Study on the Lettuce Growth Using Different Water Sources in a Hydroponic System

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Plants can be grown using a culture medium without soil using a hydroponic system. Crop production by the hydroponic system is likely to increase as a means of solving various problems in the agricultural sector such as aging of rural population and climate change. Different water sources can be used to prepare the culture medium used in the hydroponic system. Therefore, it is necessary to study the effect of different water sources on crop production by the hydroponic system in order to explore the applicability of various water resources. METHODS AND RESULTS: Lettuce was cultivated by the hydroponic system and three different water sources [tap water (TW), bottled water (BW), and groundwater (GW)] were used to compare the effect of water sources on lettuce growth. The three kinds of waters with a nu-trient solution (TW-M, BW-M, GW-M) were also used as the media. After the six-week growth period, the lettuce length and weight, the number of leaves, and the contents of chlorophylls and polyphenols were compared among the different media used. The lettuces did not grow in the waters without the nutrient solution. In the media, the lettuce growth and the contents of chlorophylls were affected by the different water sources used to prepare the media, while the contents of polyphenols were not affected. The absorbed amounts of ions by lettuces, especially Ca and Zn ions, and the dry weight of the harvested lettuces showed a strong positive correlation. CONCLUSION(S): Overall, this study shows that different water sources used for growing lettuce in a hydroponic system can affect lettuce growth. Further studies on the enhancement of crop qualities using different water sources may be required in future studies.

Effect of Biochar Derived from Greenhouse Crop Residue on Lettuce Growth and Soil Chemical Properties

“…국내 농업부산물의 68%에 해당하는 볏짚, 왕겨 등의 노지작물 부산물은 퇴비의 부자재, 가축 사료 및 축 사 깔짚 등으로 자원화되고 있으나 고추, 토마토, 파프리카와 같이 대부분 시설에서 재배되는 시설작물 부산물은 적 절한 자원화 방법이 없어 대부분 방치 또는 소각한다고 알려져 있다 (Lee et al, 2012;Yu et al, 2013). 특히, 시설재배 면적 중 양액재배 면적이 2005년 677 ha, 2011년 3,009 ha, 2021년 4,271 ha로 꾸준히 증가하는 추세이며 (MAFRA, 2005(MAFRA, -2021, 이전에는 토양환원 방식으로 부산물을 처리했던 시설농가들이 점차 고형배지 및 수경 등의 양액재배 방 식으로 방법을 변경하면서 부산물을 효과적으로 처리하기 어려운 실정이다 (Park et al, 2021a;Heo et al, 2022). 또 한, 소각 또는 매립에 의존하는 처리 방식은 유해가스를 발생시켜 심각한 대기오염의 원인이 되고 있으며, 부패 시 발생하는 침출수의 경우 수질 및 토양오염을 일으키고 있어 이를 해결하기 위한 적절한 처리 방법이 요구되고 있다 (Zhang et al, 2008;Lee et al, 2017).…”