Preliminary Evaluation of Float Bed Culture for Selected Salad Vegetables

Abstract

<jats:p>Float bed culture, common in the production of tobacco transplants, was investigated for the production of the salad vegetables leaf lettuce and radicchio. Experiments were conducted during Spring and Summer 1999. Seeds were planted on 61 cm × 61 cm, 2.54-cm-thick expanded foam sheets and floated on nutrient solution until plants were ready for harvest. Lettuce plants of the four cultivars evaluated were harvested 53 days after planting. Yields ranged from 99 to 181 g/plant. In the same experiment, aeration of the solution was compared with static solution with plants grown in aerated nutrient solution yielding significantly better than those grown in static solution. There was not a significant cultiva × aeration interaction for yield. Radicchio plants were seeded on expanded foam sheets at 20 plants per sheet. Plants were harvested 69 days after seeding. Those that had been aerated had significantly higher number of heads and leaf, head, and root weight than the nonaerated ones. There were no differences in total leaf weight among the five cultivars evaluated, but `Red Treviso' had significantly fewer and lower weight heads and more root weight than the other four cultivars.</jats:p>