temperature depending on the objective of the use of leaf temperature: e.g., tracking the temperature of a single leaf during its development, measuring the temperature of the leaves in the vine tomato plant head.
- To install the sensor to a leaf, open the clips and attach the sensor to the leaf.
- The thermistor should be touching the underside of the leaf and shaded away from direct radiation (Figure 1). If it is exposed to radiation, it will affect the accuracy of the readings.
- Once installed, take a few readings, and make sure the readings represent the plant temperature by comparing it with air temperature. If needed, attach sensors to different leaves until representative readings are obtained.
- Once the sensors are in place, secure the sensor cable on to the plant stem to avoid movement.
- As the plants grow or in the case of lowering vine crops in greenhouses, please make sure to adjust the cable length or re-attach the sensors to representative leaves.
Always check data for anomalies and make sure the data anomalies are not due to sensor install errors.
Figure 1: Placement of the plant temperature sensor on the leaf (source)