POT PLANT GROWING ON A CAPILLARY MAT COVERED WITH A PERFORATED POLYETHYLENE FOIL

If pot plants are grown on capillary benches, the watering mat will be wet constantly.
These wet bench surfaces cause undesired evaporation, algae growth, and root growth in the watering mat.

An experiment has established that these undesired effects can be avoided if the watering mat is covered with an opaque perforated polyethylene foil.

In a growth chamber experiment without plants, the evaporation from a bench surface with and without a perforated polyethylene foil was compared.
Bench surfaces with no covering showed 3–5 times higher evaporation.

In a greenhouse experiment pot soil temperature was measured in covered and uncovered benches.
Constant measurements during a month established 1°C higher temperature in the covered benches.
The plants showed no significant differences in dry matter and fresh weight between covered and uncovered benches.
The water uptake did not seem to be disturbed by the polyethylene foil.

Nutrient Film Technique and Substrates, XXI IHC

H. Bjerre

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1983.133.17