Effects of soilless culture systems on yield and quality of carrot

In this study, possibilities of growing carrot were investigated by soilless culture technique. The carrot roots have been produced in substrate culture with cocopeat, vermiculite, perlite, rockwool, water culture and aeroponics. Experiment was carried out in Adana where has Mediterranean climate ecological conditions during autumn-winter period. The better results in the experiment were obtained from vermiculite and cocopeat cultures interms of carrot root growth, yield, β-carotene, phenols, soluble solids and minerals content of the root. However, the carrot root characteristics in the both substrates for shape were still under the original characteristics of the cultivar, especially the root length was shorter than the original grown in soil. Perlite used in the experiment was not successful due to the heterogene particle size. The smallest and largest perlite particles mix together was not suitable for storage root growth. The tap root may have had difficulty in penetration into the rockwool slab and growth was not good. The carrot roots grown in water culture not only showed decreased growth but also showed worse quality properties with the higher ratio of split and forket roots. It is thought that this case due to spray interval (10 minutes) and spray time (21 sec) could not be suitable for carrot growing in aeroponic system. Consequently, carrot plants exposed to stress because of water and nutrient deficiencies. Key words: Daucus carota L, soilless growing, yield, nutritional content