Service Platform for Plant Experiments

The Service Platform for Plant Experiments is an organizational unit of the Faculty of Agriculture that supports research and teaching in the field of modern crop sciences. Its working principles are regulated by the user regulations of June 30^th, 2016 [DE].

Based on the existing resources of personnel (11 gardeners) and infrastructure (greenhouses and other experimental facilities on the Poppelsdorf / Endenich / Meßdorfer Feld Campus), the development concept of the service platform is oriented towards the current and evolving needs for research and teaching.

The services offered include the cultivation of experimental plants in pots in the greenhouse, both on tables with mat or drip irrigation or waterlogging and on the ground (with drip irrigation) as well as in other cultivation rooms, such as climate chambers, radiation chambers and foil tunnels with different types of roofing.

Propagation and cultivation can be offered for the required experimental plants. We have extensive experience in the propagation of seeds (various methods for accelerating germination), cuttings (herbaceous and woody) and grafting. We also have experience in sample processing (fractionated harvesting, biomass determination, sorting, drying, grinding).

Under outdoor conditions, container cultures can be automatically irrigated in a special area. Outdoor cultivation with weather protection (track systems) is also possible. for cultivation in natural soil, only a few small plots are available, which are mainly suitable for plant conservation and teaching purposes. In addition to the phytomedical teaching garden, demonstration plots with modern, low-growing and large-crowned fruit trees are available for conducting experimental exercises as part of the teaching program.

Plant experiments are registered by the heads of the respective working group using the form linked below. As soon as this form has been filled out with the necessary information on the intended experiment and received by the management, each experiment is assigned a horticultural supervisor and this is reported back accordingly. The responsible supervisor is then available as a contact person for all detailed questions.

Information on the mandatory safety briefing can be found on the eCampus course "Service Platform Plant Experiments".

Overarching scientific or technical questions can be clarified with Alina Klaus or Josef Bauer. Other supervisory tasks include recording all horticultural measures carried out in the respective experiment. In conjunction with the data recorded by the climate computers and data loggers, this provides the researchers with basic information on the experimental conditions.

In addition, important empirical values on the demand of the different experimental set-ups are generated for the further development of the services offered.