Effect of hydroponics technology on some chemical indicators for the production and growth of lettuce

Abstract

The research was carried out on Abu Jerash farm at the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Damascus during the first season 2020-2021 and in the second season (repeating the experiment) 2021-2022. The experiment aimed to study the evaluation of growth, production and quality indicators of romaine and iceberg lettuce within the hydroponics techniques: NFT film technology , Drip irrigation system technology DST, submerged or floating cultivation technique DWC, and using three percentages of different concentrations of nutrient solutions (100%, 50%, 25%), where lettuce seeds were planted in seedling trays in the middle of the ninth month (September) and after planting 45 - 50 days, the seedlings entered the hydroponic system at the end of the tenth month (October) and during the months (November and December) the plants were developed in the hydroponic systems and fed with the nutrient solution, and finally the economic part of the crop was obtained at the end of January Once ripening and the formation of solid and fused heads and before the emergence of stalks and flowering growths and the elongation of the inner stem in addition to the index of leaf discoloration, the results of variance analysis according to chemical analyzes showed that the average romaine variety has the highest percentage in The index of carotenoides for lettuce leaves compared with the average of the iceberg variety, in addition to recording the average of the romaine variety with the highest percentage in the index of estimating the percentage of total dissolved solids (TSS%) in lettuce leaves compared with the iceberg variety, while the results of the analysis of variance according to the physical tests recorded that the average of the iceberg variety The highest ratio in the number of leaves compared with the romaine, while the average romaine cultivar recorded the highest value in the indicator of the length of the vegetative and inner stem.