RESEARCH PROBLEMS CONCERNING FLOWER AND VEGETABLE CULTIVATION IN A COLD GREENHOUSE USING THE "COLONNA DI COLTURA" TECHNIQUE

The first system developed was called "Fusi Autonomi"; this consisted basically of a 30 cm long and 15 cm wide vertical pipe, which was folded outwards at one end to house the plants. Iron stays were used to support and connect the pipes, which were placed one on top of the other so as to make a kind of pillar. The plants were fed by solution flowing from the top downwards, and a tank at the bottom of each pillar collected the solution so that it could be recycled.

A second technique, put into operation in 1969, which was given the name "Tapis Roulant", made use of the so-called NFT watering system, i.e. the solution was circulated through pipes. Plants were cultivated in 4 m long PVC pipes, which were plugged at both ends, except for a small opening through which the nutrient solution flowed through and drained out. Holes were bored in the pipes, the spacing being dependent on the kind of plant to be grown, and the seedlings transplanted into them. The pipes were then placed lengthwise, horizontally at about 1 m apart in a 40 m long "tapis roulant".

The third aeroponic technique, devised in 1970, also made use of NFT methods, and was called "Linea di Coltura". Some 4.5 m long PVC pipes were split lengthwise into two halves, making a kind of gutter, and a rubber lid was secured along the whole length to keep the plants in position. At the ends of the gutter a pipe was fitted which allowed the solution to flow through it and drain out. The gutters themselves were supported by rectangular-shaped (18 m long and 2.15 m high) scaffolds. Such scaffolds were called "Linee di coltura", and by means of hooks and pulleys the gutters were fastened on to them, one on top of the other, two or three or more at a time, depending on the plant to be grown. The plants themselves were transplanted when they were seedlings from the nursery.

Another technique tried in 1973 was called "Slanting and Vertical surface Aeroponics", (Aeroponia a superfici inclinate e verticali, by Massantini, 1973). In such a technique the plants were supported by expanded polystyrene slabs in which holes had been bored to accommodate the plants to be grown. The nutrient solution was provided by means of sprinklers which watered the roots, hanging from the slab.

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