This study investigated the impact of two light sources and fertilizers on the growth of nine lettuce cultivars in a hydroponic nutrient film technique system. The research was prompted by reduced plant growth and acidity issues observed in the nutrient solutions in which Lettuce (Lactuca sativa cv. Salanova) was growing in previous experiments. The hypothesis posited that adjusting the ammonium/nitrate ratio in the nitrogen fertilizer source could mitigate acidity drops in the nutrient solution and consequently enhance biomass production. This experiment was conducted at Texas Tech University's Horticulture Gardens and Greenhouse Complex from October 10 to November 22, 2023. Treatments included combinations of two light sources (WhiteLEDs and LumiGrow TopLight Node™) and two fertilizer brands (Oasis and MaxiGro) containing different ratios of ammonium:nitrate; Oasis with 21.25:78.75, and MaxiGro with 15:85. Both fertilizers were maintained at the same concentration of nitrogen throughout the experiment, although the rates were changed according to developmental stage. The nutrient solutions initially contained 100 ppm N fertilizer for three weeks, followed by a water change and an increase to 150 ppm N.The pH and EC levels were closely monitored throughout the experiment. Results revealed significant differences among cultivars for all measured variables, with Salvius demonstrating superior performance in most aspects. The light source had no significant impact on aerial growth variables, while the MaxiGro fertilizer brand significantly and positively influenced plant weight, height, and root weight. Although there were significant interactions between light source, cultivar, and fertilizer for above-ground variables, these were highly dependent upon fertlizer. In conclusion, the choice of fertilizer brand is crucial for optimal lettuce growth in hydroponic systems. This study highlights the importance of selecting appropriate fertilizer characteristics to avoid detrimental effects on biomass production. Further trials are recommended to validate these findings and address concerns for home and commercial growers in hydroponic lettuce production.
The focus on sustainability and effective resource management is expanding along with the upward trend in greenhouse production. Precise application of fertilizers is becoming more and more important in a variety of agricultural systems. The physical and chemical characteristics of soilless growth media differ from those of soil, which causes differences in their ability to retain nutrients. As such, accurate rates of fertilizer are crucial. This study looked at 14 different fertilizer blends with varying percentages of potassium (0-200ppm), phosphorus (0-100ppm), and nitrogen (0-200ppm). Pots were filled with Berger BM6 media and then ‘Buttercrunch’ lettuce seeds were planted. With each treatment fertilizer rate, the plants were hand-watered once a week to maintain a 10% leaching fraction. The number of leaves, dry shoot weight, fresh root weight, dried root weight, and SPAD readings were among the end measurements. The study found that a mix of high rates of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium fertilizer treatments increased fresh shoot weight. This emphasizes the need for additional study to determine the best fertilizer rates for various specialty crops grown in soilless greenhouse environment.
Nanoparticles have unique physical and chemical properties, which can positively and negatively impact crop growth and tolerance to abiotic stresses. This study evaluated the potential of ZnO and SiO2 nanoparticles in alleviating salinity stress in hydroponically cultivated lettuce. Two-week-old lettuce seedlings (Lactuca sativa cv. Green Forest) were transplanted into a 5-L deep water culture system and grown for four weeks in a customized growth chamber set at 25°C with 230 µmol/m2/s PPFD. The nutrient solution was maintained at an electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.5 dS/m and pH 5.8, and replenished weekly. A factorial design was employed with four salinity stresses (non-saline, 50 mM NaCl, 33.3 mM CaCl2, 25 mM NaCl 16.6 mM CaCl2) and three nanoparticle treatments (no nanoparticle, 100 ppm ZnO, 100 ppm SiO2). Under non-saline conditions, both ZnO and SiO2 treatments showed no significant differences in shoot growth compared to the control plants. However, ZnO application reduced shoot biomass, leaf area, SPAD, chlorophyll fluorescence and net photosynthetic rate under CaCl2 and NaCl CaCl2 stress. SiO2-treated plants had higher SPAD than the control plants under CaCl2 stress but presented lower values under NaCl CaCl2 stress. Root growth also showed contrasting results based on the stress conditions. SiO2 application resulted in increased root dry weight, total root length and surface area under non-saline and CaCl2 stress, while they decreased under NaCl stress. Similarly, ZnO application enhanced root growth under non-saline conditions, but demonstrated negative effects under all salinity stress conditions. In conclusion, SiO2 nanoparticle application did not improve salinity tolerance in lettuce, except for root growth under CaCl2 stress, and ZnO nanoparticle treatments showed phytotoxicity in both shoots and roots under all salinity stress conditions.
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) tipburn is a physiological disorder that leads to unappealing browning or necrosis of young leaf tips and stems, caused by localized calcium deficiency. It negatively impacts crop quality and yield, making proactive management essential for achieving optimal production. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of a calcium-mobilizing chemical biostimulant, applied in the nutrient solution, on lettuce growth and tipburn. We conducted a greenhouse experiment on two lettuce cultivars (‘Dragoon’ and ‘Rex’) using a randomized complete block design. The seedlings were grown indoors under continuous white light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a mean daily light integral (DLI) of 26 mol⋅m−2⋅d−1. We transferred 11-day-old seedlings to deep-water-culture hydroponic trays in a greenhouse. The two cultivars were subjected to three replications and five biostimulant concentrations (BC) of 0 (control), 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mL⋅L−1 of the nutrient solution. Plants were grown under an 18-h photoperiod with a mean DLI of 16.6 ± 2.0 mol⋅m−2⋅d−1 from both sunlight and supplemental white LEDs, an air temperature of 24.6 ± 3.1 °C, and relative humidity of 33.2% ± 9.5%. Plant data were collected 14, 21, 28, and 35 days after transplant (DAT). There was no visible tipburn 14 DAT; however, plant diameter and shoot mass (fresh and dry) decreased with increasing BCs. We observed tipburn 21 DAT in both cultivars. The control had the highest severity on a 0–5 scale (0 = no tipburn; 5 = severe tipburn) for ‘Dragoon’ (0.6) and ‘Rex’ (1.3), whereas no tipburn occurred under higher BCs (i.e., 0.5 and 1 mL⋅L−1). Tipburn progressed 28 DAT, when increasing the BC from 0 to 1 mL⋅L−1 decreased the tipburn rating from 3.3 to 0 for ‘Dragoon’ and from 4.1 to 0 for ‘Rex’. Plant growth was stunted under the highest BC (i.e., 1 mL⋅L−1). At 35 DAT, both cultivars had severe tipburn under the control but had decreasing tipburn severity as the BC increased. Plant growth was unaffected under the control and low BCs (i.e., 0, 0.125, 0.25 mL⋅L−1). Under the highest BC, ‘Dragoon’ had the longest roots, but ‘Rex’ had the shortest. In contrast, plants experienced phytotoxicity (reduced biomass and chlorophyll concentration) under the highest BC, i.e., (1 mL⋅L−1) though no tipburn was recorded. In conclusion, the optimal calcium-mobilizing BC was 0.5 mL⋅L−1, which minimized tipburn of greenhouse hydroponic lettuce without affecting biomass accumulation or causing phytotoxicity during later development stages.
Plant sap analysis is a technique for monitoring plant nutrient status in real-time, enabling precise nutrient management to enhance growth and yield in controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Comprehensive sampling techniques are vital for accurate determination of nutrient concentrations, considering the variability of nutrients across different developmental phases of plants. However, questions remain regarding the selection of the appropriate plant tissues, including the number of leaves collected, sampling time, type and age of plant tissue, and frequency. Different crops need specific sampling procedures due to their unique leaf morphology, growth habits, and physiology. Many commercial laboratories only distinguish between new and old leaves. In this series of studies, we determined the most effective sampling method including the number of leaves, the type and age of tissue, as well as the timing and frequency of the collection. Optimal sampling techniques were identified for lettuce and tomato by conducting five different experiments across three cultivars. These experiments varied the number of leaves sampled (10, 20, 30 per sample with three replicates), types of tissue (leaves for lettuce with three replicates, and petioles and leaves for tomatoes with 20 each per sample), age of tissue (new vs. old with 20 leaves per sample and three replicates), time of collection (6, 8, 10 am with three replicates). For lettuce, two developmental stages (half and final harvest maturity), while for tomatoes, sampling frequency at four different growth stages was investigated (first fully expanded leaves, 1/3 and 2/3 of crop development, and final harvest). The results indicate that collecting 20 fully expanded leaves at 8 am, particularly at the final harvest, was considered the best sampling technique for nutrient analysis for both lettuce and tomatoes, providing the most effective sampling technique for optimizing nutrient management.
The growing of taro in aquaponic systems has yielded corms significantly smaller than those grown terrestrially. Previous trials only partially supported the hypothesis that these low yields were due to excessive water and nitrogen levels late in vegetative development. A 2×2 (nitrogen restricted × supplemental fertilizer) factorial designed experiment was replicated 4 times in dual-tub systems. The 4 treatments tested were: 1) Fish effluent supplied throughout 10 months of plant development (T1); 2) Fish effluent restricted from the system at 6 months and fresh water supplied for the remaining 4 months of development (T2); 3) T1 plus supplemental potassium and iron fertilizer (T3); 4) Treatment 2 plus supplemental potassium and iron fertilizer (T4). The results indicate that the supplemental fertilizer was more important than effluent restriction late in development in enhancing corm growth, although effluent restriction did result in a higher maturity index of corms under supplemental fertilizer treatment. The corm yields were 140% higher in T3 (1.5 kg plant-1) than in T2 (0.63 kg plant-1). T4 had significantly more biomass partitioned into the corm (56% of total biomass) compared to T3 (44% of total biomass). The ratio of corm: total biomass is a key indicator of plant maturity and suggests restriction of high nitrogen effluent enhanced photosynthate translocation to the corm under supplemental fertilizer. Corm density was highest in T3 and lowest in T4, perhaps due to starch conversion to sugar in over-mature corms in T4. These results demonstrate the importance of supplementing potassium and iron fertilization, as well as restricting high nitrogen fish effluent late in taro corm development, to optimize taro yields and quality in aquaponic production systems.
Rhizosphere pH determines nutrient bioavailability, but this pH is difficult to measure. Standard pH tests require adding water to growth media. This dilutes hydrogen ion activity and increases pH. We used a novel, in situ, pointed-tip electrode to estimate rhizosphere pH without dilution. Measurements from this electrode matched a research-grade pH meter in hydroponic nutrient solutions. We then compared measurements from this electrode to saturated paste and pour-through methods in peat moss, coconut coir, and pine bark. The pointed-tip electrode was unable to accurately measure pH in the highly-porous pine bark media. Adding deionized water to the other media at container capacity using the saturated paste method resulted in a pH that was 0.59 ± 0.30 units higher than the initial in situ measurement at the top of the container. This increase aligns with established solution chemistry principles. Measurements of pH using the pour-through method were 0.38 ± 0.24 pH units higher than in situ measurements at the bottom of the container. We conclude that in situ pH measurements are not subject to dilution and are thus more representative of the rhizosphere pH than the saturated paste and pour-through techniques.
