The integration of sustainable technologies in waste management systems has become imperative in addressing the escalating challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability. Plugs are essential when starting ...The integration of sustainable technologies in waste management systems has become imperative in addressing the escalating challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability. Plugs are essential when starting crop production in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) setups and greenhouses. Horticultural crops such as vegetables, fruiting, and ornamental plants that utilize plugs have demonstrated higher success rates, healthier plants, and higher total yields. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture explored the innovative utilization of digestate from the Home Water-Energy-Food Systems (H-WEF). The H-WEF system converts household food waste into biogas, electricity, and nutrient-rich digestate. The digestate from the H-WEF system was used to produce agricultural plugs, presenting a novel approach to circular resource utilization. We carried out the growth of Rex Butterhead Lettuce Latuca sativa plugs with 1) control system (synthetic fertilizer) and seven different treatments, 2) 5% Digestate—95% RO Water (5D–95RO);3) 10% Digestate—90% RO Water (10D–90RO);4) 15% Digestate—85% RO Water (15D–85RO);5) 20% Digestate—80% RO Water (20D–80RO);6) 25% Digestate—75% RO Water (25D–75RO);7) 30% Digestate—70% RO Water (30D–70RO);8) 35% Digestate—65% RO Water (35D–65RO). The plugs were cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves had developed after the cotyledon. After 15 days, we collected data on wet weight (g), plug head area (cm2), total leaf area (cm2), total chlorophyll content (mg/cm2), and dry weight (g). In addition, we collected data on the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm2/cm2) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm2/g). The synthetic fertigation yielded a higher wet weight than the following treatments: 5D–95RO, 10D–90RO, and 35D–65RO. While the 30D–70RO treatment produced a larger plug head than all other treatments. The digestate-based fertilizers were comparable to the synthetic fertilizer at dilutions of 25D–75RO and 30D–70RO. This study underscores the viability of using digestate for plug production, providing crucial insights for growers navigating the challenges of sustainable agricultural practices.展开更多
The research objective of this review is to discuss the rationale that led to the development of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and investigate this agricultural approach as a potential solution to mitigate ...The research objective of this review is to discuss the rationale that led to the development of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and investigate this agricultural approach as a potential solution to mitigate the increased pressures on food security. It describes the need for urban cultivation systems using controlled environments and how they can be harnessed to address pressures facing food security. The factors that have contributed to the growth of CEAs, education, environmental justice, and the advantages and disadvantages of growing crops in CEAs in urban areas will be discussed. The article reviews global urban cultivation systems using controlled environments, by identifying the technologies needed to establish them. The practice of CEA is being increasingly adopted worldwide and we describe urban agriculture and compare it with traditional growing systems. Indoor farming systems that integrate into existing urban infrastructure such as vertical farming and plant factories using CEAs are discussed. Indoor farming gives urban areas enhanced access to food sources, but the cost is high, however decreasing due to recent technological advances. The current review extends the literature by incorporating recent research on the topic of agriculture in urban areas and food security. This review seeks to provide additional information regarding the viability of CEA in urban areas.展开更多
Obtaining nutritious food is becoming increasingly difficult due to the growing urban population and the degradation of soil, water, and air from mechanized and industrialized agricultural techniques. More than half t...Obtaining nutritious food is becoming increasingly difficult due to the growing urban population and the degradation of soil, water, and air from mechanized and industrialized agricultural techniques. More than half the global population resides in urban areas, with not enough surrounding agricultural land to meet food requirements. Food traveling long distances, an average of 1020 miles, has resulted in increased food miles for the average food item in the United States of America, representing wasted resources. The novel GREENBOX technology was invented in response to increasing pressures on food security. Previous studies conducted on GREENBOX technology assessed the technical feasibility of utilizing Lettuce Lactuca sativa ‘Rex Butterhead’. We at the APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University assessed the technical feasibility of growing different leafy green vegetable crops. GREENBOX technology consists of thermally insulated climate-controlled enclosures, an artificial lighting source, a soilless cultivation method (hydroponics), and environmental control modules. We assembled two GREENBOX units to assess the environmental conditions and growth performance of Brassica rapa var. chinensis ‘Li Ren Choi’, Spinach Spinacia oleracea ‘Auroch’, Arugula Eruca sativa ‘Astro’, and Mizuna Brassica Brassica rapa var. japonica. Plugs were cultivated and then transplanted in a randomized manner to the nutrient film technique (NFT) channels, subsequently grown for 30 days to full bloom and ready for harvest. Fertigation was carried out using a standard concentration nutrient solution. Crops were arranged in twelve blocks of four species each. We collected environmental data including daily light integral (DLI, mol/m<sup>2</sup>∙d), temperature (˚C), relative humidity (%), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD, kPa). Collected biomass data included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm<sup>2</sup>). We then derived the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g). Descriptive statistics were utilized to understand the differences in biomass parameters between the four crops grown. We also compared the performance parameters of our crops with existing peer-reviewed literature and found it superior, if not comparable to commonly found industrial output. We determined that all crops grew to full bloom, demonstrating that GREENBOX technology may be used to grow a variety of different leafy green vegetable crops.展开更多
Conventional soil-based agriculture is resource-intensive, utilizing large amounts of land and water, thereby placing a strain on Earth’s natural resources. Soil-based agricultural techniques create environmental iss...Conventional soil-based agriculture is resource-intensive, utilizing large amounts of land and water, thereby placing a strain on Earth’s natural resources. Soil-based agricultural techniques create environmental issues such as soil degradation, deforestation, and groundwater pollution from the mass implementation of fertilizers and pesticides. Agricultural crop production using hydroponics has shown promise to be less resource intensive and provide a faster turnaround in crop production. Soilless cultivation using hydroponics promises to relieve some pressure on Earth’s ecosystems and resources by utilizing lesser land and water footprint. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) compared the growth of Lettuce Lactuca sativa “Rex Butterhead” crop grown using soil and soilless methods to analyze the growth performance in each setting. Crops grown in the soil-based medium were raised in the FGCU Food Forest, used a mix of soil and potting mix, watered regularly, and followed standard Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. Crops grown hydroponically were grown in a thermally insulated grow tent with an artificial lighting source, ventilation, environmental controls, and the Deep-Water Culture (DWC) method. Lettuce plugs were grown for 15 days in controlled environments until two leaves after the cotyledons had developed and were ready for transplant. Plugs were transplanted into a 4 × 6 matrix at the FGCU Food Forest and the DWC growth system. Crops were grown to full bloom and ready for harvest in the soil (60 days) and soilless (30 days) based setups. We collected crop growth data, including wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (μmol/m<sup>2</sup>). From the collected data, we derived the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g) and biomass productivity (kg/m<sup>2</sup>). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the collected and derived data. We investigated the slopes of regression lines for each growth curve which derived the differences in biomass and productivity parameters between lettuce grown using soil and hydroponics. Both growing methods can grow lettuce crops to full bloom and to adequate harvest weight. The biomass parameters and productivity differ significantly between the growing methods. The lettuce crops grown using hydroponics increase in wet weight statistically and significantly faster than those grown in soil (p < 0.0001). Therefore, we determined that a hydroponic method of crop production may provide better crop output and biomass indicators measured than soil-based growth.展开更多
With the rising pressures on food security, GREENBOX technology was developed as an avenue for fresh leafy vegetable crop production in urban settings. GREENBOX units were designed to be thermally insulated and climat...With the rising pressures on food security, GREENBOX technology was developed as an avenue for fresh leafy vegetable crop production in urban settings. GREENBOX units were designed to be thermally insulated and climate controlled, with an artificial lighting source that utilized soilless cultivation techniques. Previous studies conducted on GREENBOX technology used the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT);however, various hydroponic methods exist, such as the Deep-Water Culture (DWC) method being the most used. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) compared the crop growth performance between DWC and NFT systems using GREENBOX technology. The following study monitored environmental conditions and compared productivity and biomass data of Rex Butterhead Lettuce crops between DWC and NFT systems. We assembled two GREENBOX units using commercially available materials and the standard nutrient solution for fertigation. The crops grown in DWC and NFT were in a 4 × 6 configuration. The DWC and NFT systems were used to grow Lettuce Lactuca sativa “Rex Butterhead” over 30 days to full bloom from prepared plugs grown for 14 days. We collected environmental data including Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD, μmol/m<sup>2</sup>∙s), Daily Light Integral (DLI, mol/ m<sup>2</sup>∙d), temperature (˚C), relative humidity (%), and Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD, kPa). We collected lettuce crop growth data, which included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (μmol/m<sup>2</sup>). We derived data, including the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g) and biomass productivity (kg/m<sup>2</sup>), from previously collected data. We used descriptive statistics to present the collected data. A paired t-test was performed to understand the differences in biomass and productivity parameters between the DWC and NFT-grown lettuce crops. Both the DWC and NFT-grown crops could grow lettuce crops to harvest weight at full bloom. Observed data demonstrated that the biomass parameters and productivity did not differ significantly between the two hydroponics techniques. Therefore, we believe both hydroponic methods may be similar in growth performance and may be used in future iterations of GREENBOX design and prove suitable for fresh vegetable crop production in urban settings.展开更多
Plugs are crucial for initiating crop production in greenhouses, soil, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Vegetable, fruiting, ornamental, and other horticultural crops that utilize plugs for production hav...Plugs are crucial for initiating crop production in greenhouses, soil, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Vegetable, fruiting, ornamental, and other horticultural crops that utilize plugs for production have demonstrated superior transplant establishment rate, plant health, and total yield. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University investigated the quality of plugs grown based on different concentrations and fertigation sources using synthetic and organic sources. We carried out the growth of “Rex Butterhead” Lettuce (Latuca sativa) plugs with five different fertigation treatments, 1) full-strength synthetic starter fertilizer solution;2) half-strength synthetic starter fertilizer solution;3) full-strength organic starter fertilizer solution;4) half-strength organic starter fertilizer solution, and 5) no fertilizer for control. Fertilizer treatments were formulated following manufacturer recommendations. The seeds were sown in Oasis<sup>®</sup> Horticubes and saturated every day with the different fertilizer treatments. The plugs were cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves after the cotyledons had developed. After 15 days, we collected data which included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm<sup>2</sup>). In addition, we derived data including the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm<sup>2</sup>/cm<sup>2</sup>) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the biomass data. A Tukey’s HSD test was carried out to understand the differences between the fertilizer sources. We determined there was a statistically significant difference (P = 7.34E−29) in the measured plug growth parameters due to the various fertigation sources. We found that all fertilizer treatments produced viable plugs except for the control treatment. Of all the treatments, we concluded the half-strength organic treatment produced the more vigorous plugs with the greatest wet weight (g) and largest total leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>) which was statistically significantly different. Results from this study may inform growers about appropriate fertilizer options for plug production.展开更多
Conventional agricultural techniques have been degrading American soils nationwide since the beginnings of modern-day agriculture through practices such as soil tilling, using nitrogen synthetic fertilizers, and monoc...Conventional agricultural techniques have been degrading American soils nationwide since the beginnings of modern-day agriculture through practices such as soil tilling, using nitrogen synthetic fertilizers, and monocultural systems. These techniques contribute to degrading soil health, mass emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and decreased biodiversity. Regenerative agriculture techniques include the utilization of cover crops, compost, no-tillage, the integration of livestock, and crop rotation. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture focused on the effectiveness of compost by comparing the growth of lettuce in four different treatments: 100% Compost (100%C), 75% Compost 25% Miracle-Gro (75%C - 25%MG), 50% Compost 50% Miracle-Gro (50%C - 50%MG), and finally, 100% Miracle-Gro (100%MG). The lettuce seeds were kept in a growth tent for fifteen days during their period of germination before being transferred to four 1 × 1 × 0.15 m plots in the Food Forest at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) for the 60-day growth period. The lettuce crops grew to full bloom and were ready for harvest. Sampling events took place every six days in which crop growth data including wet weight (g), dry weight (g), nitrogen (mg/g), chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm2), and leaf area (LA) (cm2) were collected. Statistical analysis was then conducted from the data. Based on the statistical tests conducted at the 5% significance level using R statistical software, soil treatment type was found to be significant (p = 0.0002). Soil treatment type was shown to have significantly impacted wet weight (p χ2 [3] = 3.91, p = 0.2717). 100%C and 100%MG of soil treatments produced the most successful lettuce crops. The 100%C soil treatment yielded lettuce crops with the heaviest wet weights and the largest LAs, and the 100% MG soil treatment yielded the heaviest dry weights and the highest nitrogen readings. Results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of using compost as a technique for regenerative agriculture.展开更多
文摘The integration of sustainable technologies in waste management systems has become imperative in addressing the escalating challenges of agricultural productivity and sustainability. Plugs are essential when starting crop production in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) setups and greenhouses. Horticultural crops such as vegetables, fruiting, and ornamental plants that utilize plugs have demonstrated higher success rates, healthier plants, and higher total yields. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture explored the innovative utilization of digestate from the Home Water-Energy-Food Systems (H-WEF). The H-WEF system converts household food waste into biogas, electricity, and nutrient-rich digestate. The digestate from the H-WEF system was used to produce agricultural plugs, presenting a novel approach to circular resource utilization. We carried out the growth of Rex Butterhead Lettuce Latuca sativa plugs with 1) control system (synthetic fertilizer) and seven different treatments, 2) 5% Digestate—95% RO Water (5D–95RO);3) 10% Digestate—90% RO Water (10D–90RO);4) 15% Digestate—85% RO Water (15D–85RO);5) 20% Digestate—80% RO Water (20D–80RO);6) 25% Digestate—75% RO Water (25D–75RO);7) 30% Digestate—70% RO Water (30D–70RO);8) 35% Digestate—65% RO Water (35D–65RO). The plugs were cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves had developed after the cotyledon. After 15 days, we collected data on wet weight (g), plug head area (cm2), total leaf area (cm2), total chlorophyll content (mg/cm2), and dry weight (g). In addition, we collected data on the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm2/cm2) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm2/g). The synthetic fertigation yielded a higher wet weight than the following treatments: 5D–95RO, 10D–90RO, and 35D–65RO. While the 30D–70RO treatment produced a larger plug head than all other treatments. The digestate-based fertilizers were comparable to the synthetic fertilizer at dilutions of 25D–75RO and 30D–70RO. This study underscores the viability of using digestate for plug production, providing crucial insights for growers navigating the challenges of sustainable agricultural practices.
文摘The research objective of this review is to discuss the rationale that led to the development of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) and investigate this agricultural approach as a potential solution to mitigate the increased pressures on food security. It describes the need for urban cultivation systems using controlled environments and how they can be harnessed to address pressures facing food security. The factors that have contributed to the growth of CEAs, education, environmental justice, and the advantages and disadvantages of growing crops in CEAs in urban areas will be discussed. The article reviews global urban cultivation systems using controlled environments, by identifying the technologies needed to establish them. The practice of CEA is being increasingly adopted worldwide and we describe urban agriculture and compare it with traditional growing systems. Indoor farming systems that integrate into existing urban infrastructure such as vertical farming and plant factories using CEAs are discussed. Indoor farming gives urban areas enhanced access to food sources, but the cost is high, however decreasing due to recent technological advances. The current review extends the literature by incorporating recent research on the topic of agriculture in urban areas and food security. This review seeks to provide additional information regarding the viability of CEA in urban areas.
文摘Obtaining nutritious food is becoming increasingly difficult due to the growing urban population and the degradation of soil, water, and air from mechanized and industrialized agricultural techniques. More than half the global population resides in urban areas, with not enough surrounding agricultural land to meet food requirements. Food traveling long distances, an average of 1020 miles, has resulted in increased food miles for the average food item in the United States of America, representing wasted resources. The novel GREENBOX technology was invented in response to increasing pressures on food security. Previous studies conducted on GREENBOX technology assessed the technical feasibility of utilizing Lettuce Lactuca sativa ‘Rex Butterhead’. We at the APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University assessed the technical feasibility of growing different leafy green vegetable crops. GREENBOX technology consists of thermally insulated climate-controlled enclosures, an artificial lighting source, a soilless cultivation method (hydroponics), and environmental control modules. We assembled two GREENBOX units to assess the environmental conditions and growth performance of Brassica rapa var. chinensis ‘Li Ren Choi’, Spinach Spinacia oleracea ‘Auroch’, Arugula Eruca sativa ‘Astro’, and Mizuna Brassica Brassica rapa var. japonica. Plugs were cultivated and then transplanted in a randomized manner to the nutrient film technique (NFT) channels, subsequently grown for 30 days to full bloom and ready for harvest. Fertigation was carried out using a standard concentration nutrient solution. Crops were arranged in twelve blocks of four species each. We collected environmental data including daily light integral (DLI, mol/m<sup>2</sup>∙d), temperature (˚C), relative humidity (%), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD, kPa). Collected biomass data included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm<sup>2</sup>). We then derived the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g). Descriptive statistics were utilized to understand the differences in biomass parameters between the four crops grown. We also compared the performance parameters of our crops with existing peer-reviewed literature and found it superior, if not comparable to commonly found industrial output. We determined that all crops grew to full bloom, demonstrating that GREENBOX technology may be used to grow a variety of different leafy green vegetable crops.
文摘Conventional soil-based agriculture is resource-intensive, utilizing large amounts of land and water, thereby placing a strain on Earth’s natural resources. Soil-based agricultural techniques create environmental issues such as soil degradation, deforestation, and groundwater pollution from the mass implementation of fertilizers and pesticides. Agricultural crop production using hydroponics has shown promise to be less resource intensive and provide a faster turnaround in crop production. Soilless cultivation using hydroponics promises to relieve some pressure on Earth’s ecosystems and resources by utilizing lesser land and water footprint. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) compared the growth of Lettuce Lactuca sativa “Rex Butterhead” crop grown using soil and soilless methods to analyze the growth performance in each setting. Crops grown in the soil-based medium were raised in the FGCU Food Forest, used a mix of soil and potting mix, watered regularly, and followed standard Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices. Crops grown hydroponically were grown in a thermally insulated grow tent with an artificial lighting source, ventilation, environmental controls, and the Deep-Water Culture (DWC) method. Lettuce plugs were grown for 15 days in controlled environments until two leaves after the cotyledons had developed and were ready for transplant. Plugs were transplanted into a 4 × 6 matrix at the FGCU Food Forest and the DWC growth system. Crops were grown to full bloom and ready for harvest in the soil (60 days) and soilless (30 days) based setups. We collected crop growth data, including wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (μmol/m<sup>2</sup>). From the collected data, we derived the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g) and biomass productivity (kg/m<sup>2</sup>). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the collected and derived data. We investigated the slopes of regression lines for each growth curve which derived the differences in biomass and productivity parameters between lettuce grown using soil and hydroponics. Both growing methods can grow lettuce crops to full bloom and to adequate harvest weight. The biomass parameters and productivity differ significantly between the growing methods. The lettuce crops grown using hydroponics increase in wet weight statistically and significantly faster than those grown in soil (p < 0.0001). Therefore, we determined that a hydroponic method of crop production may provide better crop output and biomass indicators measured than soil-based growth.
文摘With the rising pressures on food security, GREENBOX technology was developed as an avenue for fresh leafy vegetable crop production in urban settings. GREENBOX units were designed to be thermally insulated and climate controlled, with an artificial lighting source that utilized soilless cultivation techniques. Previous studies conducted on GREENBOX technology used the Nutrient Film Technique (NFT);however, various hydroponic methods exist, such as the Deep-Water Culture (DWC) method being the most used. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) compared the crop growth performance between DWC and NFT systems using GREENBOX technology. The following study monitored environmental conditions and compared productivity and biomass data of Rex Butterhead Lettuce crops between DWC and NFT systems. We assembled two GREENBOX units using commercially available materials and the standard nutrient solution for fertigation. The crops grown in DWC and NFT were in a 4 × 6 configuration. The DWC and NFT systems were used to grow Lettuce Lactuca sativa “Rex Butterhead” over 30 days to full bloom from prepared plugs grown for 14 days. We collected environmental data including Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD, μmol/m<sup>2</sup>∙s), Daily Light Integral (DLI, mol/ m<sup>2</sup>∙d), temperature (˚C), relative humidity (%), and Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD, kPa). We collected lettuce crop growth data, which included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (μmol/m<sup>2</sup>). We derived data, including the Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g) and biomass productivity (kg/m<sup>2</sup>), from previously collected data. We used descriptive statistics to present the collected data. A paired t-test was performed to understand the differences in biomass and productivity parameters between the DWC and NFT-grown lettuce crops. Both the DWC and NFT-grown crops could grow lettuce crops to harvest weight at full bloom. Observed data demonstrated that the biomass parameters and productivity did not differ significantly between the two hydroponics techniques. Therefore, we believe both hydroponic methods may be similar in growth performance and may be used in future iterations of GREENBOX design and prove suitable for fresh vegetable crop production in urban settings.
文摘Plugs are crucial for initiating crop production in greenhouses, soil, and controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Vegetable, fruiting, ornamental, and other horticultural crops that utilize plugs for production have demonstrated superior transplant establishment rate, plant health, and total yield. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Food at Florida Gulf Coast University investigated the quality of plugs grown based on different concentrations and fertigation sources using synthetic and organic sources. We carried out the growth of “Rex Butterhead” Lettuce (Latuca sativa) plugs with five different fertigation treatments, 1) full-strength synthetic starter fertilizer solution;2) half-strength synthetic starter fertilizer solution;3) full-strength organic starter fertilizer solution;4) half-strength organic starter fertilizer solution, and 5) no fertilizer for control. Fertilizer treatments were formulated following manufacturer recommendations. The seeds were sown in Oasis<sup>®</sup> Horticubes and saturated every day with the different fertilizer treatments. The plugs were cultivated for 15 days in a controlled environment until two leaves after the cotyledons had developed. After 15 days, we collected data which included wet weight (g), dry weight (g), leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>), and chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm<sup>2</sup>). In addition, we derived data including the Leaf Area Index (LAI, cm<sup>2</sup>/cm<sup>2</sup>) and Specific Leaf Area (SLA, cm<sup>2</sup>/g). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the biomass data. A Tukey’s HSD test was carried out to understand the differences between the fertilizer sources. We determined there was a statistically significant difference (P = 7.34E−29) in the measured plug growth parameters due to the various fertigation sources. We found that all fertilizer treatments produced viable plugs except for the control treatment. Of all the treatments, we concluded the half-strength organic treatment produced the more vigorous plugs with the greatest wet weight (g) and largest total leaf area (cm<sup>2</sup>) which was statistically significantly different. Results from this study may inform growers about appropriate fertilizer options for plug production.
文摘Conventional agricultural techniques have been degrading American soils nationwide since the beginnings of modern-day agriculture through practices such as soil tilling, using nitrogen synthetic fertilizers, and monocultural systems. These techniques contribute to degrading soil health, mass emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and decreased biodiversity. Regenerative agriculture techniques include the utilization of cover crops, compost, no-tillage, the integration of livestock, and crop rotation. The APS Laboratory for Sustainable Agriculture focused on the effectiveness of compost by comparing the growth of lettuce in four different treatments: 100% Compost (100%C), 75% Compost 25% Miracle-Gro (75%C - 25%MG), 50% Compost 50% Miracle-Gro (50%C - 50%MG), and finally, 100% Miracle-Gro (100%MG). The lettuce seeds were kept in a growth tent for fifteen days during their period of germination before being transferred to four 1 × 1 × 0.15 m plots in the Food Forest at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) for the 60-day growth period. The lettuce crops grew to full bloom and were ready for harvest. Sampling events took place every six days in which crop growth data including wet weight (g), dry weight (g), nitrogen (mg/g), chlorophyll concentration (mg/cm2), and leaf area (LA) (cm2) were collected. Statistical analysis was then conducted from the data. Based on the statistical tests conducted at the 5% significance level using R statistical software, soil treatment type was found to be significant (p = 0.0002). Soil treatment type was shown to have significantly impacted wet weight (p χ2 [3] = 3.91, p = 0.2717). 100%C and 100%MG of soil treatments produced the most successful lettuce crops. The 100%C soil treatment yielded lettuce crops with the heaviest wet weights and the largest LAs, and the 100% MG soil treatment yielded the heaviest dry weights and the highest nitrogen readings. Results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of using compost as a technique for regenerative agriculture.
