Researchers study holiday plants

Poinsettias brighten a dark Fairbanks winter

On the west side of America’s arctic university is an oasis of warmth and greenery—a place where researchers and students can get their hands in the dirt year around. During the darkest season of the year, when the outside of the UAF Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station greenhouse is coated in snow and icicles the inside blooms in a sea of brilliant red and creamy white poinsettias.

Under the direction of Professor of Horticulture Meriam Karlsson, the poinsettias are part of the Introduction to Applied Plant Science course. Her research concentrates on environmental plant physiology as it applies to commercial horticulture at high latitudes, with special attention on understanding relationships of temperature, light, and environmental conditions for whole plant development, growth, morphology, and flowering.

As well as being used for research and educational purposes, the poinsettias help set the holiday scene for campus events, including the chancellor’s Christmas party. Although the poinsettias take center stage in the greenhouse, they are not alone. Black-eyed Susans, exotic pepper plants, tomatoes, corn, thyme, mint, parsley, and some houseplants used in various studies fill the shelves.

Surprisingly, the researchers find the lack of light in a Fairbanks winter undaunting. In fact, it gives the advantage of allowing pure research to be conducted. With virtually no sunlight to contend with, the horticulturists have total control over the amount and type of light the plants receive and can conduct tests accordingly. Various light and temperature treatments are experimented with and the students learn about plant identification, nutrition, and responses to the environment.

Even farther west on campus, at the Fairbanks Experiment Farm, the Controlled Environment Agriculture Laboratory (CEAL), directed by Karlsson, is a state-of-the-art horticulture facility where growing techniques are evaluated and developed. Production systems, crop lighting, irrigation technologies, climate management, crop and variety selections, and the sustainable use of alternative energies are researched. CEAL staff work with greenhouse operators, high school students, farmers’ market producers, and other businesses in exploring and advancing the relevance of horticulture science and controlled environment agriculture throughout Alaska.

As with most research facilities, the SNRAS greenhouses are not open for viewing, but during the summer, tours are given at the Pike’s Waterfront Lodge greenhouse and Chena Hot Springs Resort greenhouses, two local businesses with which SNRAS researchers are developing guidelines and protocols to support efficient crop production in greenhouse, modified, or controlled environments.

Under Karlsson’s direction, graduate student Yosuke Okada will begin working with Chena Hot Springs Resort greenhouse tomatoes in the spring semester. Several undergraduate student assistants work in the greenhouses with Karlsson and researcher Jeff Werner during the summers.

Further reading:

• Agroborealis magazine Fall 2006, Vol. 38 No. 1 articles, "Controlled Environments in Alaska," page 26 by Doreen Fitzgerald and Meriam Karlsson, and "Greenhouse tomato production for Alaska," page 27 by Meriam Karlsson (PDF)

• "FFA hydroponics program offers education, hope for sustainability," Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Aug. 31, 2008 by Erica Goff