ISHS Acta Horticulturae 648: South Pacific Soilless Culture Conference - SPSCC
ENGINEERING DESIGN OF PLANT NUTRIENT DELIVERY SYSTEMS |
| Author: | G.A. Giacomelli |
| Keywords: | greenhouse, controlled environment, hydroponics, nutrient delivery system |
| Abstract:
Greenhouse plant production systems include the nutrient delivery system, and the plant culture management technique, that are enclosed within a controlled environment. Fundamental engineering design will be inherent in all successful applications. The nutrient delivery system [NDS] consists of those hardware components that transport nutrient solution [water plus fertilizer] from a central location to each individual plant. The plant culture technique includes the procedures that are completed by the grower in order to produce a healthy crop of desired quality. These procedures or culture tasks are crop specific, but they are directly related to the type of NDS. The controlled environment includes the greenhouse, or other structure, and its environmental control systems that are implemented to obtain the desired climate in order to produce a quality crop within a predictable and repeatable time schedule. The paper will focus on the engineering applications of the nutrient delivery systems. The NDS will be described in terms of its mechanism for plant water delivery. Examples of traditional and unique applications of nutrient delivery systems will be discussed. | |
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