The effect of different nutrient solutions on growing of basils in hydroponics

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY NGUYEN THI THUY CHUNG THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT NUTRIENT SOLUSIONS ON GROWING OF BASILS IN HYDROPONICS BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode : Full-time Major : Environmental Science and Management Faculty : International Programs Office Batch : 2015 - 2019 Type : On-the-Job Training (OJT) Thai Nguyen - 2019 DOCUMENTATION PAGE WITH ABSTRACT Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Bachelor of Environmental Science Degree Program and Management Student name Nguyen Thi Thuy Chung Student ID DTN 1554290006 The effect of different nutrient solutions Thesis Title on growing of basils in hydroponics Supervisor (s) Prof Nguyen The Hung Supervisor’s Signature Growing plants without soil, also known as hydroponics is quite common all over the World but in Vietnam it is still quite new technology to many people Hydroponics is a beneficial method of farming because when this method is applied, it helps reduce labor, crop damage caused by disease and inclement weather, and produce higher crop yield and quality Basil is a favorable herb vegetable in Vietnam, usually used as raw vegetable therefore it is required to be as clean as possible However, no study to determine hydroponic solution for Basil is availabable therefore this thesis intends to present the results of the research about The effect of different nutrient solutions on growing of basils in hydroponics Keywords: Hydroponics solution, basil, growth, yield Number of pages: 47 Date of Submission: 18th September 2019 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like firstly to thank Prof Nguyen The Hung From the beginning, he had confidence in my abilities to not only complete a degree but to complete it with excellence I wish to thank the lab member known as Mr Nguyen Van Quang He helped me very enthusiastically during the time I did the experiment at Start-up Project no which was cultivated in the green house I would like to give a big acknowledgment to Advanced Education Program that is giving me a great chance on taking this thesis research and has an important impact on my life and enthusiastically supports me the whole time iii TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research reasonable 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research question 1.4 Research place 1.5 Description of your activities 1.6 Timeline CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 General introduction of the hydroponic technique 2.1.1 Definition of hydroponics 2.1.2 Classification of hydroponic systems 2.2 Prospects of application of hydroponic techniques in vegetable production 2.3 Research situation and application of hydro technical techniques 2.3.1 Technical situation and application of hydroponics in the world 2.3.2 Situation of research and application of hydroponic techniques in Vietnam 15 2.4 Introducing basil plants 20 2.4.1 Definition of basil plants 20 2.4.2 Hydroponic studies on basil plants 21 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 23 3.1 Objects, materials and scope of research 23 iv 3.1.1 Research subjects 23 3.1.2 Experimental materials 23 3.2 Research scope 25 3.3 Research Methods 25 3.3.1 Methods 25 3.3.2 Data analysis 27 CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION AND LESSON LEARNDED 28 4.1 The time of each growth stage of basil 28 4.2 The effect of nutrient solution on the yield of basil 29 4.2.1 Height of the tree 29 4.2.2 Root length 31 4.2.3 Yield of basil 33 4.3 Different nutrients have different effects on the ability to change pH 34 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 37 REFERENCE 38 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Circulating hydroponic system 24 Figure 3.2: Ph measuring instrument 26 Figure 4.1: The average height of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 29 Figure 4.2: The difference of the tree between the first harvest and the eighth harvest 30 Figure 4.3: The average root length of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 31 Figure 4.4: The difference of roots between the first harvest and the eighth harvest 32 Figure 4.5: The mass of basil plants in three different nutrient formulas over eight harvests 33 Figure 4.6: The essential nutrients for plants and the pH level at which plants can absorb these nutrients 34 Figure 4.7: The above three graphs indicate the frequency of fluctuations in pH 36 LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: The time of each growth stage of basil in three different nutritional formulas 28 Table 4.2: The average height of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 29 Table 4.3: The average root length of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 31 Table 4.4: The mass of basil plants in three different nutrient formulas over eight harvests 33 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research reasonable Basils, also known as spice vegetables, are small vegetables often used in small amounts and added to the main dish However, without them, the dish may lose its characteristic flavor It not only contributes to flavoring the dishes, adding colors, but sometimes also to decorating to make it more attractive Especially, basil is the common vegetable used in Vietnamese meals In addition to attractive flavoring, basil also has significant health enhancement properties There are many types of basils, which differ only slightly in appearance and taste In detail, there are sweet basil, lemon basil, and basil In the recent years, hydroponic methods under greenhouse conditions are known as an advanced method of growing fresh vegetables due to the reason of crops being planted in closed systems, which increase its the ability to avoid insects As a result, the use of pesticides would be minimized On the other hand, since each plant is placed in a substrate called coconut fiber instead of soil, plants are able to avoid the absorption of heavy metals and other toxic substances Many crops are suitable for hydroponic including basils The key to success of hydroponics is the preparation of a suitable nutrient solution for crops As the solution preparation requires the implementer to have certain scientific knowledge, most people choose to buy nutritional solutions available in markets These solutions are often used for many other crops, so they are not effective for basils, and the price is quite high In order to learn more about techniques of growing vegetables by special hydroponics method and how to make a self-made solution that is suitable and impactful for the basil plant, I decided to choose the topic: THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS ON GROWING OF BASILS IN HYDROPONICS 1.2 Research objectives Studying the effects of different nutrient solutions on growth, yield and qualities of basil plants cultivated by the circulating hydroponic method 1.3 Research question - The effect of three different nutrient solutions affects the height and length of basil plants? - How the effect of three different nutrient solutions affects the change of pH? - Economic efficiency of basil plants grown in hydroponics? 1.4 Research place I have spent months studied in the green house at Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry I was guided by Prof Nguyen The Hung Currently, he is the vice president of the TUAF, at where he once studied We discussed the work that I was going to execute in the green house Particularly, they included: monitoring and observing the growth of basils, with different nutrient solution formulas for hydroponicsin green house Afterward, we a meetingweekly to work on issued questions and solve problems 1.5 Description of your activities - Monitoring pH on a regular basis - Monitoring the height of the plant (cm), root length (cm) days at a time - Monitoring the havested productity of basil under different formula 1.6 Timeline The project is conducted within months from January 1, 2019 to May 31, 2019 * Method of tracking indicators: - Time through growth stages: + From sowing to rooted (days): Count from sowing until there have root + From growing to the day when it is put on the hydroponic systems (day): Calculate from the time of germination to the introduction of the hydroponic system + Harvesting time (days): Calculate between the first and second harvest, until the eighth harvest - Plant height (cm): Measure days at a time, using plastic ruler from the base (close to the surface of the substrate) to sharpen the highest leaf Tree height is calculated by the average data of the monitored trees - Root length (cm): measure days at a time, using plastic ruler measuring from the base (close to the substrate) to the longest root The root length is calculated by the average data of the monitored trees - pH: measure everydays, using Ph measuring instrument Figure 3.2: Ph measuring instrument 26 • Methods of economic accounting Total expenditure (thousand VND): Calculate all actual expenses for vegetable production such as: greenhouse, hydroponic system, slecticity, water and nutrient solution Selling price (thousand VND / kg): The selling price is based on the price of safe vegetables at the time of harvest Total sales (thousand VND) = The number of basil plants x sale price The income (VND thousand) = Total sales - Total expenditure 3.3.2 Data analysis The data is statistically processed by Excel 27 CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION AND LESSON LEARNDED 4.1 The time of each growth stage of basil Table 4.1: The time of each growth stage of basil in three different nutritional formulas Time counted from previous harvest to: … (days) Formula name Bringing into Harvesting time Growing hydroponic first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth systems CT1 15 30 20 20 15 20 15 20 20 CT2 15 30 15 10 15 10 15 15 15 CT3 15 30 10 15 10 10 15 15 10 Table 4.1 show that after days from sowing, the seedlings began to root In the next 15 days, the plants were brought into the hydroponic systems After putting on baskets, the vegetables were harvested every 10, 15 and 20 days Three nutritional formulas had different growth rates With ct1, the harvesting time was from 15 to 20 days The average time was longer than ct2 and ct3 days The experiment gave a total of harvests , ct3 had harvests after 10 days and ct2 had harvests after 10 days 28 4.2 The effect of nutrient solution on the yield of basil 4.2.1 Height of the tree Table 4.2: The average height of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas The average height of basil (cm) Formula Harvesting name first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth CT1 24 25 27 30 34 35 34 34 CT2 23 25 29 33 37 40 37 39 CT3 23 26 28 34 37,5 41 42 40 Average heights of harvested plants (cm) Average heights of harvested plants (cm) 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 The first class The second class The third class The fourth class The fifth class The sixth class The seventh The eighth class class Harvesting CT1 CT2 CT3 Figure 4.1: The average height of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 29 Figure 4.2: The difference of the tree between the first harvest and the eighth harvest When the branches were 10 to 15cm long, it was able to proceed harvesting Looking at table 4.2, the height of the tree in ct1 was the lowest in formulas, though for the first time it gave higher figures than the remaining formulas From the following harvests, the plants in ct1 had lower than the plants of ct2 and ct3 from 2cm to 8cm In addition, ct3 possessed the ideal dimension of the tree which means it produce a faster harvest Over harvests, the average height of the tree in ct3 reached 40cm, while ct2’s was 39cm and ct1’s was 34cm According to the encyclopedia dictionary, the height of basil trees was about 30 cm high After months of experiment, the basil plants reached a maximum height of 40 cm, so the trunk was quite large and the leaves were dark green and harder than when the tree was young with a height of 20 cm to 25 cm 30 4.2.2 Root length Table 4.3: The average root length of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas The average root of basil (cm) Formula Harvesting name first second third fourth fifth sixth seventh eighth CT1 10 12 15 18 19 CT2 12 15 17 21 22 CT3 12 16 19 23 25 Root lengths of harvested plants (cm) Root lengths of harvested plants (cm) 30 25 20 15 10 The first class The second class The third class The fourth class The fifth class The sixth class The seventh The eighth class class Harvesting CT1 CT2 CT3 Figure 4.3: The average root length of basil plants before each harvest in three different nutritional formulas 31 Figure 4.4: The difference of roots between the first harvest and the eighth harvest The longer the length of the roots, the more nutrients the plant will absorb In table 4.3, it is the root length of the tree in CT3 was longer than the other two formulas Within months, the root length of the plants increased from 15 to 20 cm depending on the tree The roots’ average length in ct1 increased from 1cm to 3cm which was lower than the other two formulas from 1cm to 6cm on each harvesting 32 4.2.3 Yield of basil Table 4.4: The mass of basil plants in three different nutrient formulas over eight harvests The amount of harvested each times (gam) Formula Harvesting name first second third fourth fiveth sixth seventh eighth CT1 650 750 800 810 800 850 850 860 CT2 900 750 850 750 850 950 900 950 CT3 750 1010 850 950 850 1000 1200 1300 Weights of harvested plants (gram) Weights of harvested plants (gram) 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 The first The second The third The fourth The fifth class class class class class The sixth class The seventh class Harvesting the eighth class Harvesting CT1 CT2 CT3 Figure 4.5: The mass of basil plants in three different nutrient formulas over eight harvests Tables 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 show the plant height and root length arranged from low to high respectively belonging to ct1, ct2 and ct3 in harvests Therefore, It is concluded that the ability to branch and sprout is equivalent to the above order The 33 data shown in table 4.4 indicate that at each harvest, ct3 always reach the highest yiel from 750g to 1300g, higher than formulas CT1 and CT2 There were times over times the number reached over 1000g While the other two formulas had not once exceeded 1000g The weigh of CT1 was 860g and of CT2 was 950g at the last harvest 4.3 Different nutrients have different effects on the ability to change pH Each crop has a suitable pH range If the pH of a solution is not within the correct range, it will affect the ability to absorb some essential elements necessary for proper plant growth Figure 4.6: The essential nutrients for plants and the pH level at which plants can absorb these nutrients Plants in high acidic environments may experience many symptoms such as toxic aluminum (Al), hydrogen (H), and manganese (Mn) And can also lead to lack of nutrients such as calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) [15] In contrast, in an alkaline environment, the solution will have molybdenum (Mo) phenomenon Meanwhile, phosphorus (P), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), zinc 34 (Zn), copper (Cu) and cobalt (Co) are reduced, and may adversely affect the development of Crops [15] In addition, the pH of the solution is also affected by the substrate Some substrate should be treated to create chemically inertness Therefore, the longer the substrate is used, the more organic elements remain in it and the more frequent adjustments are needed to achieve the desired pH range The above are some of the causes of the pH change of the experiment In case of high or more It is possible to use edible vinegar to reduce alkalinity On the other hand, if the pH is or less, use a KOH solution to reduce acidity From the experiment, the researchers gave a suitable pH level for basil plants in the range (5.2 - 6.1) At this pH range, the root system will grow well and absorb the optimal nutrients, grow height as well as yield better If the pH is outside 6.5, a plant exhibits yellowing in the leaves because the plant is not able to absorb micronutrients The number of frequencies Ph of formula 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 Ph degree 35 The number of frequencies Ph of formula 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 Ph degree The number of frequencies Ph of formula 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 Ph degree Figure 4.7: The above three graphs indicate the frequency of fluctuations in pH Looking at the figure 4.7, CT2 and CT3 with the pH range within 5-6 to 6-7 are the most suitable for optimal growth While in CT1, the pH levels around 4-5 and 7-8 account for more quantity, which is one of the reasons for the lower crop yield compared to the nutrient formulations 36 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION Basil is a kind of herb that can be cultivated under hydroponic conditions However, based on the implemented experiment and the statistic indexes obtained, the cultivation for this herb needs certain criteria of nutrient solutions Specifically, the pH degree should range from 5.0 – 6.9 The total dissolved solutes should be adjusted in the range from 700 ppm to 1100 ppm The proper kind of nutrient solutions is the 3rd formula (CT3) which was used for experimenting Planted in this formula, the basil trees produced highest numbers of monitored criteria which are height and roots In details, the average height given by CT3 was 40 cm Whereas, the average height of plants of CT2 was 39 and CT1’s was only 34 About roots, the average weight measured of roots of CT3’s plants was over 1000 gram while the numbers of the other formulas didn’t exceed 1000 gram In addition, favorable conditions, each group harvests 10 to 15 days apart Cultivating basil on hydroponic systems it is also capable of making profits via commercial activities with high interests and an acceptable amount of investment To be specific, it consumes under 500.000 VND for each 10m2 in a period of five months But in the same period of time, if plants are harvested, the total income can upto 791.000 VND, leading to the interest of 331.000 VND Moreover, the harvested basil plants are fresh and hygienic Therefore, it is possible to said that cultivating basil on hydroponic systems should be applied in not only Vietnam but also other countries This happened the same with the length of roots while CT3 gave an average number of about 17 cm, which is longer than the recorded numbers of CT2 and CT1 As the root of a tree determines the ability to absorb nutrients and water of that tree, the longer and heavier the root is, the stronger the tree will be 37 REFERENCE Anonyme (1998), “Sản xuất chồi đốt làm mía giống hệ thống thủy canh” (L.M dịch), Thông tin Khoa học kĩ thuật Kinh tế, Bộ Nông nghiệp Phát triển nông thôn Nguyễn Minh Chung, Trần Khắc Thi, Nguyễn Thị An, Hoàng Minh Châu (2007), Nghiên cứu ứng dụng thủy công nghệ thủy canh tuần hoàn để sản xuất rau ăn trái vụ, Tạp chí Nơng nghiệp Phát triển Nơng thơn, tháng 3/2010 Đề án Phát triển nông nghiệp công nghệ cao đến năm 2020 Chính phủ Nước Cộng hịa xã hội chủ nghĩa 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nitrate under hydroponic condition in wheat, TERRA (Mexico), v 2(3), pp 282 – 288 21 Sudradjat R., Herawati E (1992), “The use of a liquid compost Produced by anaerobic fermentation of leaf litter as a hydroponics nutrient solution”, Forest – Products – Research – Jouranl (Indonesia) v.10(4), pp 130 – 138 22 Willumsen J., Petesern K.K., Kaach K (1996), “Yield and blossoment rot of tomato as afected by salinity and cation activity rations in zone”, Journal of horticultural science, 71(1), pp 81 – 98 40 ... determine hydroponic solution for Basil is availabable therefore this thesis intends to present the results of the research about The effect of different nutrient solutions on growing of basils in. .. EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS ON GROWING OF BASILS IN HYDROPONICS 1.2 Research objectives Studying the effects of different nutrient solutions on growth, yield and qualities of basil plants... ID DTN 1554290006 The effect of different nutrient solutions Thesis Title on growing of basils in hydroponics Supervisor (s) Prof Nguyen The Hung Supervisor’s Signature Growing plants without