Efficacy of different soilless substrates on tomato under hydroponic system
Paper Details
Efficacy of different soilless substrates on tomato under hydroponic system
Abstract
Hydroponic is an alternative food growing system to sustain agriculture in urban and water stress environment. The huge increase in population and alarming rate of water shortage caused more stress on agriculture resources thus there is a dire need to adopt this innovative agriculture of 21st century. It promises year round supply of quality vegetables with high yield. The performance and suitability of different substrates for the soilless culture of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) were studied at Institute of Hydroponics Agriculture, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, over a two growing seasons under greenhouse condition, during 2015-17, employing five different treatment (substrates) viz. T1 (coco imported), T2 (indigenous coco), T3 (indigenous coco +25% zero grade stone crush by weight), T4 (rice husk), T5 (rice husk +25% zero grade stone crush by weight). The results indicated that soilless substrates have significant effects on tomato production. First season study, demonstrated that the sole Coco-imported and indigenous rice husk is a very good substrate for greenhouse grown tomatoes. While during second growing season sole use of coco imported media significantly affected the tomato yield 7.03kg plant-1 followed by indigenous rice husk and lowest yield among the subtract was recorded in coco indigenous +25% zero-grade stone by weight. It was concluded from the study that the treatment T1 containing imported coco had the best performance for tomato plant growth under soilless substrates.
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