Articles
Effect of electrical conductivity and nitrogen supply level on Scolymus hispanicus L. in a soilless cropping system
Article number
1437_7
Pages
49 – 56
Language
English
Abstract
Scolymus hispanicus L. (golden thistle) is a biennial herbaceous plant native in southern and western Europe.
It is a wild edible green of high nutritional value, which used to be selected from the nature as a component of the Mediterranean diet, but nowadays there is an increasing interest in its cultivation. Τhe aim of the current work is to study the effect of electrical conductivity and nitrogen supply level on growth and production of S. hispanicus when grown in soilless production systems.
To attain this objective, a two-factorial experiment was designed, by supplying nutrient solution at two different electrical conductivity (EC) levels (2.2 and 2.8 dS m‑1) in combination with two levels of nitrogen (high and low, i.e., 17.30 and 13.30 mmol L‑1, respectively). The plants were cultivated in bags containing perlite in an open soilless cropping system.
The results indicate that the high EC treatments significantly reduced the number of leaves plant‑1, as well as the shoot and plant fresh and dry weight of golden thistle.
Furthermore, high N supply seems to be beneficial for rosette diameter but only during the early growth stages.
The nutrient concentrations in the above-ground and root tissues of the plant were measured and the results are discussed.
It is a wild edible green of high nutritional value, which used to be selected from the nature as a component of the Mediterranean diet, but nowadays there is an increasing interest in its cultivation. Τhe aim of the current work is to study the effect of electrical conductivity and nitrogen supply level on growth and production of S. hispanicus when grown in soilless production systems.
To attain this objective, a two-factorial experiment was designed, by supplying nutrient solution at two different electrical conductivity (EC) levels (2.2 and 2.8 dS m‑1) in combination with two levels of nitrogen (high and low, i.e., 17.30 and 13.30 mmol L‑1, respectively). The plants were cultivated in bags containing perlite in an open soilless cropping system.
The results indicate that the high EC treatments significantly reduced the number of leaves plant‑1, as well as the shoot and plant fresh and dry weight of golden thistle.
Furthermore, high N supply seems to be beneficial for rosette diameter but only during the early growth stages.
The nutrient concentrations in the above-ground and root tissues of the plant were measured and the results are discussed.
Publication
Authors
F. Maniou, D. Papadimitriou, P. Kalozoumis, I. Vilos, C. Michalakis, D. Savvas
Keywords
open hydroponic system, drainage solution, hydroponics, soilless culture
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