DAILY AIR TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY REGIMES IN RELATION TO PLASTIC HOUSES AND OPEN FIELD CONDITIONS IN EGYPT

The house was cultivated with sweet Pepper, Capsicum annuum, Cv. Gedeon F1. The recorded data revealed that plastic house air temperature started to be lower than outside air temperature 1–2 hours after local sunset until 1–2 hours after local down. This was true for almost all occasions in two successive seasons. Several environmental factors were interacting in harmony to explain the reduced night temperature inside the plastic house compared to outside. The results are discussed in relation to the local microclimatic conditions.