#Fertilizer for bato buckets trial#
The tomato trial ran for 20 weeks until the plants reached the top wire support. “Therefore sphagnum peat moss, medium-grade pine bark or wood fiber can replace perlite without any yield reduction and the added advantage of reduced leachate for both cucumber and tomato.” “The leachate rates were different among the substrates throughout the crop production with perlite having the highest amount of leachate,” Samarakoon said. Irrigation rates used did not influence the yield except in peat. The response was similar to cucumber with the number of fruit and individual fruit weight in plant-based substrates compared to perlite.
For these trials the Dutch buckets were filled with 100 percent sphagnum peat moss, medium-grade pine bark or wood fiber with perlite again as the control under two different irrigation regimes. Tomatoes in alternative substratesīased on their success with cucumber, Samarakoon and the other researchers looked to repeat the study with tomatoes grown in the plant-based substrates. Researchers at Ohio State University, CFAES Wooster, and USDA, will be expanding their study of tomatoes grown in Dutch buckets filled with plant-based substrates to a nine-month production cycle. All of these substrates were trialed against perlite, which was used as the control.įor the study, Dutch buckets were filled with 100 percent of each of the substrates. In the first trial with cucumber, the researchers chose plant-based substrates, including sphagnum peat moss, two different grades (medium and course) of pine bark, coir and wood fiber (HydraFiber). When Samarakoon was selecting substrates to compare with perlite she considered both sustainability and availability. Even though the alternative substrate trials she conducted used Dutch buckets, she said the findings from her studies can be applied to any type of containerized crop production. Identifying alternative substratesĪlthough Dutch buckets are primarily used for growing vining crops, Samarakoon said this method of production is very similar to other types of containerized crop production. Tomato plants grown in Dutch buckets filled with sphagnum peat moss, medium-grade pine bark or wood fiber produced a similar number of fruit of comparable weight as plants grown in perlite. Most small- to medium-size growers don’t have the capacity to do recirculation.” “Recirculation of the fertilizer solution occurs primarily with large-scale commercial growers. “Large-size vegetable operations tend to use hanging gutters with rockwool or coir slabs for high wire crop production of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers,” Samarakoon said. I have been using perlite in my research for some time because that is the traditional substrate for Dutch buckets.”ĭutch buckets are not the common production system used in most large-scale controlled-environment vegetable operations. In addition to concerns with disposal issues for perlite, it also has a low water-holding capacity resulting in higher rates of leachate.
“My experience when visiting small- to medium-size vegetable growers is that many of them are using perlite as the substrate in Dutch bucket systems. “The research we are currently doing focuses specifically on high wire crops, including cucumbers and tomatoes, produced in Dutch bucket systems. “The main theme of my research program is on sustainability for controlled environment agriculture,” Samarakoon said. Their research is being funded by USDA-ARS. Samarakoon is working with Teng Yang, a post-doctoral researcher at Ohio State University, CFAES Wooster, and James Altland, research leader Application Technology Research, USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Wooster.
Uttara Samarakoon, who is associate professor and program coordinator for greenhouse and nursery management at Ohio State University, CFAES Wooster, has been studying ways controlled environment growers can improve sustainability of containerized vegetable production. Improving sustainability of controlled environment production While some growers may be concerned with the sustainability of perlite because of disposal issues, there are options when it comes to using alternative plant-based substrates. Small- to medium-size growers of vining vegetable crops including cucumbers and tomatoes have traditionally used Dutch buckets filled with perlite as the growing substrate. Univ., CFAES Wooster Growers using containers to produce vegetable crops have options when it comes to growing in plant-based substrates. Photos courtesy of Uttara Samarakoon, Ohio St. The amount of leachate from cucumber plants grown in Dutch buckets can be significantly reduced with plant-based substrates when compared to perlite.
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