ISHS Acta Horticulturae 537: III International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops
LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa sp.) RESPONSE TO FISH CULTURE EFFLUENT |
| Authors: | P.A. Chaves, J. Beltrão, L.M. Laird, R. Sutherland |
| Keywords: | Lettuce, fish, recirculating, integrated systems, fertigation |
| Abstract:
The objective of this work was to assess the potential to use recirculating fish culture water to fertigate hydroponically grown lettuce. Two fish culture recirculating systems, were set up, one integrated with lettuce and the other without lettuce. Lettuce reduced nitrate and ortophosphate levels in the fish culture by 20 and 3 g.m-3 respectively. Mean head weights achieved were 156g (+/- 6g) for a thirty five day production cycle. Apart from nitrates which accumulated to levels of 152 (+/-3.54) mg.L-1 and magnesium which was already present in the well water, the other nutrients accumulated to significative lower levels when compared to recommended nutrient solutions. Pests or diseases did not occur and nutrient deficiencies were not observed. Luxury nutrient consumption phenomena in conventional hydroponic systems suggests that lettuce can be jointly produced with fish in such integrated systems with minor nutrient supplementation. | |
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files) | |
