The document summarizes different types of soilless culture techniques used for growing horticultural crops. It discusses hydroponics where plants are grown in a nutrient solution without soil. Various methods are described including solution culture, deep flow technique, nutrient film technique, aeroponics, and growing in different media like rockwool, perlite, vermiculite etc. Advantages of hydroponics include greater yields, water conservation and ability to grow crops anywhere. Research findings show hydroponics increases yields and reduces costs compared to conventional agriculture.

1. PROSPECTS OF SOILLESS CULTURE IN
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Vivek Singh
Research Scholar
Dept. of Horticulture

2. Soilless Culture for Horticultural Crops
2

3. INTRODUCTION
Believe it or not, some plants can grow without soil. This type
of gardening is called hydroponics.
In hydroponic gardening, a solution of water and nutrients does
the work of soil.
Some horticulturists (gardeners) think it’s a more efficient way
to grow plants.
As a concept, hydroponics has been around since the beginning
of time. As a science, it is quite new.
 Hydroponics has only been used in commercial production for
approximately 50 years. In that time, it has been applied to both
indoor and outdoor farms, to growing premium produce, to
feeding third world countries and to applications in the space
program.
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4.  The technology was first reported in scientific literature in 1600
(Weir, 1991).
 Woodword grew mint plants without soil in England in 1699.
 The term “hydroponics” was proposed by Setchell.
 Gericke was first person who used the term ‘hydroponics’ in
1937.
 Nutrient solution was first developed by Sachs and Knap in
1938.
 In India hydroponics was first introduced at Kalimpong in
Darjeeling (W. B.) in 1947.
 Cooper et al. developed the NFT in 1960.
 Jensen and Collins developed Aeroponics in 1985.
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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

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Definition of Soilless Culture or Hydrophonics
“Hydroponics” is the growing of plants without using growing media
(non substrate or water culture) by growing plant in nutrient solution as
its roots directly touch with the solution.
(BAC, Bankok Thiland)
“Soilless Culture” is the growing of plants that imitate soil- base
gardening by using many kinds of growing media as for example
inorganic substance, organic substance and synthetic substrates.

6. Vegetables:-Tomato,Lettuce,Cucumber,
Muskmelon,Brinjal,Beet,Wingedbean,
Capsicum,
Flowers:-Gerbera,Rose,Orchid,Marigold
Anthurium,Carnation,Chrysanthemum,
Lily,
Fruits: Strawberry, Raspberry,
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Crops to Grow in Soilless Culture

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Advantage of Hydroponics
Large scale hydroponic gardening can be complex and expensive,
but it offers the following advantages.
 Healthier Plants- Hydroponic gardens are easier to keep
disease free.
 Water Conservation- Most of the water in a hydroponic
garden is recycled. Hydroponics also saves an incredible amount
of water. it uses as little as 1/20 the amount as a regular farm to
produce the same amount of food.
 More Efficient Use of Land- On average, one acre in a
hydroponic greenhouse can produce as many vegetables as 28
acres of farmland. For example, a small hydroponic grower with
just 5,500 square ft. of greenhouse space (that's 1/8th of an acre)
can grow as much as 50,000 of hydroponic tomatoes annually.

8. 8
Less Pollution- Everything in a hydroponic garden
recirculates. As a result, there is less chance for human-made
fertilizers to enter the water supply.
 Versatility- A small hydroponic garden can be set up almost
anywhere.
One can grow the crops who do not have their own field.
Cultivation of crops are possible in saline and desert area.
No need of weeding and soil fumigation.
Continuous cultivation is possible.

9. Country Year Area
(ha)
Media/System Major Crop Grown Reference
Netherlands 2001 10,000 Rockwool Tomato, Lettuce, Cucumber
Muskmelons, Cauliflower,
Carnation, Gerbera ,
Chrysanthemum, Strawberry
Hassall et al.
(2001)
Spain 2001 4000 Perlite, Sand,
Rockwool
Tamato, Lettuce, Cucumber,
Capsicum
Hassall et al.
(2001)
Canada 2001 2000 Perlite, and
Rockwool
Tamato, Cucumber, Capsicum Bradley et al.
(2001)
China 2005 1250 NFT, DFT,
Rockwool
Tamato, Cucumber, Lettuce,
Roses, Chrysanthemum,
Carnation
Jiang et al.
(2007)
France 1996 1000 Rockwool Tamato, Cucumber, Capsicum,
Cut flowerws
Donnan, (1998)
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World Soilless Culture Production Systems And Crops Grown

10. 10
Growing Media
Organic media Inorganic media
Natural media Synthetic media
 Sawdust
 Cocopeat
 Peat
 Woodchips
 Pleece
 Marc
 Bark
 Vermiculite
 Gravel
 Rockwool
 Perlite
 Sand
 Glasswool
 Pumice
 Zeolite
 Sepiolite
 Hydrogel
 Foam mates( Polyurethane)
 Oasis ( Plastic foam )
Soilless Culture Media

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Fairly constant in volume.
Free from weed seed, nematodes and soil born diseases.
Having proper drainage and aeration.
Sufficient nutrients.
Low in soluble salts but adequate CEC.
Biologically and chemically stable on sterilization.
Characteristics of media
Soilless Culture Media

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 The pH of solution should be maintained between 5.6 to 7.0
 Thermocol is used as a supporting material.
 Iron is applied in the form of chelating agent.
The pH should be maintained by using HCl and KOH.
Precautions

13. Peat: It is remains of aquatic marsh bog
or swamp vegetation in partial
decomposed state. It has high
moisture holding capacity.
Cocopeat: It is by product of coconut husk.
Cocopeat is best for providing
aeration.
Perlite:It is grey-white silicacious material
of volcanic origin. It is neutral in ph.
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14. Vermiculite: This is a micaceous mineral.
Chemically it is a hydrated
magnesium –aluminum iron
silicate.
Hydrogel: Szmit and Graham (1989) reported
the use of hydrogel as a growing
media.Plants in presence of hydrogel
tolerate all levels of salinity.
Rockwool: It is produced by burning a mixture
of cock, basalt and limestone.

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Pumice
Like perlite, pumic is a lightweight, mined volcanic rock
that finds application in hydroponics.
Sand
Sand is cheap and easily available. However, it is heavy, does
not hold water very well, and it must be sterilized between
use.
Wood fibre
produced from steam friction of wood, is a very efficient
organic substrate for hydroponics. It has the advantage
that it keeps its structure for a very long time. Wood fibre
has been shown to reduce the effects of "plant growth
regulators.

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Although we generally called these growing media as substrate
but in case of using specific materials it can be called by the
name of such materials, for example.
The cultivation of plant in sand or Sand culture.
The cultivation of plant in gravel or Gravel culture.
The cultivation of plant in rockwool or Rockwool culture.
The cultivation of plant in sawdust or Sawdust culture.
Growers who want to grow the plant without soil
from the characteristic of soilless culture must select the
growing media to be matched with plant growth.

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Requirement:
Protected structure.
High yielding hybrid varieties.
Soilless media.
Multicelled plastic plug-trays.
Fertigation system.
Seedling Raising For Soilless Culture

18. Treatment
Shoot
length
(cm)
Root
length
(cm)
Leaf area
(cm2)
Stem
diameter
(mm)
True no. of
leaves/see-
dling
Total cost
of 100
seedlings
(Rs)
Inverted
pyramid
shaped cells
(8.6 cm3)
9.1 3.3 15.2 1.9 2.1 45.4
Inverted
pyramid
shaped cells
(18.4 cm3)
8.8 3.6 26.7 2.9 2.8 54
Round shaped
cells (20.6 cm3)
9.0 2.8 13.7 2.1 2.2 57.4
Round shaped
cells (68.2 cm3)
8.9 3.8 28.6 3.1 3.0 88.8
Singh et al. (2007)
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Effect of Plug-tray Cell Size and Shape on Quality of
Soilless Tomato Seedling:

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Solution culture
Root Dipping Technique
Aeroponics
Soilless Culture
Diver et al. (2000)
Circulating methods Non-circulating method
Nutrient film
technique
Deep flow
technique Capillary action
technique
Floating technique
Hanging bag technique
Grow bag technique
Trench or trough technique
Pot technique
Solid Media Culture
Type of Soilless Culture

20.  A thin film of nutrient solution
flows through channels.
Bare roots continuously bathed in
a flowing nutrient solution .
 At lower end of the channels
nutrient solution gets collected
and flows to the nutrient solution
tank.
 Flow rate of the nutrient solution
to 2-3 litres per minute
Channel
Timer
Submersible pump
Solution
container
Sieve
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Solution Culture

21. 21
 Nutrient solution flows 2-3 cm deep
through 10 cm diameter PVC pipes.
 Plastic pots contain planting
materials and their bottoms touch
the nutrient solution that flows in
the pipes.
 Arranged the potted plants in one
plane or in zig- zag shape.
 Zig-zag system utilizes the space
efficiently but suitable for low
growing crops. nutrient solution
stock tank
Drainage pipe
Pump
PVC pipe
Delivery tube
Input = uptake
Deep Flow Technique (DFT)

22. Root Dipping Technique:
Plants grown in small pots filled with little growing medium.
Lower 2–3 cm of the pots is submerged in the nutrient solution
 Some roots are dipped in the solution while others hang in the
air above the solution for nutrient and air absorption
respectively.
Roots
Nutrient solution
Non-Circulating Methods

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Floating Technique
 Shallow containers (10 cm deep) can be used.
 Fixed to a Styrofoam sheet or any other light plate on
container.
Allowed to float Styrofoam sheet on the nutrient solution
filled in the container.
 Solution is artificially aerated.

24. 24
Capillary Action Technique
 Nutrient solution reaches in inert medium by capillary
action.
This technique is suitable for ornamentals flowers and
indoor plants.

25. Crop Place Salient finding Reference
Tomato France “Shier filter” is a dynamic filtration system ,
control the diseases caused by microorganisms.
Deniel et al.
(2006)
Lily Jordan Urea above 296 mg/L reduced flower bud
length and weight.
Daood et al.
(2007)
Strawberry Italy Fruit yield, quality and fruit average weight
were highest at EC 2.5 ms cm-1.
Anna et al.
(2003)
Lettuce Spain The oxyfertigation technique has improve
rhizosphere oxygen availability in plants by
supplying dissolved oxygen in the irrigation
water
Marfa et al.
(2005)
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Salient Findings of Solution Culture

26. Crop
Water Application (ML/ha/crop)
Hydroponic
Production
Conventional
Production
Lettuce 1.0 ML 4.0 ML
Tomato 1.5 ML 7.5 ML
Comparison Between Hydroponic and Conventional
Production System

27. COST
(Rs)
Celery Pepper Lettuce Cucumber Radish Tomato
Total cost/m2 116 144 84 106 91 142
Net Income/m2 1428 713 2013 264 1652 1258
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Income and Expenses for Producing Hydroponic
Vegetables/sq. m Area

28. Parameter Hydroponics Field conditions
No. of fruits/plant 64 38
Yield/plant (kg) 2.05 1.2
Yield (q/ha) 820 480
Days to fruit
ripening
58 62
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Yield of Tomato under Hydroponics in Field
Conditions

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Hanging Bag Technique
1 m long cylinder shaped, white colour in outside and black in
inside thick polythene bags, filled with sterilized media and
sealed at the bottom end and tied at the top small PVC pipe.
Bags, suspended vertically in nutrient solution.
Planting materials squeezed into holes on the sides of the
hanging bags.
Solid Media Culture or Aggregate System

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Grow Bag Technique
Bags are placed end to end horizontally in rows on the
floor.
Make two small slits low on each side of the bags for
drainage.
Fertigation with black capillary tube.

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Pot Technique
Growing media is filled in clay or plastic pots.
Nutrient supply by drip system.

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Trench or Trough Technique
Plants are grown in narrow
trenches in the ground constructed
with bricks or concrete blocks.
Trenches and troughs lined with
waterproof material.
Depth of trough at least 30 cm.
Irrigation by drip system or manual
application.
Pipe of 2.5 cm diameter placed at
the bottom for drainage.
Drainage pipe
Polythene film

33. Crop Place Salient finding Reference
Tomato Iran Stem diameter of tomato with sawdust higher
than in those supplemented with perlite.
Delshad,
(2006)
Anthurium Italy Cheers the longest (averaging 72 cm) and Choco
the shortest (56 cm on average).
Cristiano et al.
(2007)
Rose Netherlands Red France and Dallas gave the highest cut flower
yield i.e. 24.8 and 24.1 flowers per plant,
respectively.
Fascella et al.
(2007)
Grape Italy Higher quality, berry yields, 20 days earlier
harvesting and extended the harvesting compared
to conventional greenhouse culture.
Lorenzo et al.
(2005)
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Salient Finding in Aggregate System

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Aeroponics
Aeroponics is a system where in roots are continuously or
discontinuously kept in an environment saturated with fine
drops (a mist or aerosol) of nutrient solution.
The method requires no substrate and entails growing plants
with their roots suspended in a deep air or growth chamber
with the roots periodically wetted with a fine mist of
atomized nutrients.
Excellent aeration is the main advantage of aeroponics.
Aeroponic techniques have proved to be commercially
successful for propagation, seed germination, seed potato
production, tomato production, leaf crops.
Since inventor Richar Stoner commercialized aeroponic
technology in 1983, aeroponics has been implemented as an
alternative to water intensive hydroponic systems worldwide

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Fogponics
 Fogponics is an advanced form of aeroponics which uses
water in a vaporized form to transfer nutrients and oxygen to
enclosed suspended plant roots.
Using the same general idea behind aeroponics except
fogponics uses a 5-10 micron mist within the rooting chamber
and as use for a foliar feeding mechanism.

36. 36
Bubbleponics
Bubbleponics is the art of delivering highly oxygenated
nutrient solution direct to the root zone of plants.
While Deep Water Culture involves the plant roots
hanging down into a reservoir of water below, the term
Bubbleponics describes a top-fed Deep Water Culture
(DWC) hydroponic system.
In this method, the water is pumped from the reservoir up
to the roots (top feeding).
The water is released over the plants roots and then runs
back into the reservoir below in constantly recirculating
system.

37. Crop Place Salient finding Reference
Pototo Spain Increased in vegetative growth and
delayed tuber formation
Ritter et al.
(2001)
Orchid Netherlands Maximizing plant density per square
meter than the hydroponics.
Medany et al.
(2003)
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Salient Finding in Aeroponics

38. Crop Pathogen
Tomato Clavibacter michiganensis, Erwinia spp.,
Pseudomonas solanacearum
Cucumber Fusarium oxysporum, Pythium aphanidermatum
Anthurium Phytophthora parasitica
Gerbera Phytophthora cryptogea, Pythium spp.
Strawberry Leaf blight and Verticillium spp.
Ferrin et al. (2007)
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Important Pathogens in Soilless Culture

39. Phytosanitary measures
Ultra filtration: Fusarium lycopersici, Verticullium alboatrum.
Biological control: Phytophthora cryptogea of gerbera P. nicotianae
of carnation supress in the +nes of Trichoderma.
Heat sterilization: Pythium dissotocum, Pythium aphanidermatum
(Ferrin et al., 2007)
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Disease Management in Soilless Culture

40. 40
Limitations
Slight mistake can end up the crop.
Less awareness among people about this
technology.
High capital investment and require technical
knowledge for management.
 Hydroponics is not a suitable production system for
all horticultural crops.

41.  Hydroponics is more popular in some countries like Canada,
especially in commercial production of vegetables.
But in India, this technique could not get popularity among
gardeners till the date.
The main bottleneck behind this is lack of its standard
knowledge and poor dissemination of its available
technologies.
Although, more literature on Hydroponics is available but
standard, precise and authentic information's are still lacking.
For popularization of Hydroponics in our country, it is very
important to provide scientific proven technology of
Hydroponics to gardeners and create mass awareness in
potential areas at National level.
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Conclusion

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