• Horticultural Science & Technology
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.878-885
• /
• 2016

A study was conducted to examine the effects of light quality on the growth and phytochemical contents of ice plant in a closed-type plant production system. Seeds were sown in a 128-cell plug tray using rockwool. The seedlings were then transplanted into a deep floating technique system with recirculating nutrient solution (EC $1.5dS{\cdot}m^{-1}$, pH 6.5) in a closed-type plant production system. The nutrient solution was supplied at two weeks after transplanting with 2.0 mM NaCl concentration in all treatments for the development of the bladder cells. The three light sources with different light qualities used were as followed; FL (fluorescent lamps), combined RW LED (red:white = 7:3), and combined RBW LED (red:blue:white = 8:1:1) at $150{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ PPFD with a photoperiod of 14/10 hours (light/dark). The results showed that the FL treatment had the greatest growth enhancement effects on the leaf area and the fresh and dry weights of the shoots and roots. The SPAD values were significantly higher under the FL and RBW LED treatments, at 29.8 and 30.6, respectively. No significant difference was observed in salinity under all treatments. Chlorophyll fluorescence was significantly higher under the FL treatment. The total phenol content and antioxidant activity were the highest under the RBW LED treatment. The total flavonoid content was significantly higher under the RBW LED and FL treatments. Hence, the results indicate that the growth of ice plant was maximized under the FL treatment. The phytochemical contents were maximized under the RBW LED treatment.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.12-19
• /
• 2012

This research was performed to determine the appropriate daily last irrigation time to enhance the plant growth and the water and fertilizer use efficiencies in coir bag culture for tomato plant. The time to finish the daily irrigation was set by 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours before the sunset. The water content in the substrate was greatly affected by the last irrigation time. The earlier the last time, the greater the daily fluctuation of water contents in the substrate. The daily irrigation times were not affected by using irrigation management system controlled by drainage electrodes or the physiochemical properties of coir. The growth characteristics were not significantly different among the treatments. The highest marketable yields were obtained in the treatment finishing two hours before sunset, and the lowest yields were obtained in the the treatment finishing 4 hours before sunset. Based on the result from surveying quantity of irrigated water for 128 days of the experiment period, the water and fertilizer use efficiencies were lowest in the treatment finishing 4 hours before sunset, and the highest in the treatment finishing 2 hours before sunset. In terms of plant growth, yields, water and fertilizer use efficiencies, 2 hours before sunset treatment was determined as the most economical and desirable irrigation schedule.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.106-110
• /
• 2016

In this study, a planting density-growth-harvest (PGH) chart was developed to easily read the growth and harvest factors such as crop growth rate, relative growth rate, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry weight, harvesting time, marketable rate, and marketable yield of common ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.). The plants were grown in a nutrient film technique (NFT) system in a closed-type plant factory using fluorescent lamps with three-band radiation under a light intensity of $140{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ and a photoperiod of 12 h. Growth and yield were analyzed under four planting densities ($15{\times}10cm$, $15{\times}15cm$, $15{\times}20cm$, and $15{\times}25cm$). Shoot fresh and dry weights per plant increased at a higher planting density until reached an upper limit and yield per area was also same tendency. Crop growth rate, relative growth rate and lost time were described using quadratic equation. A linear relationship between shoot dry weight and fresh weights was observed. PGH chart was constructed based on the growth data and making equations. For instance, with within row spacing (= 20 cm) and fresh weight per plant at harvest (= 100 g), we can estimate all the growth and harvest factors of common ice plant. The planting density, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, lost time, shoot dry weight per plant, harvesting time, and yield were $33plants/m^2$, $20g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$, $0.27g{\cdot}g^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}$, 22 days, 2.5 g/plant, 26 days after transplanting, and $3.2kg{\cdot}m^{-2}$, respectively. With this chart, we could easily obtain the growth factors such as planting density, crop growth rate, relative growth rate, lost time and the harvest factors such as shoot fresh and dry weights, harvesting time, marketable rate, and marketable yield with at least two parameters, for instance, planting distance and one of harvest factors of plant. PGH charts will be useful tools to estimate the growth and yield of crops and to practical design of a closed-type plant production system.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.141-152
• /
• 2020

The rapid on-site measurement of hydroponic nutrients allows for the more efficient use of crop fertilizers. This paper reports on the development of an embedded on-site system consisting of multiple ion-selective electrodes (ISEs) for the real-time measurement of the concentrations of macronutrients in hydroponic solutions. The system included a combination of PVC ISEs for the detection of NO₃, K, and Ca ions, a cobalt-electrode for the detection of H₂PO₄, a double-junction reference electrode, a solution container, and a sampling system consisting of pumps and valves. An Arduino Due board was used to collect data and to control the volume of the sample. Prior to the measurement of each sample, a two-point normalization method was employed to adjust the sensitivity followed by an offset to minimize potential drift that might occur during continuous measurement. The predictive capabilities of the NO₃ and K ISEs based on PVC membranes were satisfactory, producing results that were in close agreement with the results of standard analyzers (R² = 0.99). Though the Ca ISE fabricated with Ca ionophore II underestimated the Ca concentration by an average of 55%, the strong linear relationship (R² > 0.84) makes it possible for the embedded system to be used in hydroponic NO₃, K, and Ca sensing. The cobalt-rod-based phosphate electrodes exhibited a relatively high error of 24.7±9.26% in the phosphate concentration range of 45 to 155 mg/L compared to standard methods due to inconsistent signal readings between replicates, illustrating the need for further research on the signal conditioning of cobalt electrodes to improve their predictive ability in hydroponic P sensing.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.123-133
• /
• 1990

Thermal performance of a solar heating plastic greenhouse designed for a hydroponic system was studied. The system was constructed with the air-water heat exchanger and thermal storage tank that were combined with hydroponic water beds. Experiments were carried out to investigate the daily average heat stored and released in thermal storage tank, average solar energy collection efficiency, average coefficient of performance, average oil reduction factor of thermal storage system, and the heat transfer coefficient during the nighttime in plastic greenhouse. The results obtained in the present study are summarized as follows. 1. Daily average heat stored in thermal storage tank and released from the thermal storage tank was 1,259 and $797KJ/m^2$ day, respectively. 2. The average solar energy collection efficiency of thermal storage tank was 0.125 during the experiment period. And the average coefficient of performance of thermal storage system in plastic greenhouse was 3.6. 3. The average oil reduction factor of thermal storage system and the heat transfer coefficient during the nighttime in plastic greenhouse were found to be 0.52 and $4.3W/m^2\;hr\;^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.89-94
• /
• 2016

This study was conducted to determine the optimum nutrient solution, pH, irrigation interval, light intensity and planting density to growth of common ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) in a closed-type plant production system. Three-band radiation type fluorescent lamps with a 12-h photoperiod were used. Nutrient film technique systems with three layers were used for the plant growth system. Environmental conditions, such as air temperature, relative humidity and $CO_2$ concentration were controlled by an ON/OFF operation. Treatments were comparison of the nutrient solution of Horticultural Experiment Station in Japan (NHES) and the nutrient solution of Jeju National University (NJNU), pH 6.0 and 7.0, irrigation interval 5 min and 10 min, light intensity 90 and $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$, and within-row spacing 10 cm, 15 cm, 20 cm and 25 cm with between-row spacing 15 cm. Optimum macronutrients were composed N 7.65, P 0.65, K 4.0, Ca 1.6 and Mg $1.0mM{\cdot}L^{-1}$. There were no significant interactions between pH 6.0 and 7.0 about shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight of common ice plant. Irrigation interval 5 min and 10 min was also the same result. Shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight were highest at $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$. Shoot fresh weight and shoot dry weight were decreased according to increasing the planting density. From the above results, we concluded that optimum nutrient solution, optimum levels of pH, irrigation interval, light intensity and planting density were 6.0-7.0 and 10 min, $180{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$ and $15{\times}15cm$, respectively for growth of common ice plant in a closed-type plant production system.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.108-114
• /
• 1999

This study was conducted to investigate the optimum environment for leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. crispa) in a plant factory to increase mass-production efficiency of quality leaf lettuce. Transpiration rate and $CO_2$ assimilation rate were increased with increasing the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). The highest fresh weight and dry weight were observed at the PPFD of 200 and 300 U moi $m^{-2}$ $s^{-l}$, respectively. The optimum aerial environment for the growth and quality of leaf lettuce in the plant factory was determined to be over 200 $\mu$mol $m^{-2}$ $s^{-1}$ for PPFB. Although the interaction between light intensity and nutrient level was not significant, the lettuce growth was the best under electrical conductivity (EC) of 1.8 mS $cm^{-1}$ / at high light intensity (250 $\mu$mol $m^{-2}$ $s^{-1}$ ) and EC of 2.4 mS cm-1 at low light level (150 $\mu$mol $m^{-2}$ $s^{-1}$ ) respectively.y.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
• /
• 1997.06c
• /
• pp.89-98
• /
• 1997

This study was conducted to develop an automatic nutrient-solution control system for small-scale growers. The nutrient-solution control system consisted of a low-cost and precise metering device and a personal computer. The system controlled electric conductivity(EC) and pH of nutrient-solution based on the time-based feedback control method with the information about temperature, EC, and pH of the nutrient-soIution. The performance of the nutrient-solution control system was evaluated through the control of EC and pH while compared with those of commercial nutrient-solution control system. Also an experimental cultivation of tomato was conducted to verify and to improve the developed system. Results of this study were as follows. 1. An automatic nutrient-solution control system based on a low-cost and precise metering device was developed. 2. The developed system controlled EC and pH within $\pm$0.05 mS/cm and $\pm$0.2 pH full scale error respectively at $24^{/circ}C$. 3. When using the commercial system, the controlled values of EC and pH of the 500l of water were 1.29 mS/cm and 6.1 pH for the setting points of 1.4 mS/cm and 6.0 pH respectively at $22^{/circ}C$. 4. The developed nutrient-solution control system showed $\pm$0.05 mS/cm of deviation from the setting EC value over the experimental cultivation period. 5. The deviation from the average values of Ca and Mg mass content in the several nutrient-solution were 0.5% and 1.8% respectively.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.234-241
• /
• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and Korean mint (Agastache rugosa Kuntze) with microbubble in a closed-type plant production system (CPPS) with a deep flow technique (DFT). Lettuce and Korean mint were grown in CPPS for 23 days. Microbubble was treated for 5 minutes daily at 9:00, 13:00, and 17:00 for 16 days. The leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, and fresh and dry weights of lettuce and Korean mint were significantly lower in microbubble than in the control. The total root length, root surface area, and the number of root tips of lettuce and Korean mint were significantly lower in the microbubble than in the control. In the case of average root diameter, there was no difference between the treatments of lettuce. However, Korean mint significantly increased in thickness in the microbubble treatment, indicating variations among the different crops. The results of the research indicated that microbubble treatment in the DFT inhibited plant growth by inducing abiotic stress in lettuce and Korean mint.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.21 no.12
• /
• pp.510-523
• /
• 2020

This study analyzed groundwater quality in hydroponic cultivation facilities. Through this study, the possibility of groundwater use was evaluated according to the quality of the groundwater for hydroponic cultivation facilities. Good groundwater quality, on average, is pH 6.61, EC 0.27 dS/m, NO3-N 7.64 mg/L, NH4+-N 0.80 mg/L, PO4-P 0.09 mg/L, K+ 6.26 mg/L, Ca2+ 18.57 mg/L, Mg2+ 4.38 mg/L, Na+ 20.85 mg/L, etc. All of these satisfy the water quality standard for raw water in nutrient cultivation. But in the case of farmers experiencing problems with groundwater quality, most of the items exceeded the water quality standard. As a result of the analysis, it was judged that purifying groundwater of unsuitable quality for crop cultivation, and using it as raw water, was effective in terms of water quality and soil purification. If an agricultural water purification system is constructed based on the results of this study, it is judged that the design will be easy because the items to be treated can be estimated. If a purification system is established, it can use groundwater directly in the facility and for horticulture. These study results will be available for use in sustainable agriculture and environments.