Description Measures Leaf Temperatures, Giving you Information on VPD Levels The Dimlux Plant Camera is a revolutionary piece of equipment that takes accurate readings of leaf temperatures at the canopy level, in order to feed the information back to the Dimlux Maxi Controller. This information is then used in conjunction with room temperature and humidity readings to calculate and display the vapour pressure deficit (VPD) level – a measurement that describes the surrounding atmosphere’s potential to draw water away from plants through transpiration. The higher the VPD reading, the greater the pressure deficit between your plants and the air around them. Large pressure deficits mean that your plants will lose more water through their stomata. Small pressure deficits mean that plants hold onto their water more easily (great for cuttings, etc). The Maxi Controller is capable of regulating the output of your lighting according to the difference in temperature between the plants and the surrounding atmosphere, ensuring that VPD levels always sit within the correct range. Infrared heat detecting plant camera Facilitates ultra-precise environmental control Allows the Maxi Controller to automatically calculate VPD Used by the professional horticultural industry Very easy to install – plugs straight into the Maxi Controller Measures actual plant leaf temperature Comes with 10 metre long cable Contains: 1 x plant camera, 1 x light-protective screen, 1 x 10 metre cable Designed for use with the separately available Dimlux Maxi Controller How the Plant Camera Works: The Plant Temperature Camera is used in conjunction with the Dimlux Maxi Controller, pointing towards the canopy and taking leaf temperature readings. The Maxi Controller then gathers this information and uses it in conjunction with readings from separate temperature and humidity probes to calculate and display VPD levels. VPD refers to something called vapour pressure deficit. It can be thought of in simple terms as the potential for the surrounding air to draw moisture away from the plant. It provides the grower with the most accurate information on how much plants will have to transpire to in order to reach an equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere. The Maxi Controller displays plant temperature readings in two ways: ‘PT’ denotes the actual plant temperature, while ‘AT’ represents the difference between the temperature of the plants and the rest of the room. The difference (AT) should be kept as low as possible – plant temperature (PT) should always be within 1 or 2 degrees of the surrounding environment and, ideally, at the same level. The Maxi Controller will do this automatically, ensuring that lighting output levels are reduced whenever the AT gets too high. How to Use the Plant Camera: Set-up is relatively straight forward. The plant camera can be plugged directly into the ‘Infrared’ socket on the Maxi Controller and mounted in a suitable place overlooking the canopy at an angle of 45 degrees. The camera will cover an area that is equal to the distance squared. In other words, if the camera is 40cm away from the canopy the area it would cover would be 40cm square. The Maxi Controller delivers readings in kilopascals (kPa). As a general rule, VPD readings in kPa should be around 1.2. VPD levels are also quite commonly displayed in millibars. Fortunately millibars can easily be converted to kilopascals by diving them by ten. 17 millibars would be equal to 1.7 kilopascal
