2017 ICCEA, Panama

Hydroponics

Wei FANG, Ph.D. Professor, Dept. of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering Director, Center of Excellence for Controlled Environment Agriculture National Taiwan University

2017.05.17~19 1 • Some definitions • Various hydroponic systems – Circulating • NFT • DFT, DWC • E & F – Non-circulating • Using smart valve • Bioponics – – using organic liquid fertilizer

2 • Hydroponics is a subset of hydroculture, the method of growing without , using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent. Terrestrial plants may be grown with only their exposed to the mineral solution, or the roots may be supported by an inert medium, such as perlite or gravel. The nutrients in hydroponics can be from fish waste, duck manure, or normal nutrients. From Wikipedia

3 • In basic hydroculture or passive hydroponics, water and nutrients are distributed through capillary action of roots.

• In hydroponics-like hydroculture, water and nutrients are distributed by some form of pumping mechanism. This is active hydroculture.

4 • Many media are available for passive hydroponics, but the most common are expanded clay pellets, coconut husk chips, perlite, vermiculite, diatomite, charcoal, sand, shredded newspaper, and rock wool. • These are frequently used in combination.

5 1 2

active passive 3 4

passive passive mat Bok-choy Pak-choy

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Scallion Lettuce

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 • Past – NFT is the best

• Beyond – Ebb and Flood (E&F) > DFT > NFT – Siphon type E&F is preferred for cultural benches with more than 10 layers

8 Bioponics

Bioponics - A contained and controlled growing system in which plants in growing media derive nutrients from -based, animal-based and mineral natural substances which are released by the biological activity of microorganisms.

National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) . 2016. Hydroponic and Aquaponic Task Force Report. p.15 9 A Bioponics C

Hydroponics

Hydroponics

Hydroponics B Bioponics

Bioponics

10 Bioponics

Hydroponics Using organic fertilizer extracted from plant waste is termed If related to fish waste, the term changed to Aquaponics

11 Ammonia Organic-N (NH3) nutrients from plant-based, animal-based and mineral natural substances which are released by the biological activity of microorganisms pH Bacteria Nitrification - Nitrite(NO2 ) Ammonium - + Nitrate(NO3 ) (NH4 )

12 Environment stable Reuse of friendly Agri-waste No heavy No metal Customer Some pesticide PFAL __adsorbed preferred with PFAL used bad + organic + In-organic smell

Low Easy to bacterial Source may Increase manage count be not stable managing difficulty

13 Is it organic if crops are grown using organic hydroponic system 2014COA, TAIWAN

Any forms of hydroponics are considered non- organic

14 National Organic Standards Board (US_NOSB) special committee: organic hydroponics Organic farming and can be conducted aquaponics in greenhouse

2010 Hydropo 2010.4 2015 2016 nics are not organic farming

www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Hydroponics%20package.pdf 15 Aquaponics is considered organic • Despite the emphasis that organic agriculture places on the importance of soil, crops grown in a hydroponic system, rather than soil, can be certified organic. US National Organic Program (US_NOP)

USDA. 2012. Guide for Organic Crop Producers .p.43.

16 • Some definitions • Various hydroponic systems – Circulating • NFT • DFT, DWC • E & F – Non-circulating • Using smart valve • Bioponics – Aquaponics – Hydroponics using organic liquid fertilizer

17 • Culturing systems – NFT: – DFT: Deep Flow Technique, also termed DWC: – E&F: Ebb and Flood – Siphon type E&F

18 DFT NFT Ebb and Flood

• Water level: • Water level: 1~2 cm 5~10~100 cm • Afraid of power • afraid of low DO break • Bigger weight for • Use least amount of • Combined merits of DFT+NFT a multi-layer shelf water • Not afraid of power break and • Less forgiving, easily low DO influence by crops and indoor weather • Water pump operated in a • Less weight for a pulse mode. multi-layer shelf • Electricity consumption • Water pump required continuous operation. reduced. 19 not too long

Air jet

Air hole on pipe

20 This design is only good for a not too long system, such as less than 20 m.

21 22 23 long (> 20 m)

24 Circulating

• Pipe lines arrangement in a multi-layer shelf – with serial inlets – with parallel inlets – with parallel + serial inlets

25 serial

• Save pipes and connectors • Easy to construct • Each layers have same flow rate

• Uneven distribution of nutrient concentration

26 serial

Fairy Angel, Japan 27 parallel • Need more pipes and connectors • Need more time to construct • Need to adjust flow rate of each layers

• Even distribution of nutrient concentration

28 parallel

29 • For a shelf with 12 layers, it is better to design into 4 sets of 3 layers in serial (or 3 sets of 4 layers) and for each set connected in parallel.

30 NFT

31 DFT

32 DFT

33 34

Water Exit at the top half location

Water Exit at the center of the pipe

36

Parallel Parallel E&F

Serial Serial siphon E&F

37 Pump operation time DFT

E&F

38 Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) – Red leaf • Purple Romaine • Purple Oak Leaf • Red Rapid – Green leaf • Boston • Frill-ice

39 Time per day that immersed in water • Treatments – 3 types of E&F: 5/20、5/40、5/60 – DFT as control group

Water level of 4 systems when time elapsed Accumulative time for root immerse in nutrient solution, in min day-1 5/20 → 288 5/40 → 160 5/60 → 111 DFT → 1440

40 Codes for various treatments in 3 stages

Stage 1 (DAS = 1~14) Stage 2 (DAS = 15~21) Stage 3 (DAS = 22~42 35 ) treatment Crop Seeding Stage Seedling Stage Mature Stage

C1 C2 N1_E1.2_F230_d772_H24_A3 N1_E1.2_F200_d182_H16_Sd N1_E1.2_F200_d37_H16_Sd DFT C3

C4 N1_E1.8_F230_d772_H24_A3 N1_E1.8_F200_d182_H16_Sd N1_E1.8_F200_d37_H16_Sd C5 5/20 SwA SwA SwA: same with above SwA_Se_B5/20

5/40 SwA SwA SwA SwA_Se_B5/40

5/60 SwA SwA SwA SwA_Se_B5/60

註： Cx: Code for common name of crops, C1:Purple Romaine, C2:Purple Oak, C3: Red Rapid, C4 : Boston, C5: Frill Ice Nx: type of Nutrient solution, N1: Yamazaki formula Ex: EC, in mS cm-1 Fx: PPFD of Fluorescent lamp in μmol m-2 s-1 dx: cropping density, in plt m-2 Hx: Hours of light on per day, in hr day-1 Ax: Add nutrient after sow on day x Sx: types of circulating system, Sd: DFT, Se: E&F 41 Bx/y: frequency of E&F, on for x minutes and off for y minutes Red and Green leaf lettuce @ harvest

註： DFT (DAS = 42 35 ) bar = 10 cm

5/20

5/40

5/60

Purple Romaine Purple Oak Red Rapid Boston Frill-Ice 42 Fresh weight of red and green leaf lettuce

Fresh weight (g plt-1) Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT

Purple Romaine 061.74±07.94 b B 067.60±06.46 b AA 067.82±5.90 b A 054.29±08.16 b B

Purple Oak 063.90±06.97 b A 064.05±05.96 b AA 067.28±6.12 b A 059.42±07.81 b B

Red Rapid 109.84±13.86 a B 115.53±16.05 a AB 120.58±8.44 a A 78.18±11.13 a C

Fresh weight (g plt-1) Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT

100.18±8.7 Boston a B 104.64±9.50 a AB 109.64±7.19 a A 90.08±7.75 a C 5

Frill Ice 74.16±5.62 b A 80.48±3.54 b AB 78.32±7.97 b A 77.74±7.50 b A

43 Total phenol of red and green leaf lettuce

Red leaf lettuce Green leaf lettuce

44 red

Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, ppm Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT)

Purple Roman 84.58±11.41 a A 79.97±19.82 a A 84.7±26.4 a A 10.68±3.03 a B Purple Oak 31.67±1.77 b B 37.84±4.44 b AB 46.78±10.29 b A 5.88±2.26 a C Red Lettuce 2.92±0.46 c A 0.69±0.15 c A 1.34±0.38 c A 0.29±0.07 a A

45 Nitrate concentration

Red leaf lettuce Green leaf lettuce

1. E&F is higher than DFT 2. Increase with increasing time expose to the air 3. Positively related to fresh weight 46 Crops Fresh weight Total phenol Anthocyanin

Purple Romaine 5/60 5/60 5/60 Red Oak 5/60 5/60 5/60

Red Rapid 5/60 5/20 5/20 Boston 5/60 5/60 - Frill Ice 5/40 5/60 -

47 PY (gFW degree-1) Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT

Purple Romaine 19.64 21.50 21.57 17.27 Purple Oak 20.33 20.52 21.40 18.90 Red Rapid 34.94 36.75 38.36 24.87

PY (gFW degree-1) Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT

Boston 45.48 47.50 49.77 40.89 Frill Ice 33.67 36.54 35.56 35.29

48 Power Yield for producing Anthocyanin In mg Anthocyanin / degree of elec. consumption

PYa (Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, mg degree-1) Crops 5/20 5/40 5/60 DFT

Purple Romaine 1.66 1.72 1.83 0.19 Purple Oak 0.64 0.77 1.18 0.11 Red Rapid 0.10 0.03 0.03 0.01

49 Treatments Amount of nutrient solution (L) % of water saved DFT 275 (45×3+140) 0 % E&F_5/20、5/40、5/60 140 (45+95) 49.1% Optimized E&F 70 (45+25) 74.5%

serial type DFT siphon type serial E&F optimized siphon type E&F

50 Red leaf lettuce Green leaf lettuce % of saving on Treatments Mature stage (21 days) Mature stage (14 days) Elec. Fee of pump Elec. Fee of pump Elec.fee (NT$)* (NT$)* DFT 282.0 188.0 0.0% 5/20 45.1 30.1 84.0% 5/40 25.1 16.7 91.1% 5/60 17.4 11.6 93.8%

Note： Mature stage for Red leaf lettuce (DAS 22~42), for Green leaf lettuce (DAS 22~35) x/y： root submersed in nutrient solution for x minutes, exposed to air for y minutes DFT: Deep Flow Technique *：three NT$ per degree of electricity

51 • Siphon type E&F system – Compare with DFT • Increase fresh weight of lettuce (purple roman, oak leaf, red and Boston lettuce) • Increase anthocyanin and total phenol concentration of red leaf lettuce • save 74.5% of water and nutrient • Mature stage, save 93.8% electricity consumption of circulating pump

52 Pump arrangement in Circulating hydroponic system

pH, EC sensors

Intermittent operation

• Submersible pump is OK. • Non-submersible, magnetic driven pump is preferred.

Continuous operation 53 solenoid valves

54 peristaltic pumps

55 Non-circulating • Autopot with Smart Valve • Plant-driven concept • Without electricity – Nutrient tank at 3 meters height • 100% water and nutrient saving • No waste water, no recycle, no reuse • No cross contamination

56 • Autopot with Smart Valve

Autopot system: https://youtu.be/ejr2AzHE0vI 57 58 • Some definitions • Various hydroponic systems – Circulating • NFT • DFT, DWC • E & F – Non-circulating • Using smart valve • Bioponics Aquaponics (skip)  Hydroponics using organic liquid fertilizer

59 • Derive SOP for organic hydroponics in PFAL growing lettuce.

Organic LED fertilizer New PFAL trend Beneficial CO2 DWC Bacteria

60 Frill Ice Lettuce Boston Lettuce Frilly Lettuce

61 Culturing water Seedling stage Mature stage Treatment (no plants) (0~14 day) (15~35/42 day) (-21~0 day) Frill-ice 42 days, others 35 days

N1_E1.2_p6.0_L200_ N1_E1.2_p6.0_L250_ Yamazaki No need d918_H24_A25/18 H16_d27_A25/18

N2_E0.4_W23 N2_E0.4_p6.0_L200_ N2_E0.4_p6.0_L250_ BIO N _DO8 d918_H24_A25/18 H16_d27_A25/18 N3_E0.4_W23 N3_E0.4_p6.0_L200_ N3_E0.4_p6.0_L250_ BIO NK _DO8 d918_H24_A25/18 H16_d27_A25/18

Noted: Nx： Nutrient solution, N1 ：Yamazaki formula，N2 ：BIO N，N3 ： BIO NK Ex ： Electric conductivity, in mS.cm-1 px ： pH of nutrient solution DWC Lx ： Cool white LED, in μmol.m-2.s-1 CO2：1200 ± 100 ppm Hx ： Hrs of light on, in hrs. day-1 dx ：cropping density in plts.m-2 A dT/nT ： Average air temperature, dT/nT day/night temperature, in ℃ WT ：Water temperature, in ℃ DOx ：Dissolved oxygen, in ppm 62 80 80 300 50 NO3 NO3 NH4 Bio N Bio NK 250 NH4 40 60 60 200 30

40 40 150

20

Concentration, ppm Concentration, Concentration, ppm Concentration, 100 ppm Concentration,

Concentration, ppm Concentration,

3 4

4

3

NO NH

20 20 NH NO 10 50

0 0 0 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 day Day

Concentration of NO3 after 3 weeks • BIO N - 76 ppm • BIO NK - 268 ppm 63 Frill-Ice Boston Frilly

Yamazaki Frill-Ice, DAS=42

Others, DAS=35 BIO N Bar= 10cm

BIO NK

64 Fresh Weight (g) NO3 concentration (ppm) Frill Ice Boston Frilly Frill Ice Boston Frilly Yamazaki 82.3 a 88.8 a 75.0 c 6113.5 a 3251.4 a 5449.0 a BIO N 23.1 b 64.1 b 108.3 b 888.4 c 1333.6 b 1159.0 c BIO NK 25.0 b 92.1 a 176.1 a 1527.4 b 3908.7 a 2016.4 b Means followed by the different letters in each column are significantly different at 5% level by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test.

• Frill-Ice don’t like organic fertilizer? (need more trial) • Other 2 prefer BIO NK • Organic fertilizer leads to low nitrate.

65 Lettuce NH Na K Ca Mg Solutions cultivated 4 (ppm) (mg/100g) (mg/100g) (ppm) (ppm) species Frill Ice 7.4 a 2.9 d 384.5 b 253.6 c 98.8 c Yamazaki Boston 7.6 a 3.0 d 412.5 ab 234.8 c 73.5 c Frilly 15.0 a 3.4 d 418.0 ab 328.0 bc 87.2 c Frill Ice 9.1 a 18.6 b 170.8 d 840.0 a 291.3 a BIO N Boston 10.8 a 26.5 a 262.0 c 946.7 a 296.3 a Frilly 16.8 a 19.3 b 138.8 d 567.5 b 216.7 ab Frill Ice 10.0 a 8.8 c 298.8 d 192.7 c 71.7 c BIO NK Boston 10.5 a 19.7 b 484.0 a 550.3 b 185.6 b Frilly 10.3 a 16.6 b 403.5 ab 546.7 b 147.7 bc Means followed by the different letters in each column are significantly different at 5% level by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. • BIO N leads to high Na, Ca and Mg • BIO NK also leads to high Na 66 Yamazaki BIO NK Root branch is longer in organic fertilizer 67 Yamazaki BIO NK

More root hair development with organic fertilizer

68 Ebb & Flood works better compare with NFT and DFT

Siphon type E&F works well especially for high number of layers (> 10) per cultural bench

Organic Hydroponics is promising

Hydroponics and Bioponics can play great roles in future agriculture

69 70