ROOTS - CONNECTING THE GROWING MEDIA WITH GROWING SUCCESS

D. Schwarz
Many problems of hydroponic growing systems are already solved. The question arises, what remains to be done? Among the factors characterizing the root zone there are beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms, physical factors and chemical factors, such as nutrient and other ions, organic solutes, metabolites, mucilage, and root debris. These factors interact with the plant and the greenhouse climate. Adequate knowledge is still lacking as to how roots integrate these complex interactions. Roots mediate a large portion of the plant’s interaction with its environment. This review describes root growth of vegetable crops in hydroponic systems. Modern tomato cultivars in commercial production have smaller root systems than their wild genotypes. However, root systems of these modern cultivars are efficient in meeting demands of plants for nutrients and water because conditions do not limit uptake processes. Plant demand for uptake might be the major factor that determines the optimum root size for a given combination of nutrient supply and concentration. Therefore, it is important to understand how the ratio of metabolically active to inactive roots and heterogeneity of nutrient supply in growing media affect plant processes. Two options are offered to avoid adverse effects of imbalanced water and nutrient uptake by plant root systems: changing root zone conditions to meet more closely the plant’s needs or changing cultivars through selection and breeding for root characteristics that meet plant’s needs under specific environmental conditions.
Schwarz, D. (2004). ROOTS - CONNECTING THE GROWING MEDIA WITH GROWING SUCCESS. Acta Hortic. 644, 327-336
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.644.44
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.644.44
cultivars, genotypes, nutrient flux, nutrient uptake, water uptake, root growth, root characteristics, tomato
English

Acta Horticulturae