ASHS 2024 Conference

A Comparative Study Analyzing Light Lengths for the Growth of Rex Butterhead Lettuce Utilizing GREENBOX Technology - Mya Griffith
Evaluating the Feasibility of Lettuce Crop Cultivation with Reclaimed Water Utilizing GREENBOX Technology - Mya Griffith
The Assessment of Different Growth Mediums for Plug Cultivation in a Controlled Environment - George Buss
Comparative Analysis of Lettuce Growth Using Compost Versus Conventional Soil - Sofia Huber
Feasibility of Plug Production Utilizing Digestate From Home Water-Energy-Food Systems (H-WEF) - Rory Dunn
From Flower to Fruit: Growing Degree Days and Peach Ripening - Matthew Almy
Enhancing rose propagation using moisture sensor-controlled irrigation and LED supplemental lighting in greenhouses - Braylen Thomson

The development of GREENBOX technology addresses the challenges posed by rapid population growth, which intensifies the demand for agricultural resources essential for cultivating and distributing fresh produce, including arable land, water, and nutrients, to both rural and urban areas. Utilizing principles of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), GREENBOX technology optimizes growth conditions for leafy green crops by leveraging existing urban infrastructure and readily available commercial equipment. GREENBOX technology allows for precise control over environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, light intensity/spectrum, and nutrient delivery, thereby enhancing the growth performance of leafy greens. We were interested in assessing the feasibility of utilizing reclaimed water for crop production as preliminary experiments employing GREENBOX technology that employed a standard nutrient solution comprising a blend of 5-12-26 and 15-0-0 Calcium Nitrate for crop production. This study's primary objective was to conduct a comparative analysis of Lactuca sativa Rex Butterhead Lettuce production using the standard nutrient solution as the control (Treatment 1), and Reclaimed water or treated wastewater supplemented with additional nutrients (Treatment 2). The assessment focused on measuring crop biomass and productivity and environmental conditions associated with each nutrient solution to identify any significant differences. Biomass parameters, including wet weight, dry weight, leaf area, leaf count, and chlorophyll concentration, were measured alongside derived data such as Leaf Area Index (LAI), Specific Leaf Area (SLA), and biomass productivity. Statistical analysis of the biomass data was conducted to discern differences in biomass parameters between crop growth using both hydroponic solutions. Both treatments yielded Rex Butterhead lettuce well above the anticipated harvest weight of 180g, indicating their suitability for crop production in urban warehouse settings. The findings of this experiment contribute valuable insights into the feasibility of utilizing various types of wastewater for hydroponic crop growth. Future experiments employing GREENBOX technology may utilize these findings to enhance the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of GREENBOX units. This study has impactful implications for sustainability, as it offers a potential solution to mitigate water scarcity and promote efficient resource utilization in agricultural practices. Keywords: CEA, Hydroponics, lettuce, Reclaimed Wastewater, urban agriculture

Plugs are crucial for starting crop production in greenhouses, soil, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Horticultural, vegetable, fruiting, and ornamental crops that utilize plugs for production have demonstrated better plant health, transplant establishment rate, and total yield. Many substances are capable of supporting plug growth, so the APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University investigated the quality of plugs prepared based on different commonly used growth mediums for plug production. We carried out the growth of Rex Butterhead Lettuce Latuca Sativa plugs with six different treatments: 1) Rockwool, 2) Oasis® Horticube, 3) Perlite 4) Coco Coir, 5) Phenolic Foam, and 6) Peat Pellets. The seeds were sowed in their respective growth medium and watered every day. The plugs were then cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves apart from the cotyledon had developed. After 15 days, we collected data which included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm2), nitrogen content (mg/g), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm2). In addition, we derived data including the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm2/g). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the biomass data. Pairwise permanovas were conducted, followed by pairwise Wilcoxon tests to determine which treatments result in significant differences for each response variable. A permutation MANOVA revealed a significant treatment effect on plug preparation (p=0.001). All subsequent multilevel pairwise comparisons were significant, with the exception of phenolic foam vs perlite (p=0.294). Of all the treatments, we concluded that plugs grown in Peat Pellets produced the most viable plugs with the largest wet weight (g), dry weight (g), and total leaf area (cm2). Results from this study may inform growers about appropriate growth mediums for efficient plug production. Keywords: Controlled Environments, Growth Mediums, Lettuce, Plugs, Urban Agriculture

Conventional agricultural techniques have been degrading American soils nationwide since the beginnings of modern-day agriculture through practices such as soil tilling, using nitrogen synthetic fertilizers, and monocultural systems. These previously mentioned techniques contribute to degrading soil health, mass emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and decreased biodiversity. Regenerative agriculture offers a combination of sustainable practices that will create carbon sinks to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, restore national food systems, and prioritize soil health. Regenerative agriculture techniques include the utilization of cover crops, compost, no-tillage, mob grazing, and polyculture. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture focused on the effectiveness of compost by comparing the growth of lettuce in four different treatments: 100% compost (100%C), 75% compost 25% Miracle-Gro (75%C-25%MG), 50% compost 50% Miracle-Gro (50%C-50%MG), and finally, 100% Miracle-Gro (100%MG). The lettuce seeds were kept in a growth tent for 15 days during their period of germination before being transferred to four 1x1 meter plots in the Food Forest at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) for the 60-day growth period. The lettuce crops grew to full bloom and ready for harvest. Sampling events took place every six days in which crop growth data including wet weight (g), dry weight (g), chlorophyll concentration (μmol/m^2), and leaf area (cm^2) were collected. Specific Leaf Area (g/cm^2) and Leaf Area Index were derived, and statistical analysis was conducted. Based on the statistical tests conducted at the 5% significance level using R statistical software, soil treatment type was found to be significant (p=0.0002). Soil treatment type was shown to have significantly impacted wet weight (p

The integration of sustainable technologies in waste management systems has become imperative in addressing the escalating challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability. Plugs are essential when starting crop production in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) setups and greenhouses. Horticultural crops such as vegetables, fruiting, and ornamental plants that utilize plugs have demonstrated higher success rates, healthier plants, and higher total yields. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture at explored the innovative utilization of digestate from the Home Water-Energy-Food Systems (H-WEF), the H-WEF system converts household food waste into biogas, electricity, and nutrient-rich digestate. The digestate from the H-WEF system was used to produce agricultural plugs, presenting a novel approach to circular resource utilization. We carried out the growth of Rex Butterhead Lettuce Latuca Sativa plugs with eight different treatments, 1) control synthetic fertilizer; 2) 5% Digestate – 95% RO Water (5D–95RO); 3) 10% Digestate – 90% RO Water (10D–90RO); 4) 15% Digestate – 85% RO Water (15D–85RO); 5) 20% Digestate – 80% RO Water (20D–80RO); 6) 25% Digestate – 75% RO Water (25D–75RO); 7) 30% Digestate – 70% RO Water (30D–70RO); 8) 35% Digestate – 65% RO Water (35D–65RO). The seeds were sowed with their fertigation treatment and watered every day. The plugs were cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves had developed after the cotyledon. After 15 days, we collected data on wet weight (g), plug head area (cm2), total leaf area (cm2), total nitrogen content (mg/g), total chlorophyll content (mg/cm2), and dry weight (g). In addition, we collected data on the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm2/cm2) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm2/g). The synthetic fertigation yielded a higher wet weight than the following treatments: 5D–95RO, 10D–90RO, and 35D–65RO. While the 30D–70RO treatment produced a larger plug head than all other treatments. The digestate-based fertilizers were comparable to the synthetic fertilizer at dilutions of 25D–75RO and 30D–70RO. Results from this study may inform growers about the viability of utilizing digestate for plug production.

Anticipating crop advancement, particularly fruit maturation, is critical for peach growers' success and marketing. Growing Degree Days (GDD) predict the growth and development stages of plants and insects. They are based on the accumulation of heat units above a specific baseline temperature, under the concept that a certain amount of heat is needed to develop from one stage to another in the life cycle. GDDs are used for various purposes in agriculture and horticulture, such as planting scheduling, pest management and crop monitoring. Peach growers use GDD to predict the peach cultivar maturity and schedule harvesting. However, peach cultivars' ripening time is reported in the calendar or Julian days (JD) or as the number of days before or after a reference cultivar, which is not amenable to climate change. Therefore, we modeled GDD in a diverse set of peach and nectarine cultivars and breeding accessions using the Baskerville-Emin (BE) method. The GDD was calculated from full bloom to fruit maturity using historical temperature, bloom and ripening data collected at the Musser Fruit Research Station in Seneca, South Carolina, in the 2017-2023 period. GDD and JD variability will be presented, and implication of providing GDD information on existing and newly released cultivars for producers and researchers will be discussed.

This study addresses the critical need for precise irrigation management in the greenhouse production of high-value ornamental crops, focusing on the propagation of single-stem rose (Rosa rubiginosa) cuttings under light-emitting diode (LED) supplemental lighting. The current lack of effective monitoring and control systems for substrate moisture poses challenges in optimizing plant growth while minimizing water and nutrient losses. In this context, we propose the integration of moisture sensors for real-time monitoring and control of substrate moisture levels, coupled with LED supplemental lighting, to enhance the production of rose cuttings. Our approach involved assessing the feasibility and effectiveness of moisture sensor-controlled irrigation in greenhouses, considering the specific requirements of rose propagation and the influence of LED lighting on plant growth. We tested three Ө thresholds (0.25, 0.35, and 0.45 m3.m-3) and five light levels as supplemental lighting (100, 175, 250, 325, and 400 µmol.m-2.s-1) arranged on randomized complete block design with four replications. Rose Double Knock Out® ‘Radtko’ PP 16,202 CPBR 3,104 plants were grown in 15.6 L pots (Pioneer Pots; Blackmore Co., Belleville, MI) filled with 20% Canadian peat/58% aged pine/10% perlite/12% EZ Hydrafiber lime potting mix (Oldcastle HFC25; Oldcastle Lawn

Exponential population growth adds increasing pressure on the agriculture industry to grow and distribute fresh foods to rural and urban areas, leading to the development of GREENBOX technology, which utilizes Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) principles to optimize the desired conditions for growth of leafy green crops. Using commercially available equipment, GREENBOX technology has the capability to be integrated into existing urban infrastructure to help relieve the negative impact urbanization has on the availability of fresh foods. GREENBOX technology allows environmental variables, such as temperature, humidity, light intensity/ spectrum, and nutrient delivery, to be controlled to enhance the growth performance of leafy greens. Precursory experiments using GREENBOX Technology utilized the standard photoperiod of 16 hours of light, and 8 hours of dark for all crop production. The main objective of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of Lactuca sativa Rex Butterhead Lettuce production grown under different photoperiods using GREENBOX technology. Using the standard 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark as the control, two different photoperiod treatments were tested. Treatment one consisted of a 14-hour light period and a 10-hour dark period, while treatment two consisted of a 12-hour light period and a 12-hour dark period. The biomass and productivity of the crops were measured in addition to the environmental conditions for each lighting regimen to ascertain any significant differences. The biomass parameters included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm2), leaf count (n), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm2). We derived additional data, including the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm2/cm2), Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm2/g), and biomass productivity (kg/m2). A statistical analysis of the biomass data was used to understand the differences in biomass parameters between crop growth and different light lengths. No statistically significant differences were found between the biomass and productivity parameters for the 12-hour and 14-hour photoperiods. However, the weight weights, dry weights, Leaf Count, SLA, and LAI from the 16-hour photoperiod showed statistically significant differences from the 12 and 14-hour photoperiods. All treatments still produced Rex Butterhead lettuce above the expected harvest weight of 180g and are viable for crop production in urban warehouse settings. The results of this experiment may help us understand the relationship between photoperiod and the biomass performance of leafy greens. Future GREENBOX experiments may use this information to increase the efficiency and productivity outputs of GREENBOX units. Keywords: CEA, Hydroponics, lettuce, soilless agriculture, urban agriculture