Electrical conductivity and pH of the substrate solution in gerbera cultivars under fertigation

Abstract

The quality and the profitability on floriculture are intimately linked to the adequate plant nutrition. In the present research we aimed to evaluate the electrical conductivity (EC) and pH of the substrate solution on four different gerbera cultivars subjected to fertigation, with two nutritive solutions. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, from May to July 2006, on the Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, São Paulo state, Brazil. The experiment was carried out under an experimental design of random blocks, in 4×2 factorial arrangement, with four Gerbera cultivars (Cherry, Golden Yellow, Salmon Rose and Orange) and two nutritive solution concentrations: 0.92 and 1.76 dS m -1 EC) during the vegetative stage, and 1.07 and 2.04 dS m -1 during the reproductive stage (S 1 and S 2 , respectively). The nutrients were applied through fertigation, manually performed every day. The EC and pH values of the substrate solution were evaluated weekly, using the 'pourthru' method. Orange and Cherry cultivars had, respectively, the highest and the lowest electrical conductivity of the substrate solution, and Cherry was the most efficient on the nutrient uptake. The solution S 2 showed a trend to accumulate salts in the substrate, but without visual symptoms of plant toxicity, leading to the lowest pH values. The 'pourthru' method was efficient when compared to the 1:2 method and can be adopted for substrate solution analysis in gerbera culture.

Fertigation and growth regulator on coffee seedling production in tubes

“…Although different plant species, cultivars and phenological stages have different nutritional needs (Ludwig & Fernandes 2013), and despite the difficulties involved in applying fertilizers or fertigation to tubes (Marana et al 2008, Tomaz et al 2015, this study may contribute to the adoption of fertigation in coffee seedling production. On the other hand, in the light of our results and based on the literature, Stimulate ® has little or no effect on coffee seedlings (up to 6 months after planting), but increases growth slightly in larger seedlings that are too old for transplantation.…”

“…The nutritional management using nutrient solutions and controlling electrical conductivity and pH has been applied in the production of citrus (Bataglia et al 2008), potato (Calori et al 2017), lettuce (Helbel Junior et al 2008) and flower (Ludwig & Fernandes 2013) seedlings. The benefits of this technique are a better fertilizer distribution in the container and the ability to increase the number of fertilizer applications, improving the nutrient absorption by plants (Duenhas et al 2005).…”

An Optimization Scheme Based on Fuzzy Logic Control for Efficient Energy Consumption in Hydroponics Environment

“…Ludwig et al [24] did some researches on monitoring the hydroponics environment through IoT devices. The authors controlled conductivity level, the pH and brightness of the hydroponics system; microcontroller was utilized for collecting all of the data.…”

“…The mobile application can provide remote monitoring, alarms and reminders for harvest, recording data and harvest planning for hydroponics farm. Above mentioned and many other existing studies described in the literature [24][25][26][27] are mainly paid attention to the remote monitoring of the hydroponics system using IoT devices. They try to increase the user/farmer working productiveness by sending reminders, alarms and timely notifications based on IoT devices.…”

Effectiveness of Sorghum Husk and Chicken Manure in Bioremediation of Crude Oil Contaminated Soil

“…The higher the concentration of the ions in the soil, the stronger or higher the EC values for the soil. Soil that exhibits high alkalinity will have less soluble salt in it [15], which indicates that at low soil pH value, high soluble salt content is present in the soil. Thus, the soil will have high EC.…”