ISHS Acta Horticulturae 401: International Symposium on Growing Media & Plant Nutrition in Horticulture
APPLICATION OF MIXTURE-THEORY FOR THE OPTIMISATION OF THE COMPOSITION OF THE NUTRIENT SOLUTION |
| Authors: | G. de Rijck, E. Schrevens |
| Abstract:
This study demonstrates that nutrient solutions can be defined as ‘mixture systems’. A general methodology for design and analysis of mixture optimisation experiments is developed. The emphasis is centred on multivariate investigation of the zone of optimal solution properties as a function of the ion composition and the total ionic concentration of the solution. The study of the effects of ion interaction on well defined solution properties is also possible by this multivariate approach. This work is a valuable tool in mineral nutritional research, because for the first time the chemical feasibility conditions of such solution, combined with additional chemical, physiological or economical constraints, form the foundation of the statistical experimental design theory, which makes the optimisation of complex mixtures of ions in relation to well-defined response variables possible. | |
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