Soilless Culture

Mandeep Kaur
Ph.D. Fruit Science
IMPORTANCE
OF
SOILLESS CULTURE
IN
FRUIT CULTIVATION

The Issues we are facing
Today Indian farmers face the following challenges:
 Drought conditions and unpredictable weather
 Rising temperatures
 Polluted water systems
 Lack of irrigation
 Poor water management
 Under-nourished or over nourished crops
Need for a solution
 India today needs food security which entails that all people at
all times have physical and economic access to safe and
nutritious food to meet dietary needs.
 Lack of water & space for agriculture leads to production of
lesser food which means more hunger and malnutrition.
 The need of the hour to highlight technology in agriculture that
can contribute towards water savings and have a positive
impact on food production and availability.

What does a plant need to grow ?
Soil
Nutrients
Water
PlantsSun Light
 Soil is just a medium to provide nutrients to the plant.

Soilless culture
 It is a method of growing plants without soil.
 It is an artificial means of providing plants with support and a reservoir for nutrients and water.
 The plants are grown in an inert growing medium and the nutrition is applied through nutrient solution
(water and fertilizer mixed).
 The simplest and oldest method for soilless culture often called as solution culture or water culture but
there are literally hundreds of method of soil less gardening with slight modifications.
 Advantages Of Soilless Culture
 Better quality produce.
 No soil borne diseases and pests.
 No weed problem.
 No need of fumigation.
 Continuous cultivation is possible.
 Efficient use of available resources.
 More productivity per unit area and time.
 Cultivation of crops are possible in saline and desert areas.
 One can grow the crops who do not have their own field.
 Helps to face challenges of climate change.

A. Solution culture
Basics of solution culture
 It is the practice of growing plants without soil.
 Plants can be grown in plain nutrient solution or in
sterile substrates, therefore microbe free.
 It is also known as Hydroponics.
 It uses less than 1/10th - 1/5th of the water used in
soil cultivation. It saves a lot of water.
 No weeds to deal with.
 Less space.
 Higher yields.
Plants
samplings
Air
Pump
Water
Pump
Nutrient
rich
water
Air
Stone

Solution culture or Hydroponic agriculture - the global outlook
Global acreage under cultivation
 There has been massive growth in hydroponic
cultivation in a number of forward thinking
countries.
 For instance, in Australia, the area under hydroponic
crop production went from 155 to 2500 hectares
from 1990 to 2008.
 The world commercial hydroponics industry has
grown 4 to 5 fold in the last 10 years and is
currently estimated at between 20,000 and 25,000
hectares with a farm gate value of US$6 to $8
Billion.
 Main countries using hydroponics are Holland,
Spain, Australia, USA, Canada, NZ, Italy, Canada,
Mexico, China. Even our neighbor Pakistan has
adopted Hydroponics cultivation with major
government support.
 Main crops are Cucumbers, Tomato, Lettuce,
Strawberry, Herbs, Capsicums, cut flowers etc. but
not limited to these alone.

Types of Solution culture – based on water flow
A. Static solution culture
 In static solution culture, plants are grown in
containers of nutrient solution, such as glass jars,
plastic buckets, tubs, or tanks.
 The solution is usually gently aerated but may be un-
aerated.
 A hole is cut in the lid of the reservoir for each plant.
 There can be one to many plants per reservoir.
 A home made system can be constructed from plastic
food containers or glass canning jars with aeration
provided by an aquarium pump, aquarium airline
tubing and aquarium valves.
B. Continuous flow culture
 In continuous-flow solution culture, the nutrient
solution constantly flows past the roots.
 It is much easier to automate than the static
solution culture because sampling and adjustments
to the temperature and nutrient concentrations can
be made in a large storage tank together.
 A popular variation is the nutrient film technique or
NFT, whereby a very shallow stream of water
containing all the dissolved nutrients is recirculated
past the bare roots of plants in a watertight thick
root mat, which develops in the bottom of the
channel.
 Subsequent to this, an abundant supply of oxygen is
provided to the roots of the plants.

Nutrient
Reservoir
Waste
Tank
Water Flow Water Flow
1. Run to waste (open)
 “Run-to-waste” describes those systems where
the excess nutrient or “run-off” is not re-
circulated.
 Conventional ‘soil culture’ is a type of run-to-
waste system.
 Media with a high water holding capacity
are used (e.g. soil, coconut fibre, Rockwool).
 Feeds are small and infrequent.
 The ‘run-off’ is either drained directly onto the
ground or is collected.
 Collecting the run-off allows feed volume and
frequency to be calculated more accurately.
This helps prevent under-dosing or over-
dosing.
Types of Solution culture – based upon disposal of nutrient waste

Types of Solution culture – based upon disposal of nutrient waste
2. Recycled (recirculating)
 In a re-circulating or recycled system the water is pumped
from a main reservoir to the plant root system, the excess
water and nutrients are then returned to the reservoir.
 Trace elements are topped up as used and regularly
dumped and refreshed to keep the system stable .
 They are more cost effective in both water and nutrients.
Because of their nature and the methodology used to top
up the nutrients, re-circulating systems tend to require
more regular checking and correcting of pH, and EC levels
which adds that little bit more maintenance time spent in
the grow room.
Water Flow
Nutrient
Reservoir
Water Flow

Types of hydroponic systems
 Nutrient film technique
 Ebb and flow
 Drip method
 Deep flow

Nutrient film technique
 Nutrient film technique (NFT) is a hydroponic
technique where in a very shallow stream of water
containing all the dissolved nutrients required for plant
growth is re-circulated past the bare roots of plants in a
watertight gully, also known as channels.
 The depth of the recirculating stream should be very
shallow, little more than a film of water, hence the name
'nutrient film'.
 This ensures that the thick root mat, which develops in
the bottom of the channel, has an upper surface, which,
although moist, is in the air.
 Subsequent to this, an abundant supply of oxygen is
provided to the roots of the plants.

 In this, there is a tray above a reservoir of nutrient
solution. Either the tray is filled with growing
medium (clay granules being the most common)
and planted directly or pots of medium stand in the
tray.
 At regular intervals, a simple timer causes a pump
to fill the upper tray with nutrient solution, after
which the solution drains back down into the
reservoir.
 This keeps the medium regularly flushed with
nutrients and air.
 Once the upper tray fills past the drain stop, it
begins recirculating the water until the timer turns
the pump off, and the water in the upper tray
drains back into the reservoirs.
Ebb and flow

Drip method
 Drip Irrigation is a great water-saving solution for hydroponic
gardens.
 The basic premise is that nutrient solution is pumped out of the
reservoir by a main line, usually 1 inch, which is divided into ½
inch lateral lines that run directly alongside the plants.
 These lateral lines contain a dripper (emitter) for each plant, which
is placed directly at the plant base and provides a controlled flow
of water directly to the roots.

Deep water
 The hydroponic method of plant production by means of
suspending the plant roots in a solution of nutrient-rich,
oxygenated water.
 Traditional methods favor the use of plastic buckets and large
containers with the plant contained in a net pot suspended from the
centre of the lid and the roots suspended in the nutrient solution.
 The solution is oxygen saturated from an air pump combined with
porous stones.
 With this method, the plants grow much faster because of the high
amount of oxygen that the roots receive

B. Solid Media Culture
Organic media Inorganic media
Natural media Synthetic media
 Sawdust
 Cocopeat
 Peat
 Woodchips
 Bark
 Sphagnum moss
 Vermiculite
 Gravel
 Roockwool
 Perlite
 Sand
 Glasswool
 Hydrogel
 Foam mates
 Oasis (Plastic foam)
Source: Olympios, 2002

Cocopeat Perlite Vermiculite
Peat Moss Sphagnum Moss

 Peat Moss: It is remains of aquatic marsh bog or swamp vegetation in partial
decomposed state. It has high moisture holding capacity and free from pests &
diseases and weed seeds.
 Cocopeat: It is by product of coconut husk. Cocopeat is best for providing aeration.
 Perlite: It is grey-white silicacious material of volcanic origin It is neutral in pH. It
holds moisture and nutrients.
 Vermiculite: This is a micaceous mineral. Chemically it is a hydrated magnesium–
aluminium iron silicate. It has good ability to supply P & K.
 Hydrogel: Schzmt and Graham (1989) reported the use of hydrogel as a growing
media. Plants in presence of hydrogel tolerate all levels of salinity
 Rockwool: It is produced by burning a mixture of rock, basalt and limestone at a
temperature of 1600 ºC
 Sand: It consists of small rock grains as a result of weathering of rocks.

Substrate Bulk Density
(kg/m3)
Total
porosity
(v/v)
Light peat 60-100 90-95
Dark peat 100-150 85-90
Vermiculite 90-150 90-95
Perlite 80-120 85-90
Rockwool 80-90 94-97
Expanded clay 600-900 85-90
Pumice 650-900 65-75
Bulk Density and Porosity of some growing media
Source: Pardossi et al., 2011

Effect of substrates on plant properties of Strawberry cv. Fern
Media First
weight
(g)
Final
weight
(g)
Runner
length
(cm)
No. of
runners
per plant
No. of
crowns per
plant
Leaf Area
(cm²)
Forest Soil 7.83 148.01b 163.01b 5.20b 2.07c 81.8a
Peat + Perlite
(1:1)
8.41 162.06ab 157.62b 5.38b 2.23bc 51.7c
Peat 8.04 169.64a 178.87a 6.48a 3.28a 60.6bc
Finpeat 7.97 167.25ab 183.41a 5.43b 2.41abc 69.2abc
Perlite 7.83 157.49ab 180.62a 6.07b 3.22a 71.2ab
Finpeat + Perlite
(1:1)
8.12 166.76ab 179.22a 5.68b 3.01ab 72.2ab
Source: Ayesha et al., 2007

Papaya production in pots using soilless media
Source: Papaya Farming Information Guide

Source: Lorenzo et al., 2008
Soilless cultivation of table grapes

 Earliness of producing.
 More adequate mineral nutrient supply.
 Better conditions for plant development & avoid soil borne diseases i.e. nematodes.
 Reduces the number of applications of pesticides, prevent spread of pests and diseases.
 Increase the efficiency of water use.
 Reduce wastage of nutrients.
 Enabling early harvests and reduce time of seedling production.
Use of soilless media in nursery

 T1: Sand without cocopeat
 T2: Sand + Cocopeat
 T3: Sand + Vermicompost
 T4: Cocopeat + Vermicompost
 T5: FYM +Sand + Cocopeat
 T6: FYM + Vermicompost
 T7: Sand + Vermicompost + Cocopeat
 T8: FYM + Sand
 T9: FYM + Cocopeat
Source: Bhardwaj 2014
Effect of soilless media on germination of papaya

Use of soilless media in polybags
Grape seedlings in polybagsAonla seedlings in polybags
Source: Resource Book on Horticulture Nursery Management

Air Layering in guava using sphagnum moss

Source: Lorenzo et al., 2008
Rooting of grape vine cuttings in soilless media

Hardening of banana plants using peat as a substrate
Source: Banana Information Guide

C. Aeroponics
 Method of growing plants where they are anchored in holes of Styrofoam panels & their
roots are suspended in air beneath the panel.
 The nutrient solution is sprayed in fine mist form to the roots.

Copyright of HGTIPL, India Private & Confidential
Benefits of soilless culture

Primary benefits of soilless culture
Reduced labor time of
digging and weeding
Reduced fungal disease,
little exposure to moisture
Tailored macro and micro nutrition
for humans, even distribution
Effective recycle resulting
reduced water usage
Land
Labour Nutrition
Diseases
&
Pest
Water
Greater control on environment,
yields are predictable and
budgeting is easier

Secondary benefits of soilless culture
Plants in hydroponics gain in
 Plants are protected from UV radiation as they are within a green house.
 Offers safe biological control of insects and pests.
 Water is reused effectively.
 Allows nutrients to be reclaimed, re-balanced and re-used.
 Can be protected from unpredictable weather patterns.
 Have a good root system that is not at risk from contaminants and diseases.
 Make efficient use of labour, which is increasingly expensive.
 Produce outstanding crops by using optimum nutrient formulations.
 Production in Off season possible when market prices are highest.

Plants grown in soilless systems
Tomatoes Lettuce Bell Pepper Cucumber
Strawberries Water Melon Potato Onion

Conclusion
 Initially soilless production system was carried out by mimicking traditional methods
based on production in soil or soil-based systems.
 Soilless culture can be the effective tool to increase the crop yield and the water-use
efficiency, also reduce the environmental impact of greenhouses and nurseries.
 By implementing the soilless cultivation system, a better quality of agricultural
products can be obtained, which is expected to meet the consumer preferences.

Soilless Culture

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Soilless Culture