Comparison of vertical conveyor system with other soilless culture systems in head salad growing

In this study, it was aimed to compare vertical conveyor system, aeroponic (AeroGrow 20), capillar system (autopot), substrate culture, soil production , and to evoluate for the effectiveness of the system in.Results of production in Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) done in another greenhouse were evaluated as observation. The seedlings of head salad (Lactuca sativa var. capitata) variety Salinas were used. Head salads were harvested after 50 days after transplanting and parameters related to yield, plant growth and quality, plant nutrient content and water use efficiencies were determined. Among the tested systems, the highest total yield (12.99 kg/m2) was obtained from aeroponic system which had the highest number of plants (45 no/m2). This was followed by capillar system and vertical conveyor system. The lowest total yield were substrate culture and soil production. The maximum average and marcetable head weights were in soil productionwhich had the lowest plant number per unit area. A relationship was found between average and marketable head weight with head diameter in measured parameters. The highest water use efficiency was in capillary system with 51.62kg/m3 among the tested systems and this value was 27.2% higher than soil production. As a conclusion, the results revealed that vertical conveyor system could be used after some modifications due to some issues resulting from its design