Virtual Gardening

Virtual Gardening - Part 1 Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with a faculty member of the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. It was an informal gathering, but between the peanuts, beer and cola he told me some pretty interesting stuff. First we were talking about the adaptation qualities some plants seem to have. In what way and how do they adapt. My for this post anonymous researcher told me that you can always see plant adepting to their environment. Take a look at a lot of plants growing together compared to some “loners” of the same species in an isolated spot. The reason for this is the competition between plants, plants growing in close proximity to each other will grow longer stems and larger leafs growing more upright to the sun. This is really a nice try to eliminate the competition. The grow high and form large leafs to get the most sunlight on the system. But how do they do it? It seems like a smart move, but how do they do it. Humans living in densly populated areas are no different than those living in rural areas. There seem to be a few mechanisms involved in this proces. Think about the overall influence of photosynthesis. A lot of plants on a small piece of land mean low sunlight conditions at the bottom. Plants notice changes in light, but also they detect the amount of output from their surrounding fellow plants. The know how they are doing among their peers. And there also seem to be relationships’ based on mutuality. There is a lot still to be learned , but in computer models we can now predict the end result of a plants growth. We develop 3D models of growth and development. In our computer model we also program data about the know adaptation mechanisms in and adjust when needed. Building a virtual garden that way you can easily try out new ways of planting, combining species, changing lighting conditions and calculate an optimum for a plant to max. produce. More about Virtual Gardening can be found a http://www.gardening-guides.com