Page 195 - AJWEP-v22i3

The portable hydroponic system

perimeter of the column are holes for hydroponic temperatures were set at 18°C and 26°C, respectively,
baskets (number 6), through which the nutrient solution as these values were found to support optimal plant
is delivered. The hydroponic plant structure is mounted development in previous research. 18,21 The nutrient
on the roller system (number 12), allowing it to be solution concentration was selected according to findings
moved as needed. from earlier studies. 17,21 which identified 0.5 mS/cm and
The system was operated as follows: The nutrient 2.5 mS/cm as effective levels for nutrient uptake.
solution from the reservoir (number 9) was supplied Based on the conditions described above, the
using a pumping system and a water pump (number optimization criteria for growing vegetable crops in
11), flowing through the nutrient solution supply the improved portable hydroponic NFT system were
pipelines (number 7) to the hydroponic baskets (number defined as follows:
6), where the plants received the nutrient solution in a (i) Plant height (cm)
thin layer. The hydroponic plants used phytomatrix (ii) Time to reach the baby leaf stage (days)
(number 5) equipped with red and blue LED emitting (iii) Fresh weight (g)
elements in a 4:1 ratio for additional lighting (iv) Number of leaves (pieces).
(Figure 2B). 9,22,23 The red light (650 – 700 nm) is crucial
for photosynthesis as it stimulates growth, flowering, and The reproducibility of the experiments was evaluated
fruit formation. Blue light (400 – 500 nm) is important using Cochran’s test: 24
during the early stages of plant development, supporting S u 2 max
)
strong root formation, stem strengthening, and leaf G = n ≤ G (0.05; ;nf u (I)
growth. The high proportion of red light accelerates ∑ S u 2
photosynthesis and increases yields, while blue light u= 1
ensures the quality development of the plant’s structural Where:
parts. This combination is suitable for growing various (i) G(0.05;n;f ) is the tabular value of Cochran’s test,
u
types of crops, including vegetables and herbs. (ii) S u 2 max is the largest variance among all experimental
This study aimed to implement a central conditions,
compositional matrix plan 2 to evaluate the effects of (iii) 0.05 is the mean 5%-th level of importance,
3
factors – such as the EM-5 concentrate, air temperature, (iv) n is the number of independent variance estimates
nutrient solution temperature, nutrient solution (number of experiments),
concentration, and operational parameters – on the (v) f = (m –1) is the number of degrees of freedom,
u
0
performance of the portable NFT system to ensure (vi) m is the number of repeated measurements
0
maximum efficiency in growing vegetable crops. (repeatability).
An experimental planning matrix is shown in Table 2. 1
2
2
The EM-5 concentrate was selected based on S = . ∑ m 0 1 (Y − Y u ) (II)
u
ui
i=
recommendations from earlier research, which m − 1
7
0
identified 0% and 2% as appropriate concentrations for Where:
seed treatment. Similarly, the air and nutrient solution (i) s is the variance representing the dispersion of
2
u
Table 2. An experiment planning matrix 2 3
Number of Effective microorganisms‑5 Air and nutrient solution Concentration of nutrient
experiments concentrate (%) temperature (°C) solution (mS/cm)
x x x
1 2 3
1 −1 −1 −1
2 +1 −1 −1
3 −1 +1 −1
4 +1 +1 −1
5 −1 −1 +1
6 +1 −1 +1
7 −1 +1 +1
8 +1 +1 +1

Volume 22 Issue 3 (2025) 189 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025170132