Transparent boxes with germination paper on the bottom are widely used for germination testing, but root and seedling growth are not straight, which makes transplanting difficult. Germinating on a rolled paper towel is common, but germination is not as uniform, and the density of the seeds is often excessive. Seeds germinated in inert mineral wool or floral foam can be transplanted directly into hydroponic systems as plugs, but they can easily be flooded if the media contacts the solution after transplanting. This process damages fine root hairs and stunts seedling growth following transplanting. Germination methods utilizing a solid substrate such as peat moss, coco coir, perlite, or vermiculite are often used, but transplanting requires removing all the substrate from the roots to avoid its introduction into the hydroponic system. The root must be long enough to span the 1 cm air gap and have ample access to the solution immediately after transplanting. Side-view diagram of seedling transplanted into a hydroponic tank. Reduced time for germination is beneficial so plants can be subjected to treatments in hydroponics systems for a larger percentage of their lifecycle.įig 1. įor maximum uniformity, seeds should be germinated separately and transplanted into the main system when roots are long enough to be in contact with the nutrient solution immediately after transplanting ( Fig 1). Submersion in water inhibits oxygen diffusion across seed membranes and prevents germination. Few seeds can germinate submerged in water and thus cannot be planted directly into the nutrient solution in liquid hydroponics. Rapid, uniform germination is essential for research in hydroponic systems. These systems work well with the mass-balance approach as nutrients are either in the solution or in the plant. Liquid culture hydroponics does not use a solid substrate and therefore has no adsorption and desorption of nutrients, which can complicate nutritional studies. Hydroponics is often used as a research tool in plant nutrition studies because of the precise control of root-zone conditions and detailed monitoring of root health. The funders had and will not have a role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Ĭompeting interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.ĭata Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.įunding: This research was supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, and approved as journal paper number 9600 NASA, Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space (grant number NNX17AJ31G). Received: AugAccepted: SeptemPublished: October 5, 2022Ĭopyright: © 2022 Langenfeld, Bugbee. PLoS ONE 17(10):Įditor: Meenakshi Thakur, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, INDIA Here we describe slant board construction and procedures for rapid germination and transplanting in hydroponics.Ĭitation: Langenfeld NJ, Bugbee B (2022) Germination and seedling establishment for hydroponics: The benefit of slant boards. Four to twelve days later, the seedlings with long roots can be removed from the paper without damage and transplanted into the hydroponic system. Seeds are held in place by covering with thin paper before vertical placement of the boards in the container. The “boards” are made from thin acrylic or polycarbonate sheets with germination paper on top. Slant boards facilitate development of long roots, which maximize exposure of the primary root to the nutrient solution after transplanting. Germination of seeds on slant boards is clean, uniform, and reduces the time to transplanting. Seedlings transplanted without removal of substrates can cause interactions with solution chemistry or addition of particulates to the nutrient solution. Germination and seedling establishment for transplanting into hydroponics often uses porous substrates, but fine roots grow into these substrates, and they cannot be removed without damaging these roots.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |