In greenhouse environment the pollination depends on: • temperature • humidity The optimum

At about day 14, two or three flowers open on most plants in which one begins pollinating as followed. Simply use a small fine tipped paintbrush and cross-pollinate all four plants with each other. Repeat the same step, in four days going. After the third pollination carefully remove all unopened buds by pinching them. Take away all new buds for the next two weeks or as necessary. Seeds are now ready to harvest after about 21 days after pollination. Carry the quads with plants away from the watering try while letting them dry for five days. Remove dried seedpods from the quads and roll them between your fingers to free the seeds from the pod. Count and store seeds in an envelope, labeled with your name and

To solve this problem our group placed stakes next to each plant in the pots and used wire to provide the plants with support to grow upright and stay in place. Furthermore, to prevent crosspollination with another groups plants all of our plants where covered with pollination bags. In addition, our plants were given 1-2 inches of water constant for 29 days and place in a room that provided fluorescent light for 24 hours a day to get our plants to grow at their full potential. After a couple weeks of plant growth the flowers where then able to pollinate to perform this procedure we used a tool called a chenille rod or “bee stick” where we would lightly touch the anthers of the flowers with the bee stick and transfer the pollen on the stick between the P1 and P2 plants. During weeks 7 and 8 watering of our plants stopped to allow our plants to dry under light before the seeds can be collected from the pods. Once the seeds were ready to be collected they were harvested in dry pods over a petri dish and allowed to germinate in a filer paper within the petri dish. Once our seeds where settled in neat rows we kept it well light and moist at all times and recorded our findings (CSUF,

Few commercial growing operations across the country use a greenhouse environment. Both Mr. Troost and Mr. Bushman have production minded greenhouse experience. Proper planning and implementation will allow Go Green Medical will harvest consistent weekly product without a stop in production or crop shortages.

The rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) is an essential pollinator for the environment that is currently not on the endangered or threatened species list. The rusty patched bumble bee is bigger and stronger than the honeybee and plays an important role in the production of crops, such as cranberries, blueberries, and tomatoes. As Doug Taron of the Chicago Academy of Sciences points out, “No bees. No fruit.” Historically, this species was found in 29 states and 2 Canadian provinces. The rusty patched bumble bee population saw a decline in population and distribution in the late 1990s. The bees’ population has declined by 91%. The relative abundance of the species has declined from 8% to 1%, and only 5% of the historical locations are currently

Only 4 of these species are honeybees, and 250 species are bumblebees (IUCN, 2013) with up to 90% of the remaining species classified as solitary bees (Kindersley, 2016). Honeybees make honey, its their primary food, feeding up to 10,000 strong colonies (Benjamin, 2015). Bumblebees don’t make honey but they are important pollinators,their hairier coats can attract more pollen and they can fly at colder temperatures than honeybees most bumblebees are wild (Benjamin,2015),and are not often used commercially unlike honey bees.

Bombus norvegicus, the bumblebee, is a social parasite that invades the nest of the species Bombus hypnorum. Females of B. norvegicus enter the nest of B. hypnorum and take the place of the former queen of the nest so that the workers of the host nest can rear the offspring of B. norvegicus. Females of B. norvegicus lack the necessary biological tools to rear offspring on their own and rely solely on invading another species’ nest in order to do so. In order to invade the host nest, B. norvegicus must use a variety of different mechanisms to enter the host nest and bypass their defense system as well as remain inside of the host nest permanently. One such way to do this is to employ the use of offensive chemicals that are able to influence the behavior of the host workers.

Although it is difficult to directly exemplify the impact of invasive European honeybees on native bumblebees through floral resources, many studies prove there is an indirect relationship between the species concerning overlapping of their ecological niche (Thomson 2004). Diane Thomson conducted an experiment measuring the impacts of the invasive honeybee on the native bumblebee through competition for nectar and pollen resources. Each summer from 1998 through 2000, two to three Apis colonies (each consisting of 10,000-15,000 workers) were introduced into three sites from early June to early September (Thomson 2004). Each Apis colony was placed 2 km apart. For the native bumblebees, B. occidentalis colonies were located at 10 m, 500 m, and 1000 m away from each site. Since there are three distances, and three different sites, there were nine B. occidentalis colonies in total. The B. occidentalis species was placed in the same location every year; however, the distance treatment was altered (Thomson 2004). To reduce the factors that may alter the results, laboratory-reared colonies were used to minimize any differences in the Bombus colonies and weighed to keep the amount consistent (Thomson 2004). Overall, Thomson’s experiment exemplified the direct effects of the invasive Apis species on reproductive success and foraging activity of the native Bombus.

Bees are some of the most feared insects on the planet but aside from their sting they are quite a complex and beneficial creature. There are over 20,000 species of bees on the planet (Spivak,2013). They are often associated with honey however, they play a far more important role, they pollinate. Bees are responsible for about 80 percent of pollination worldwide and a single colony is able to pollinate upwards of 300 million flowers each day (Greenpeace.org). Although there are ways for human pollination it is often a painstaking and time-consuming process. Studies have also shown that human pollination is not as effective (Spivak, 2013)). With 90 percent of the worlds nutrition dependent upon bees we need to support the bees with pollination (Greenpeace.org). If we want to continue enjoying the many foods bees provide for us we

After pollination, actual fertilization of the seed is delayed until spring. The fruit develops during the regular growing season and is newly ripened as flowers begin to open in late autumn. The fruits develop into hard, fuzzy, tan or grey colored capsules under an inch long, each carrying one or two dark, shiny seeds. In the fall, the fruit capsules burst and eject their seeds up to 25’ away, and linger on the branches. If left undisturbed and uneaten on the forest floor, the seeds will germinate two years after dispersal.

The plants were continually monitored and watered when needed. At approximately two weeks from the day the seeds were planted, several flowers were open on the plants. The plants were then cross-pollinated using a pollinating wand. The pollen from one plant was transferred to another, using approximately eight flowers. This was done three different days with one day in between. After the third pollination, the unopened buds were removed. The plants were kept watered, and the new buds and shoots were removed for the next 14 days.

Recently, a group of researchers examined over 400,000 records of bumblebees, which included historical and current information. Unfortunately, this information confirmed that bumblebees are declining rapidly because of climate change, which could end up causing massive amounts of economic threats, especially because bees pollinate plants that provide food for animals and humans. With the decline of these pollinators, we could face more expensive food prices, diminished varieties of crops, and many more troubles, according to Leif Richardson, who was one of the scientists that helped lead this research. Sadly, these bees are trying to get away from the heat, so their habitat range is shrinking tremendously. Over the past 110 years, the scientists

relative humidity on honey bee races. Here, the effects of different levels of temperature and

AeroFarms are a new way to use technology to benefit our food practices. AeroFarms grow food indoors without sun or soil in a fully-controlled environment. They grow leafy greens, utilizing LED lighting and aeroponic mist that is sprayed directly onto their roots. The LED lights are able to create a specific light recipe for each plant, allowing them to control the size, shape, texture, color, flavor, and nutrition of every plant. As well as the aeroponic mist giving the plants their needed water, oxygen, and nutrients. This system allows them to use 95% less water and 40% less hydroponics. Because of these factors AeroFarms are more productive in their food output, with 390 times more productivity per square foot than a commercial farm. This system works so well because the plants are being constantly monitored by computers, which make sure that every plant is growing in order to get the highest total production.

“In the glasshouse, we currently use high-pressure sodium vapor lamps, and these are quite expensive in terms of the electricity demand,” Hickey explains. “In our paper, we demonstrate that wheat and barley populations can be grown at a density of about 900 plants per square meter, thus in combination with LED light systems, this presents an exciting opportunity to scale up the operation for industry use.” This comes on the heels of a fairly significant panel report from Parliament in India coming out against genetically modified crops.

As mentioned in the previous sections, many studies explored the here presented research problem from different perspective, coming to similar as well as different conclusions. For example, authors such as Batte, 2000; Lowenberg-DeBoer, 2000; Auernhammer, 2001; Biermacher et al. 2009 also claimed PA as not feasible approach from an economic point of view, due to decreased yields or higher costs related to the use of the technologies. Other literature such as Diacono et al. 2013; Hobbs et al, 2008; Culibrk, 2014; European Parliament, 2014; FAO, 2015 corroborates our findings about tomato as presenting non-conventional farming approaches as more suitable when reducing environmental impact is the aim. Moreover, some other literature also presents environmental performances of PA approaches as controversial (Peng & Bosch, 2000 ; Sestak et al. 2014). This argument is in line with the results we have got for wheat. In the end, other