The effects of ozone treatment on nutrient solution composition and yield and quality of lettuce grown in floating culture

This study was conducted in order to determine the effects of using air pump or ozone generator in order to provide oxygen to the nutrient solution on the nutrient solution composition and the yield and quality of lettuce grown in floating culture. Lettuce cv Bohemia were grown in six plastic tanks in floating culture. In this study, in order to provide oxygen to the nutrient solution GN 202c models ozone generator and air pump (control) were used. Experimental design of the study was randomized complete block with three replications with 36 plants each. Nutrient solution samples were taken from each replication both in ozone generator and aquarium pump applications separately and analyzed in order to determine the effects of ozone application on the solution's nutrient composition. Statistical analysis performed by using SPSS software. As a result of analysis of the nutrient solutions it was found that elements of K, P, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn and Zn in the air pump applied solution have higher values than those in the ozone generator applied solution. Although the difference in the elemental composition of nutrient solutions, the results of leaf analysis showed that there were no statistical significant differences in nutrient content of leaves according to applications. In this study it was determined that phosphorus, manganese and zinc were at a sufficient level; nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and boron were not at enough level, and nitrate were excessive. In this study, statistically significant differences were determined between the applications in terms of root length, stem diameter, stem weight, leaf area, leaf length, leaf width, leaf dry weight and chroma value. There were no statistical differences between the applications in terms of plant length, stem length, root weight, core ratio, the number of leaf, leaf area and yield.