Solid matrix and liquid culture procedures for growth of potatoes

This report discusses the advantages and limitations of several different procedures for growth of potatoes for CELSS. Solution culture, in which roots and stolons are submerged, and aeroponic culture were not found useful for potatoes because stolons did not produce tubers unless a severe stress was applied to the plants. In detailed comparison studies, three selected culture systems were compared, nutrient film technique (NFT), NFT with shallow media, and pot culture with deep media. For the NFT and NFT plus shallow media, plants were grown in 0.3 m2 trays and for the deep medium culture, in 20 liter pots. A 1 cm depth of arcillite, a baked montmorillonite clay, was used as shallow media (NFT-arc). Peat-vermiculite mixture was used to fill the pots for the deep media. Nutrient solution, modified half-strength Hoagland's, was recirculated among the tray culture plants with pH automatically controlled at 5.5, and conductivity maintained at approximately 1100 microS cm-1 by adding stock nutrients or renewing the solution. A separate nutrient solution was used to water the pot plants four times daily to excess and the excess was discarded. Plants of Norland cv. were utilized and transplanted from sterile-propagated stem cutting plantlets. The plants were grown for 66 days under 12 h photoperiod in a first study and grown for 54 days under 24 h photoperiod in a second study. Under both photoperiods, total plant growth was greater in NFT-arc than in either NFT or pot culture. Under 12 h photoperiod, tuber dry weight was 30% higher with NFT-arc, but 50% lower with NFT, than with pot culture. Under 24 h photoperiod, however, tuber dry weight in both NFT and NFT-arc was only 20% of that in pot culture. The NFT and NFT-arc produced a greater shoot growth and larger number of small tubers than pot culture, especially with 24 h photoperiod. It is concluded that there are serious limitations to the use of NFT alone for growth of potatoes in a CELSS system. These limitations can be minimized by using a modified NFT with a shallow layer of media, such as arcillite, yet additional work is needed to ensure high tuber production with this system under long photoperiods.