Pampered inside, pestered outside? Differences and similarities between plants growing in controlled conditions and in the field

Summary Plant biologists often grow plants in growth chambers or glasshouses with the ultimate aim to understand or improve plant performance in the field. What is often overlooked is how results from controlled conditions translate back to field situations. A meta‐analysis showed that lab‐grown plants had faster growth rates, higher nitrogen concentrations and different morphology. They remained smaller, however, because the lab plants had grown for a much shorter time. We compared glasshouse and growth chamber conditions with those in the field and found that the ratio between the daily amount of light and daily temperature (photothermal ratio) was consistently lower under controlled conditions. This may…