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Using aquaculture effluent (AE) to fertigate plants is gaining popularity worldwide. However, in substrate-based systems, the choice of substrate is essential due to their effects on crop productivity. Differences in the retention of nutrients by substrates makes it necessary to assess suitability for use in AE. This study was conducted from January to July in 2016 and September to October in 2019 to evaluate greenhouse-grown Beit Alpha cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. ‘Socrates’) performance fertigated with AE in pine bark or perlite substrates, grown either as one plant or two plants per pot. A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement in a randomized complete block design with four replications for each season was used. The substrate effect on yield in 2016 depended on the density and season. The pooled yield over seasons in 2016 showed pine bark had a significantly higher yield than perlite by 11% in one plant per pot but lowered by the same amount in two plants per pot. In 2019, pine bark significantly reduced the leachate pH in both plant densities and reduced the leachate EC by about 15% in two plants per pot. The foliar boron was occasionally below sufficiency whilst manganese was above sufficiency in pine bark due to its inherently low pH. We conclude that the effect of the substrates on cucumber yield fertigated with AE is dependent on the season and the number of plants per pot. Therefore, due to the local availability of pine bark, it could be a potential substitute for perlite especially when using one plant per pot for AE. In addition, pine bark could be used as an intermediate substrate to reduce the pH in AE for downstream use.
Emmanuel Ayipio; Daniel Wells; Mollie Smith; Caroline Blanchard. Performance of Greenhouse-Grown Beit Alpha Cucumber in Pine Bark and Perlite Substrates Fertigated with Biofloc Aquaculture Effluent. Horticulturae 2021, 7, 144 .
AMA StyleEmmanuel Ayipio, Daniel Wells, Mollie Smith, Caroline Blanchard. Performance of Greenhouse-Grown Beit Alpha Cucumber in Pine Bark and Perlite Substrates Fertigated with Biofloc Aquaculture Effluent. Horticulturae. 2021; 7 (6):144.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEmmanuel Ayipio; Daniel Wells; Mollie Smith; Caroline Blanchard. 2021. "Performance of Greenhouse-Grown Beit Alpha Cucumber in Pine Bark and Perlite Substrates Fertigated with Biofloc Aquaculture Effluent." Horticulturae 7, no. 6: 144.
Decoupled aquaponic systems are gaining popularity as a way to manage water quality in aquaponic systems to suit plant and fish growth independently. Aquaponic systems are known to be deficient in several plant-essential elements, which can be affected by solution pH to either increase or decrease available nutrients. To determine the effect of pH in a decoupled aquaponic system, a study was conducted using aquaculture effluent from tilapia culture tanks at four pH treatments: 5.0, 5.8, 6.5, and 7.0, used to irrigate a cucumber crop. Growth and yield parameters, nutrient content of the irrigation water, and nutrients incorporated into the plant tissue were collected over two growing seasons. pH did not have a practical effect on growth rate, internode length or yield over the two growing seasons. Availability and uptake of several nutrients were affected by pH, but there was no overarching effect that would necessitate its use in commercial systems. Nutrient concentrations in the aquaculture effluent would be considered low compared to hydroponic solutions; however, elemental analysis of leaf tissues was within the recommended ranges. Research into other nutrient sources provided by the system (i.e., solid particles carried with the irrigation water) would provide further information into the nutrient dynamics of this system.
Caroline Blanchard; Daniel Wells; Jeremy Pickens; David Blersch. Effect of pH on Cucumber Growth and Nutrient Availability in a Decoupled Aquaponic System with Minimal Solids Removal. Horticulturae 2020, 6, 10 .
AMA StyleCaroline Blanchard, Daniel Wells, Jeremy Pickens, David Blersch. Effect of pH on Cucumber Growth and Nutrient Availability in a Decoupled Aquaponic System with Minimal Solids Removal. Horticulturae. 2020; 6 (1):10.
Chicago/Turabian StyleCaroline Blanchard; Daniel Wells; Jeremy Pickens; David Blersch. 2020. "Effect of pH on Cucumber Growth and Nutrient Availability in a Decoupled Aquaponic System with Minimal Solids Removal." Horticulturae 6, no. 1: 10.
Aquaponic is a relatively new system of farming, which has received much research attention due to its potential for sustainability. However, there is no consensus on comparability between crop yields obtained from aquaponics (AP) and conventional hydroponics (cHP). Meta-analysis was used to synthesize the literature on studies that compared crop yields of AP and cHP. Factors responsible for differences were also examined through subgroup analysis. A literature search was conducted in five databases with no time restriction in order to capture any publication on AP and cHP crop yield comparisons. The search was, however, limited to journal and conference articles published in English. Study characteristics and outcome measures of food crops were extracted. A natural log response ratio effect size measure was used to transform study outcomes. An unweighted meta-analysis was conducted through bootstrapping to calculate overall effect size and its confidence interval. Between-study heterogeneity (I2) was estimated using a random effects model. Subgroup and meta-regression were used to assess moderators, in an attempt to explain heterogeneity in the effect size. The results showed that although crop yield in AP was lower than conventional cHP, the difference was not statistically significant. However, drawing conclusions on the overall effect size must be done with caution due to the use of unweighted meta-analysis. There were statistically significant effects of aquatic organism, hydroponic system type, and nutrient supplementation used in the studies on crop yield comparisons. Nutrient supplementation, particularly, led to on average higher crop yield in AP relative to cHP. These findings are a vital information source for choosing factors to include in an AP study. These findings also synthesize the current trends in AP crop yields in comparison with cHP.
Emmanuel Ayipio; Daniel E. Wells; Alyssa McQuilling; Alan E. Wilson. Comparisons between Aquaponic and Conventional Hydroponic Crop Yields: A Meta-Analysis. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6511 .
AMA StyleEmmanuel Ayipio, Daniel E. Wells, Alyssa McQuilling, Alan E. Wilson. Comparisons between Aquaponic and Conventional Hydroponic Crop Yields: A Meta-Analysis. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (22):6511.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEmmanuel Ayipio; Daniel E. Wells; Alyssa McQuilling; Alan E. Wilson. 2019. "Comparisons between Aquaponic and Conventional Hydroponic Crop Yields: A Meta-Analysis." Sustainability 11, no. 22: 6511.
Lettuce is a cool season vegetable often produced in greenhouses and other protective structures to meet market demands. Greenhouses are being increasingly adopted in warm climate zones where excessive heat often leads to physiological disorders of lettuce, such as tipburn and premature bolting. Greenhouse lettuce growers in warm climates need cultivar recommendations that can help improve production without ignoring marketability. In the current study, eighteen lettuce cultivars were grown in deep water culture and evaluated for growth, bolting, and tipburn in a greenhouse in Auburn, AL, starting on 30 June and 19 August 2016. Based on the severity of bolting and tipburn, nine cultivars were then selected and evaluated on 17 November 2016 for sensory attributes and marketability by 50 untrained consumer panelists. Cultivars ‘Adriana’, ‘Aerostar’, ‘Monte Carlo’, ‘Nevada’, ‘Parris Island’, ‘Salvius’, ‘Skyphos’, and ‘Sparx’ were selected as having higher heat tolerance than cultivars ‘Bambi’, ‘Buttercrunch’ ‘Coastal Star’, ‘Flashy Trout Back’, ‘Green Forest’, ‘Green Towers’, ‘Jericho’, ‘Magenta’, and ‘Truchas’. Higher crispness, lower bitterness, higher overall texture, and higher overall flavor each correlated to higher marketability, regardless of cultivar, but the strongest predictor of marketability was overall flavor. Overall flavor and overall texture were more strongly correlated to marketability than bitterness and crispness, respectively, suggesting that broader sensory categories may better capture human sensory perceptions of lettuce than narrower categories. Cultivars ‘Aerostar’, ‘Monte Carlo’, ‘Nevada’, ‘Parris Island’, ‘Rex’, ‘Salvius’, and ‘Sparx’ performed well in a hot greenhouse and were preferred by consumers. This step-wise experiment could be an adaptable tool for determining highest performing cultivars under any given production constraint, without ignoring marketability.
Sydney C. Holmes; Daniel E. Wells; Jeremy M. Pickens; Joseph M. Kemble. Selection of Heat Tolerant Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Cultivars Grown in Deep Water Culture and Their Marketability. Horticulturae 2019, 5, 50 .
AMA StyleSydney C. Holmes, Daniel E. Wells, Jeremy M. Pickens, Joseph M. Kemble. Selection of Heat Tolerant Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Cultivars Grown in Deep Water Culture and Their Marketability. Horticulturae. 2019; 5 (3):50.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSydney C. Holmes; Daniel E. Wells; Jeremy M. Pickens; Joseph M. Kemble. 2019. "Selection of Heat Tolerant Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Cultivars Grown in Deep Water Culture and Their Marketability." Horticulturae 5, no. 3: 50.
Phosphorus (P) fertilizers with high water-solubility are often applied in excessive amounts to porous horticultural substrates to produce high-quality plants. As a result, high P losses during containerized plant production have presented an environmental challenge to responsible growers. Poultry litter ash (PLA), a byproduct of bioenergy production, contains P concentrations comparable to conventional P fertilizers but is characterized as having lower water-solubility. Therefore, a series of experiments were conducted to characterize effects of PLA on container-plant growth and P leaching. PLA was compared with superphosphate (SP), a highly water-soluble P source, in ratios of 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 (SP:PLA) in the production of Lantana camara L. ‘New Gold’. In 2011, lantana fertilized with higher ratios of PLA exhibited slower growth with lower shoot and root biomasses compared with 100% SP-fertilized lantana. However, in 2012, differences in fertilizer treatments lessened, with 100% PLA-fertilized lantana exhibiting 14% less shoot biomass and no differences in root biomass compared with 100% SP-fertilized lantana. Measurement of shoot:root biomass, a common indicator of P deficiency, was not different between any P treatments in 2011 or 2012. This indicates root growth was most likely the driving factor in P-treatment effects on shoot biomass in each year of the experiment. During a postproduction field trial, no differences in growth or biomass were observed between lantana previously fertilized with P, regardless of source. However, application of PLA as the single P source reduced dissolved reactive P (DRP) concentrations in leachate >90% and total P (TP) mass losses 69% compared with 100% SP-fertilized lantana during container production, with P treatments reducing DRP and TP losses as PLA ratios increased. Therefore, the benefit of P-loss reduction during container production achieved through PLA application may warrant the acceptance of slightly smaller plants or extending production cycles.
Daniel E. Wells; Jeffrey S. Beasley; Lewis A. Gaston; Edward W. Bush; Maureen E. Thiessen. Poultry Litter Ash Reduces Phosphorus Losses during Greenhouse Production of Lantana camara L. ‘New Gold’. HortScience 2017, 52, 592 -597.
AMA StyleDaniel E. Wells, Jeffrey S. Beasley, Lewis A. Gaston, Edward W. Bush, Maureen E. Thiessen. Poultry Litter Ash Reduces Phosphorus Losses during Greenhouse Production of Lantana camara L. ‘New Gold’. HortScience. 2017; 52 (4):592-597.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDaniel E. Wells; Jeffrey S. Beasley; Lewis A. Gaston; Edward W. Bush; Maureen E. Thiessen. 2017. "Poultry Litter Ash Reduces Phosphorus Losses during Greenhouse Production of Lantana camara L. ‘New Gold’." HortScience 52, no. 4: 592-597.