Abstract
We investigated the effects of applying a water curtain system on the environmental factors and fruit yield of strawberry during the summer season of 2008 and 2009. Two (in 2008) or three (in 2009) tunnel-shaped neighboring greenhouses of equal size were used in these experiments. The water curtain system was installed in one of the greenhouses (WC greenhouse). During the tests in 2009 only, shading film (30% shade) was installed in another greenhouse (shaded greenhouse). The last of the greenhouses was used as the control greenhouse. In the WC greenhouse, the leaf and growing media temperatures were lower than those in the control greenhouse. The decrease in solar radiation caused by the water curtain system was within several percentage points of that in the control greenhouse. As a result, the strawberry yield was higher than that in the control greenhouse (by 13–14%). Solar radiation of the shaded greenhouse was 64% of that in the control greenhouse, but the leaf and growing media temperature was almost the same as that in the control greenhouse, and the yield was lower than that in the control greenhouse. These findings indicate that the application of the water curtain system was effective for decreasing the leaf and growing media temperature without reducing solar radiation, and for increasing the strawberry yield during the summer season.
