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• Effects of fertilisation frequency on the development of 'Australian yellow leaf' lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. crispa) under aeroponic cultivation

  23-43

  Edit Gorliczay

  Kornélia Montvai

  János Tamás

  Attila Nagy

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  9

  The high nutritional value and mineral content of lettuce has attracted the interest of many researchers in indoor experiments. Therefore, in our research, we chose ’Australian yellow leaf’ lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. crispa) as the experimental plant. In aeroponic systems, the droplet size, the intensity of the nutrient application and the light are the most important parameters that determine the physical and nutritional parameters of the plants. Based on these, the aim of the study was to determine the effect of different nutrient application intensities on aeroponically grown ’Australian yellow leaf’ lettuce. Four treatments were set up in the aeroponic system (AeroFlo20) which means 1st treatment – 10×15 min/day, 2nd treatment – 8×8 min/day, 3rd treatment – 4×15 min/day, 4th treatment – 2×30 min/day. During the nine weeks of the experiment, leaf number (pcs/plant) and root length (cm) development, total chlorophyll (µg/g) and carotenoid content (µg/g), water potential (bar) and stress parameters (Fv/Fm, Fv/Fo) were measured. Based on our results, it can be concluded that leaf number, plant height and root length increased with decreasing nutrient application intensity in ’Australian yellow leaf’ lettuce, so that 30 min of nutrient application twice daily is sufficient if these parameters are taken into account. In the case of water potential, significantly higher values were obtained for the treatment with most daily nutrient applications (10 times 15 min/day) (-3.72±0.33 bar) than for the treatment where plants were given nutrient solution twice a day (p<0.05).