Skip to content Accessibility statement
Department of Biology
HomeDepartment of BiologyResearch and impactPlant growth facilities

Plant growth facilities

The biology department has extensive controlled environment plant growth facilities, supported by our dedicated team of horticultural technicians.

The facilities are used by a range of research scientists, students for projects and for producing high-quality biomaterials to support teaching. 

  • 450m2 of containment greenhouses
  • 360m2 of general use greenhouses
  • 80m2 of controlled temperature and photoperiod growth room
  • 40 programmable controlled environment cabinets
  • 5ac experimental garden for small plot projects

The controlled environments are used to provide stable and uniform environmental conditions, with the ability to manipulate air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, photoperiod, light intensity and spectrum.  

The Horticulture Technical team have vast experience of growing a range of biomaterials for research purposes, from model plants such as Arabidopsis up to major agroeconomic crops including rice, wheat, oilseeds as well as a range of biopharmaceutical crops. The team provide a comprehensive service including routine watering, pest and disease identification and control, set up and maintenance of growing facilities and assistance with experimental design and cultural procedures.

Our facilities are open for use by external customers; to discuss your project using our plant growth facilities please contact the Horticulture Manager, Jason Daff, 01904 328554 or
jason.daff@york.ac.uk.