Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2008
A glasshouse was built over an established tea crop in Malawi, and the internal air temperature was controlled by manual regulation of the heating, cooling and ventilation rates of two domestic air conditioners. When the inside environment was carefully matched to conditions outside, the glasshouse had only a minor influence on the tissue temperature, stomatal behaviour, leaf water potential and shoot growth of the bushes. The system could be a useful aid to experimentation on the temperature and water relations of field crops in the tropics.