Articles
SPLIT-ROOT NUTRITION OF SWEETPOTATO IN HYDROPONIC SYSTEMS
Article number
401_14
Pages
121 – 130
Language
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.
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.
Authors
M.A. Sherif, P.A. Loretan, A.A. Trotman, D.G. Mortley, J.Y. Lu, L.C. Garner
Keywords
divided root, translocation, Ipomoea batatas, microbial profile
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