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Possibility of substituting soilless fertilizer with soil fertilizer for growing leafy vegetables in hydroponics
Author(s)
Jaenaksorn, T.
Ikeda, H.
Date Issued
February 1, 2004
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
In an attempt to reduce the hydroponic growing cost as well as to facilitate/ease the preparation and source of nutrient solution, soil fertilizer has been initially experimented as a substitute for soilless nutrient solution at the College of Agriculture, Osaka Prefecture University (OPU), Japan in 1999. Two x two factorials in CRD with 25 replications were employed and comparative growth including nutrient uptake were made with three kinds of leafy vegetables [pak choi (Brassica chinensis Linn), lettuce (Lactuca sativa Linn), and Chinese cabbage (Brassica pekinensis Bailey)] in Deep Flow Technique (DFT) as well as in recirculation Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) fertilized with soilless nutrient solution (NS1) and soil fertilizer solution (NS2). The nutrient solution was weekly chemically analyzed to monitor its change. Satisfactory results were achieved in all three vegetables tested. Consequently, further investigation followed and expanded in broader fields, such as aeration and non-aeration factor, at the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand. In the first experiment at KMITL, split split plot design was employed with 3 replications. Main plot was 4 varieties of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) while sub plot 1 and 2 were set up for 2 kinds of nutrient solution (one made of soil fertilizer) and its aeration or non aeration, respectively. In the second experiment, 2×4 factorials in CRD with 10 replications were set up with celery (Apium graveolens var. dulce) grown in DFT. Satisfactory results were produced in sweet basil provided continuous aeration was used. For celery, it grew well either in soilless or soil fertilizer solution regardless of aeration or non-aeration. However, the growth in soilless solution was significantly better than in soil fertilizer solution. In short, it has been worthy of substituting the soilless fertilizer with soil fertilizer since our goal is to provide initial information for future development of more efficient soilless nutrient solution substitutes.
Citation
Acta Horticulturae, 644, 351-357, 2004