Effect of Different Culture Media on Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) Yield Components and Mineral Elements Concentration in Soilless Culture

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Kamran Ghasemi ¹
• Seied Mostafa Emadi ²
• Yousef Ghasemi ²

¹ Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Universityrces University

² Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University

https://doi.org/10.22067/jhorts4.v31i4.58860

Abstract

Introduction: Broccoli is one of the valuable vegetables among brassicas which has received great attention throughout the world and is cultivated both in soil and soilless culture. Currently, we face restriction in high quality of the soils and water resources as two essential inputs in agriculture. Like other parts of the world, Iran is losing hundred hectares of its arable and fertile land annually due to salinity, alkalinity and waterlogging. One of the important strategies to overcome these adverse conditions is soilless culture systems. Among the different methods of soilless culture, substrate culture is more common and cheaper than others. Different kinds of organic and inorganic substances are used in soilless culture system, but the optimum mixture of growing medium is still a challenging issue. Physical and chemical characteristics of growing media can potentially affect the yield and product quality in direct and indirect ways. A good medium for soilless culture should have easy drainage, appropriate aeration, high water holding capacity and low price, as well as no weed seeds and pathogens. Therefore, this research was aimed to evaluate different prevalent growing media in broccoli soilless culture system.
Materials and Methods: This experiment was conducted as an outdoor soilless culture system in outdoor hydroponic site in Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Recourses University (SANRU). To begin with, broccoli seeds were sown in transplanting tray, and after five weeks, the developed transplants were cultivated in growing bags in a soilless system. In this work, different mixtures of culture media were evaluated for yield component and mineral elements of broccoli. Ten kinds of different media comprising of cocopeat, perlite, sand, sawdust, sand+sawdust, sand+vermicompost, cocopeat+perlite, cocopeat+LECA, cocopeat+ pumice, and cocopeat+perlite+ vermicompost were compared in completely randomized design with tree replications. At the end of the growing season, vegetative growth and yield components of broccoli were measured. The macro nutrients including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (k), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) and sulfur (S) were then analyzed in the harvested broccoli. Four important micro elements such as Iron (Fe), cooper (Cu), boron (B) and zinc (Zn) were measured as well. A statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software (version 9.1) and means were compared using Duncan’s multiple range test at 0.05 and 0.01 probability levels.
Results and Discussion: According to the results, culture medium showed no significant effect on plant height, dry matter and the number of auxiliary heads, while it significantly affected diameter and weight of main head (p≤0.01). The highest head diameter was seen in sand+vermicompost mixture which had no significant difference from cocopeat, cocopeat+LECA, and prlite+cocopeat+vemicompost. The mixture of sand+vermicompost resulted in the heaviest broccoli heads that were significantly greater than all other growing media used in the experiment. Since vermicompost contains some mineral elements like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus and some growth stimulators as well, mixing this substrate with sand can create an appropriate and ideal culture for root growth and development. Pure perlite and sawdust media contributed to the lowest yield with no significant differences from each other. The macro and micro nutrients of broccoli head were not significantly affected by growing medium, except for nitrogen and zinc. The highest concentration of nitrogen in broccoli head was recorded for pure perlite and sawdust which was significantly more than other media. The highest zinc concentration in broccoli head was observed in Sawdust medium (p≤0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between plant height and three main macro nutrients (N, P and K). The negative correlation between some macro nutrients and plant growth can be related to the excessive amount of these elements in nutrient solution. Positive and significant correlation was also seen among plant height, head diameter and head weight. In other word, the tallest plants could produce bigger and heavier head.
Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that a mixture of organic and inorganic substances can be better than a single substance medium. On the other hand, our results showed that role of medium substances and composition is not as important as nutrient solution, so an appropriate nutrient solution with a proper rate can potentially provide all plant's needs regardless of media composition.

Keywords

• Cocopeat
• Growing media
• perlite
• Sand
• Vermicompost

20.1001.1.20084730.1396.31.4.10.8

References

1- Abad M., Noguer P., Puchades R., Maquieira R., and Noguera A. 2002. Physico-chemical and chemical properties of some coconut coir dusts for use as a peat substitute for containerized ornamental plants. Bioresource Tehcnology, 82: 241-245.

2- Amiri A., Aghdak P., and Mobli M. 2009. Effect of culture media and hydrogel on vegetative and generative characteristics of serpent eggplant. 1th Congress on Hydroponic and Greenhouse Product: 351-353. (in Persian).

3- Arancon N.Q., Edwards C.A., Bierman P., Welch C., and Metzger J.D. 2004. Influences of vermicomposts on fields strawberries: Effects on growth and yields. Bioresource Technology, 93: 145-153.

4- Arenas, M., Vavrina C.S., Cornell J.A., Hanlon E.A., and Hochmuth G.J. 2002. Coir as an alternative to peat in media for tomato transplant production. HortScience, 37: 309-312.

5- Asef M.H., Kashi A., and Salehi R. 2011. Effect of different nutrient solutions on yield and quality of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italic) in greenhouse conditions under hydroponic system. The 7th Congress of Iranian horticultural Sciences, 1055-1053.

6- Bhat N.R., Suleiman M.S., Al-Mulla L., and Albaho M. 2013. Comparision of growing substrates for organic tomato, cauliflower and iceberg lettuce production under greenhouse conditions. Journal of Agriculture and Biodiversity Research, 2(2): 55-62.

7- Bugbee B. 2004. Nutrient management in recirculating hydroponic culture. Acta Horticulturae. 648.

8- Cantliffe D.J., Funes J., Jovicich E., Parajpe A., Rodriguez J., and Shaw N. 2007. Media and containers for greenhouse soil less grown cucumbers, melons peppers and strawberries. Acta Horticulturae, 614, 199-203.

9- Delshad M., Kashi A., and Babalar M. 2006. Evaluation of conventional media substitution with organic media and finding optimum nutrient solotion for soilless culture of greenhouse tomato. Irainian Journal of Agriculture Science, 37 (1): 176-186. (in Persian with English abstract)

10- Dilmaghani M.R., and Hemmaty Emmaty S. 2011. Effect of different substrates on nutrient content, yield and quality of strawberry cv. Selva in soilless culture. Journal of Science and Technology of Greenhouse Culture, 2(7): 1-7.

11- Emami A. 1996. Analytical methods for plant analysis. Soil and Water Research Institute, Karaj, Iran, Technical Report, Vol .1, No .982, pp. 47-53. (in Persian)

12- Gao H.B., Zhang T.J., Lv G.Y., Zhang G.H., Wu X.L., Li J.R., and Gong B.B. 2010. Effects of different compound substrates on growth, yield and fruit quality of cucumber. Acta Horticulturae, 856: 173-180

13- Ikeda H., and Tan X. 2001. Effects of soilless medium on the growth and fruit yield of tomatoes supplied with urea and/or nitrate. Acta Horticulturae, 548: 157-164.

14- Inden H., and Torres A. 2004. Comparison of four substrates on the growth and quality of tomatoes. Acta Horticulturae, 644: 205-210

15- Javanpour Heravi R., Babalar M., Kashi A., Mirabdolbaqi M., and Asgari M.A. 2005. Effect of cirtain nutrient solution and growing media on qualitative and quantitative traits of tomato cv. Hamra in hydroponic system. Irainian Journal of Agriculture Science, 36 (4): 939-946. (in Persian with English abstract)

16- Marinou E.A., Chrysargyris A., and Tzortzakis N. 2013. Use of sawdust, coco soil and pumice in hydroponically grown strawberry. Plant Soil Environ. 59 (10): 452-459.

17- Mobli M., Aghdak P., and Naderi. 2008. Comparison of different growing media on yield and vegetative growth of tomato. The First National Congress on Tomato Production and Processing Technology, Mashhad. http://www.civilica.com/Paper-CTPPT01-CTPPT01_049.html. (in Persian)

18- Mobli M., and Aghdak P. 2010. Greenhouse vegetable growing technology (soil and soilless culture). Arkan Danesh Press, 177 p. (in Persian)

19- Olle M., Ngouajio M., and Siomos A. 2012. Vegetable quality and productivity as influenced by growing medium: a review. Žemdirbystė, Agriculture, 99 (4): 399-408.

20- Premuzic Z., Bargiela M., Garcia A., Rendina A., and Iorio A. 1998. Calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and vitamin C content of organic and hydroponic tomatoes. HortScience, 33(2): 255-257

21- Quin B.F., and Wood P.H. 1976. Rapid manual determination of sulfur and phosphorous in plant material. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 7(4): 415-426.

22- Saberi Z. 2006. Zeolite, mica and some inert materials as the substrate to growth hydroponic tomatoes. M.Sc.Thesis, Isfahan University of Technology. (in Persian with English abstract)

23- Savvas D., Samantouros K., Paralemos D., Vlachakos G., Stamatakis M., and Vassilatos C. 2004. Yield and nutrient status in the root environment of tomatoes grown on chemically active and inactive inorganic substrates. Acta Horticulturae, 644: 377-383.

24- San Bautista A., Rueda R., Pascual B., Maroto J.V., and Lopez-Galarza S. 2005. Influence of different substrates and nutrient solutions on the yields and the incidence of abiotic disorders of broccoli. Acta Horticulture, 697: 275-280.

25- Shinohara Y., Hata T., Maruo T., Hohjo M., and Ito T. 1999. Chemical and Physical properties of the coconut-fiber substrate and the growth and productivity of tomato plants. Acta Horticulturae, 481: 145-149.

26- Siomos A.S., Beis G., Papadopoulu P.P., and Barbayiannis N. 2001. Quality and composition of lettuce (cv. Plenty) grown in soil and soilless culture. Acta Horticulturae, 548: 445-450.

27- Sodre G.A., Cora J.E., and Souza Jr. J.O. 2007. Physical characteriza‌tion of sawdust substrate and containers for growth cuttings of cacao. Revista Brasiliera de Fruticultura, 29: 339-344.

28- Topcu Y., Dogan A., Kasimoglu Z., Sahin-Nadeem H., Polat E., and Erkan M. 2015. The effects of UV radiation during the vegetative period on antioxidant compounds and postharvest quality of broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.). Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 93:56-65.

29- Tzortzakis N.G., and Economakis C.D. 2008. Impacts of the substrate medium on tomato yield and fruit quality in soilless cultivation. Horticultural Science, 35: 83-89.

30- Waring E.J. 1950. Sawdust as a soil improver causes nitrogen deficiency in vegetable crops. Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales, 61: 73-76.

31- Westerman R.E.L. 1990. Soil Testing and Plant Analysis. SSSA, Mandison Wisconzin, USA.

32- Yousofian Z., Mobli M., and Aghdak P. 2009. Effect of culture media and hydrogel on vegetative and generative characteristics of cherry tomato. 1th congress on hydroponic and greenhouse product, 291-293. (in Persian)

33- Zahedifar M., Karimian N.A., Rounaghi A.M., Yasrebi J., and Emam Y. 2011. Effect of phosphorus and organic matter on phosphourus relationship between soil and plant in spinage. Journal of Science and Technology of Greenhouse Culture, 1(4): 45-52. (in Persian)