Semihydroponic and ebb-and-flow systems for calla lily cultivation

Abstract

The soilless cultivation of plants is an alternative for the production of flowers with high quality. Calla lily is normally produced on soil benches, but have shown some limitations as bacterial infections occur. One alternative may be a soilless cultivation. Hence, experiments were conducted with the objective to evaluate the development of calla lily in two types of hydroponic production systems. The semihydroponic system was tested using as substrates or growing media such as, coconut fiber, sand, vermiculite, and phenolic foam sheets. For the other system, ebb-and-flow, the substrates tested were vermiculite, coconut fiber, and expanded clay. Two different nutritional solutions were tested in both systems. in the semihydroponic system. In general, calla lily was adapted and showed a good development in a soilless cultivation. The best initial development of the calla lily was provided using vermiculite and sand as substrates on semihydroponic. And for the ebb-and-flow system, coconut fiber induced better development. As conclusion, hydroponic cultivation systems are efficient for the initial development of calla lily. The recommended substrates are those with lower porosity, such as sand, vermiculite, and coconut fiber.