Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—1. Method for Measuring the Hydraulic Quality Indicators

Schindler, Uwe; Müller, Lothar; Eulenstein, Frank

doi:10.3390/horticulturae3010005

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…3,6,25,36) and two substrates (33, 34) were peat-free. The Chrysal active substrate package (No. 8) provided no information about the ingredients.…”

Section: Horticultural Substratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function were measured using the extended evaporation method (EEM) and the HYPROP system from saturation to close to the wilting point [7,8]. If hydraulic information in the dry range is not required, the measurement could be stopped at 100 hPa or at any other tension.…”

Section: Hydraulic Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We could not find substrates which were evaluated as satisfactory or non-satisfactory for horticultural use. Twenty horticultural substrates (HS: 1,5,7,8,10,12,17,18,19,20,21,24,25,28,29,30,31,33,36) did meet all requirements for a very good hydraulic evaluation for horticultural use in both containers and beds. They provided sufficient easily plant-available water and air, and they were not or not markedly limited by shrinkage and water repellency.…”

Section: Quality Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—3. Impact of Substrate Composition and Ingredients

2016

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Horticultural substrates, also referred to as growing media, potting soils and gardening or soilless substrates, are widely used as a basis for vegetable and flower production in horticulture. They are created as a composition of different ingredients (bog peat, organic residuals, coir, perlite and other components). Hydraulic properties such as water storage capacity, air capacity, shrinkage behaviour, wettability or hydraulic conductivity are important variables for a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of horticultural substrates. A set of 36 commercial potting soils and substrates was selected and the hydraulic properties (water retention curve, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function, capillary rise and shrinkage) were measured using the extended evaporation method (EEM). Additionally, the water drop penetration time was determined as a measure of wettability. The hydraulic performance of the horticultural substrates was evaluated. Generally, bog peat is the main component of horticultural substrates. Additionally, coir (raw coconut fibre), bark, different composts and mineral ingredients such as perlite, pumice, vermiculite, sand and others are used. The growing medium with the best hydraulic performance in this study revealed substrates composed of bog peat with added coir, perlite and organic residuals. Mineral ingredients in general decreased the content of easily available water but did not exhibit any significant effect on the other properties studied. However, the risk of a lack of air can be increased by the addition of clay. The presence of perlite had positive effects on the air content and the re-wettability. The presence of organic materials had significant and detrimental effects on the height of the capillary rise. We also found that some products declared as preferable for use in containers were better suited as substrates for bed cultivation. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the eligibility of horticultural substrates in horticulture requires not only hydraulic measurements but also growing experiments and an assessment of their chemical, biological and technological suitability.

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“…3,6,25,36) and two substrates (33, 34) were peat-free. The Chrysal active substrate package (No. 8) provided no information about the ingredients.…”

Section: Horticultural Substratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Hydraulic Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quality Scoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—3. Impact of Substrate Composition and Ingredients

2016

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“…Evapotranspiration rates depend on greenhouse environmental conditions, and are also affected by the water supply to the roots [91]. For scheduling irrigation, hydraulic properties and water content dependence on substrate suction must be known as they influence the water movement and retention in the substrate [91][92][93]. Water retention curves or moisture characteristic curves relate the water content in a specific substrate to the matric potential at a given tension or height [94].…”

Section: The Soil/substrate Physical Properties and The Irrigation Dosementioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation of Greenhouse Crops

et al. 2019

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Precision agricultural greenhouse systems indicate considerable scope for improvement of irrigation management practices, since growers typically irrigate crops based on their personal experience. Soil-based greenhouse crop irrigation management requires estimation on a daily basis, whereas soilless systems must be estimated on an hourly or even shorter interval schedule. Historically, irrigation scheduling methods have been based on soil or substrate monitoring, dependent on climate or time with each having both strengths and weaknesses. Recently, plant-based monitoring or plant reflectance-derived indices have been developed, yet their potential is limited for estimating the irrigation rate in order to apply proper irrigation scheduling. Optimization of irrigation practices imposes different irrigation approaches, based on prevailing greenhouse environments, considering plant-water-soil relationships. This article presents a comprehensive review of the literature, which deals with irrigation scheduling approaches applied for soil and soilless greenhouse production systems. Irrigation decisions are categorized according to whether or not an automatic irrigation control has the ability to support a feedback irrigation decision system. The need for further development of neural networks systems is required.

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“…However, information to the hydraulic properties is missing of the substrate package. Until recently substrate buyers cannot draw any conclusions regarding the hydraulic properties on the basis of the declaration and the ingredients of the particular product he has bought, 1,[3][4][5] concluded that there is a lack of technologies and methods for the effective physical characterization and evaluation of substrate application in horticulture. The papers [3][4][5] are in the public domain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New measurement methods and devices and evaluation framework for characterizing of hydrological properties of growing media

Schindler¹,

Mueller²,

Eulenstein³

2018

HIJ

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Background: Hydraulic properties of horticultural substrates are important variables for a comprehensive evaluation of its performance for horticultural application. The commonly used measurement and evaluation methods and devices are outdated. Objective: 1. Test of new measurement methods and devices (EEM, HYPROP) for quantifying the water and air capacity, the hydraulic conductivity, the shrinkage and rewetting. 2. Development of a rating framework to assess the hydraulic suitability of substrates used in horticulture. Materials and methods: The hydraulic properties of 36 commercial horticultural substrates were quantified and evaluated. Results: EEM and HYPROP enable the simultaneous and effective measurement of the water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic functions. Furthermore, the shrinkage properties and the water rewetting time were measured. A rating framework for evaluating the hydraulic quality of horticultural substrates was developed and successfully tested within a comparison of 36 commercial horticultural substrates. Conclusion: The applied methods proved to be suitable. The hydraulic performance of totally peat-free substrates was not worse than those containing peat. The most sensitive element of horticultural substrates was the air supply, especially for cultivation in shallow containers. The proposed evaluation framework provides an opportunity to compare the hydraulic properties of different composed substrates.

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Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—1. Method for Measuring the Hydraulic Quality Indicators

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—3. Impact of Substrate Composition and Ingredients

Hydraulic Performance of Horticultural Substrates—3. Impact of Substrate Composition and Ingredients

Irrigation of Greenhouse Crops

New measurement methods and devices and evaluation framework for characterizing of hydrological properties of growing media

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