Factors Affecting Relative Growth Rate of Lettuce and Spinach in Hydroponics in a Greenhouse

Abstract

Relative growth rate (RGR), the relative increase in weight per day, can analyze the effect of environment and nutrition on growth. I examined which of the parameters responding to plant growth scaled according to RGR for lettuce and spinach grown in heated greenhouses in hydroponics with control of the nutrient solution. The experiments for lettuce in 2006–08 included all times of year, high vs. low temperature, and effect of withdrawal of nitrogen. There were four parameters that were significant in multiple linear regression vs. RGR; irradiance divided by leaf area index if it was greater than one, or normalized daily light integral (NDLI), solution temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), and logarithm solution nitrate when it was between 3 and 55 mg·L−1 N. NDLI had the most significant coefficient, but the other parameters had regression coefficients more than three times se. For experiments on spinach in 2009–10, all the parameters mentioned previously were significant in multiple linear regression vs. RGR, except EC. The coefficient for NDLI in spinach was about half the value in lettuce. The coefficients for solution temperature and low nitrate were two and three times that in lettuce. In a third set of experiments on lettuce in 1996–98, solution temperature was the only significant parameter among those mentioned previously. The coefficient for solution temperature was similar to that for regression of lettuce in 2006–08.