Achieving Temperature Extremes in Plant Growth Chambers

Controlled-environment plant science research is vital for understanding how plants develop and live under specific conditions. Plant growth chambers play a central role, providing the equipment needed to precisely control environmental factors like temperature, light, humidity, and CO2 to isolate and study their effects and answer research questions.

Most plant research is conducted within standardized temperature ranges—typically between 15°C to 30°C—however, some studies require exposure to extreme temperatures to test plant resilience and adaptability. These extreme conditions are crucial for breeding hardier plant varieties and understanding stress responses, both growing priorities in a world dealing with global warming and its subsequent impacts on food production and supply.

Maintaining extreme temperatures in plant growth chambers requires specialized equipment and careful management. Proper planning and implementation are essential to ensure that chambers can sustain required conditions without incurring damage or compromising research integrity. This Insight entry will provide an overview of these steps and key considerations.

Quick Takeaways:

  • Controlled environment research using plant growth chambers is vital for studying plant development under specific conditions.
  • Extreme temperature studies are useful for testing plant resilience and adaptability but require specialized equipment.
  • Proper planning and equipment are necessary to maintain extreme temperatures without damaging the plant growth chambers.
  • Effective management of lighting, heating, cooling, and airflow systems is crucial for reliable temperature control in extreme conditions.
  • Collaborating with engineering experts and detailed planning ensures the success and integrity of extreme temperature research.


Most plant research is conducted within standardized temperature ranges—typically between 15°C to 30°C—however, some studies require exposure to extreme temperatures to test plant resilience and adaptability.


Understanding Temperature in Plant Growth Chambers

Temperature is a key factor that impacts physiological plant functions, like photosynthesis. Typical temperature ranges for plant growth research generally fall between 15°C to 30°C (59°F to 86°F). These ranges are suitable for most plant species and research purposes, however, certain research objectives may necessitate exposure to more extreme conditions.

Extreme temperature conditions in plant growth chambers are typically used by researchers aiming to test the limits of plant resilience and adaptability. Whether investigating how plants cope with severe cold or heat, these studies are essential for developing hardier plant varieties and understanding their survival mechanisms.

By exploring temperature extremes, researchers gain insights into how plants might perform in changing climates or under unusual environmental pressures, which has wider implications for agriculture around the world.

Impact of Extreme Temperatures on Equipment

Research under extreme temperatures has important purposes worth exploring, but it must be done with care and consideration for how it can impact equipment. Typical plant growth chambers—especially larger rooms designed for propagation—were not intended for extreme temperatures.

As such, prolonged extreme heat or extreme cold can have lasting effects on equipment and can damage it if the right steps aren’t taken.

Generally, temperature ranges in chambers can span from as low as 4°C (with lights off) to about 10°C (with lights on), and up to 40-45°C without extra intervention. When researchers want to go above or below those temperature ranges, extra temperature control measures are needed. Maintaining temps above 40-45°C, for example, requires supplementary heating equipment.

This in turn impacts refrigeration and heat exchange systems—heating and cooling systems must be able to communicate effectively to prevent scenarios where both systems counteract each other.

Lighting is another important consideration. All lighting systems throw heat—including more efficient LED systems. That heat must be accounted for when setting temperature controls and considering ranges a plant growth chamber can achieve (that’s why lower temperatures are possible with lights off).

When temperatures become really extreme, impacts are even more significant. For example, temperatures above 50-55°C can potentially damage foam insulation and PVC gaskets necessary to prevent heat loss. A desired temperature below freezing requires a defrost cycle for the heat exchanger, which puts the plant growth chamber “on hiatus” so to speak for a few minutes every three hours (on average).

Airflow management is also crucial in both high and low extreme-temperature scenarios to ensure uniform distribution throughout the chamber. Proper airflow through the heat exchanger ensures that heating and cooling processes are effective, preventing hotspots or cold zones.

Without adequate airflow, maintaining the desired temperature range becomes significantly more challenging, potentially compromising the reliability of the research results.


Maintaining extreme temperatures in plant growth chambers requires specialized equipment and careful management. Proper planning and implementation are essential to ensure that chambers can sustain required conditions without incurring damage or compromising research integrity.


Key Considerations for Researchers

In almost all cases, researchers want to be able to maximize the usability and lifespan of their equipment for a range of applications that may change over time. That’s why it’s always best to aim for equipment that fits within standard model specifications, and modify for extreme temperatures only as needed for specific research projects. This ensures baseline consistency across equipment, simplifies maintenance, and drives cost savings over time.

When extreme temperature requirements do arise, it’s important to seek technical advice of those who can expertly advise on best approaches. Before planning for a plant growth chamber for extreme temperature research, researchers should ask several important questions to ensure all aspects of the study are covered:

  • What is the nature of the research? Understanding the specific goals and conditions required for the research helps in designing the chamber setup.
  • How often is the research being conducted? Frequency of use can impact the wear and tear on the equipment and may necessitate more robust solutions.
  • Do you need more than one chamber? Multiple chambers may be necessary to provide diversity of conditions, accommodate different plant species, or to provide adequate growth space for concurrent experimentation.
  • What will you be doing with lights, humidity, etc.? Considering all environmental factors that need to be controlled helps in designing a comprehensive solution that meets research needs.

Whenever a research request falls outside the norm, it’s also helpful to sketch out what you expect your day/night cycle to be and how long you want it to last. Detailed planning of the light and temperature cycles helps in configuring the chambers accurately and ensures that all environmental parameters align with the research objectives.

This planning stage should include specifying the duration of light and dark periods, temperature settings for each phase, and any transitions between these states to mimic natural conditions precisely.

In Conclusion

Extreme temperatures are possible in plant growth chambers—but they’re not typical, and they must be achieved with care and consideration for their larger impacts on equipment. It’s critical that researchers work with their plant growth chamber manufacturer to achieve necessary extreme conditions that they desire for their research to avoid potential adverse outcomes.

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