Standardization of Controlled Environment Research

The development of controlled environments in the early 1950’s with sufficient radiation intensity to obtain vigorous plant growth initiated a rapid explosion of environmental research. It was an explosion that provided a decade or a decade and one-half of real excitement in plant physiology. Many light, temperature and carbon dioxide interactions were unraveled, as it was possible to vary one factor and hold all other factors of the environment constant. The controlled environment was a must for plant physiologists if their work was to have real validity.