Recommended Citation
Postprint version. Published in Acta Horticulturae, Volume 401, January 1, 1995, pages 121-130.
NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Lauren C. Garner was not yet affiliated with Cal Poly.
Abstract
Nutrient film technique (NFT) and deep water culture (DWC) hydroponic systems were used in a split-root study of the effect of four treatments on sweetpotato yield, the translocation of assimilates, and microbial population count. ‘TU-155’ cuttings (15 cm) were prerooted for 30 days in sand using deionized water and a modified half-Hoagland (MHH) solution. After 30 days, the plants were removed, and the roots of each were cleaned and split evenly between two sides of a channel (each 15 cm deep by 15 cm wide by 1.2 m long), four plants per channel. Replicated treatments were: MHH/MHH; MHH/Air, MHH/deionized water (DIW); and monovalent/divalent anions and cations (Mono/Dival). The entire experiment was repeated. Plants were harvested after growing for 120 days in a glasshouse. Storage roots, when produced, were similar in nutritive components. However, no storage roots were produced in Air or Mono channels and only a few in DIW suggesting inhibition of assimilate translocation. Fresh and dry weights for storage roots and foliage were highest in MHH/MHH in both NFT and DWC in both experiments. Solution samples were collected at 14-day intervals for microbial population profiling. Microbial counts (4.20–7.49 log cfu/ml) were highest in Dival channels. The counts indicated that solution composition influenced population size, and they were relatively high in both systems.
Disciplines
Horticulture | Plant Sciences
Copyright
1995 International Society for Horticultural Science.The original publication is available at http://www.actahort.org.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/hcs_fac/37
