Conference PaperPDF Available

Comparison between Growing Plants in Hydroponic System and Soil Based System

August 2018

DOI:10.11159/icmie18.131

Conference: The 4th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering

Authors:

Raneem Gashgari

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Khadija Mughrbil

King Abdulaziz University

Ajwan Jan

Effat University

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: The list of treatments with its description.

…

: Heights of treatments after 30 days.

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: Lengths of leaves of treatments after 30 days.

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ANOVA results from Design-Expert for height response.

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ANOVA results from Design-Expert for length of leaves response.

…

Figures - uploaded by Raneem Gashgari

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Content uploaded by Raneem Gashgari

Content may be subject to copyright.

Proceedings of the 4th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering (MCM'18)

Madrid, Spain – August 16 – 18, 2018

Paper No. ICMIE 131

DOI: 10.11159/icmie18.131

ICMIE 131-1

Comparison between Growing Plants in Hydroponic System and Soil

Based System

Raneem Gashgari, Khawlah Alharbi, Khadija Mughrbil, Ajwan Jan, Abeer Glolam

Department of Industrial Engineering, King Abdulaziz University

Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

rgashgari0001@stu.kau.edu.sa

Abstract - As the world population grows, the demand and need for different products, especially food products, grow as well. Because

of this growing demand, there will be an expected food crisis in the coming years. To prevent that crises from happening, other methods

-farming methods- and sources of food must be used. This paper studies two farming systems to compare and find the best system that

will cover the current and future demand with the least cost and natural resources consumption. The first system is the soil-based system

(traditional), and the other is the hydroponic system. Two types of seeds were used, cucumber and Armenian cucumber. Over a period

of 30 days, the heights of the plants for both systems were measured. After collecting data, the data were analyzed using Design-Expert

and the variance test (ANOVA). The hypothesis of the test is the type of seeds, planting system, and their interaction do have a significant

effect on the height of the plant or not. The experiment resulted in that the type of seeds doesn’t have a significant effect on the plant

growth. However, the planting system has a significant effect on the plant growth, the hydroponic system has a higher growth rate. This

result achieves the aim of this paper which is finding a planting system that can increase the productivity to cover the food demand.

Keywords: Hydroponic System, Soil Based System, ANOVA, Planting System.

1. Introduction

World population projected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. At the same time, it has been estimated that 50% of the arable

land around the world will be unusable for farming [1]. Consequently, the food production has to be increased by 110% to

meet the high demand. According to United Nations Organization (UN), today many countries are facing food crisis

especially in Africa. The food crisis is expected to last to 2050 if the demand will not be covered [2]. The major reason for

this crisis is the climate change due to drought or floods as they became more frequent. Another reason, the poverty of many

countries especially in Southern Africa, poverty reduces food output as the irrigation and fertilizers become inaccessible.

The third reason is the soil erosion and degradation due to traditional farming methods that depend mainly on soil and

therefore, strip the soil from its vitamins and minerals. Because of that, the world needs to develop and apply techniques to

improve and increase the productivity of farming systems. Today farming systems fundamentally based on soil, water and

resilience to disasters. Hence, there is a need to change and develop the economic policies of current farming systems.

2. Problem Statement

Nowadays, the traditional farming system does not meet the current and future demand of food. Therefore, there is a

real need for adapting new farming system that stimulates plants to grow faster. This system should cover the fast-growing

demand with less cost and minimum consumption of natural resources.

Hence, the main goal of the study is to find an alternative system that covers the current and future demand with less

cost and minimum consumption of natural resources. There are also the following specific objectives:

 Compare and select between growing plants in hydroponic system and growing plants in a traditional soil system.

 Formulate and test a hypothesis.

 Use the statistical approach to support the hypothesis of the study.

 Provide recommendations for future work.

ICMIE 131-2

3. Literature Review

Many studies have been conducted in developing food production techniques. One of them is the soil less farming

systems. Soil less systems developments can reduce farmer's consumption of resources such aquaponics and hydroponics

[1]. Aquaponics systems combine fish farming with the practice of raising plants in water in a controlled environment [2]. It

is the integration of hydroponics and aquaculture. The system relies on fish's wastes to provide organic nutrients to help

plants in growth. On the other hand, plants filter, clean and recycle the water back to the fish by creating a symbiotic

relationship [2]. Aquaponics system consumes around 2% of the water that traditional systems consume for the same kind

of vegetable [1].

In hydroponics system, plants' roots are suspended in nutrient-rich water so they can grow without the need for any

chemicals. The offers both home gardeners and commercial vegetables to grow food in places where in traditional soil system

is not possible or cost-effective [1]. Plants in the hydroponic system can achieve 20–25% higher yields than a soil-based

system with productivity 2–5 times higher [1].

There has been a lot of questioning whether hydroponic plants are actually more effective than plants grown in soil. An

experiment study done by Maeva Makendi, showed a competitive analysis between the plant's growth in hydroponic and soil

system [3]. The hypothesis stated as follows “If the hydroponic plants and plants grown in soil are given the same germinating

and growing conditions, then the hydroponic plants will do as well if not even better than the plants grown in soil” [3]. The

experiment was done on different kind of plants for one month. Hydroponic plants did germinate and grew faster than soil

plants [3]. A study by Samangooei and others compared two of main food production method, soil-less and soil-based

systems, the result of the productivity gave a similar result to Makendi study [3], [4]. According to Sardare, crops grown in

soil-less culture are healthier and consistently reliable than crops grown in soil [5].

Although many studies have proven that hydroponics takes the advantages over the regular soil farming, their still some

limitations to using this system. In fact, the hydroponic system requires having skills good knowledge of its principles to

maintain the production [6]. Furthermore, and because this system depends on electricity, power outages can cause damage

to the planted crops [7]. Also, with regards to the cost, hydroponics required much more overheads costs compared with soil

traditional farming regardless its savings in the long run [7], [8].

Much more to consider, some experiments have proven that there is no significant difference between hydroponically

and soil-grown crops. In fact, this experiment has been conducted by [7] to measure the quantity of the ascorbic acid α-

tocopherol in hydroponically and soil-grown raspberries. They conclude that different types of crops result in different

outcomes. To make things clearer, these differences in researchers’ results are due to the multiple numbers of variables to

take in consideration during the hydroponic growing.

4. Materials and Methodology

The first step of conducting this experiment is to choose the plants type. The selected plants are vegetables, and they are

cucumber and Armenian cucumber. These were chosen because they germinate quickly to expedite the experiment. A total

of eight seeds will be used for this experiment, four cucumber seeds and four Armenian cucumber seeds.

The materials needed for creating the hydroponic system are the following:

1. Big plastic containers, (yogurt containers are used for recycling reason) included water with a big hole for the small

plastic container to fix it in the middle of the big container.

2. Small plastic container with small holes that allows water enter inside it.

3. Small hydro stones to hold the plant.

4. Nutrient solution A, which consist of calcium and iron chelate.

5. Air pump device, which contains air hose end by an air stone.

6. Nutrient solution B, which consist of magnesium sulfate, potassium, copper sulfide, zinc sulfide and manganese

sulfide.

7. Water.

For the traditional soil planting the following materials are used:

 Plastic container with small holes at the bottom.

 Planting soil.

 A and B nutrient solutions, as the one used for hydroponic system.

ICMIE 131-3

 Water for irrigation.

For both systems, a meter was used to measure the length of the plant and pH meter was used to measure the pH degree.

After conducting the experiment, the results of the two systems will be analyzed and compared using statistical experimental

design approach. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test will be conducted to test the hypothesis, whether the hydroponic

system is better than the traditional system or not. The experiment levels and the variables will be identified and then analyzed

by Design-Expert statistical software to test the hypothesis. Test hypothesis, variables and factors will be defined in the next

section of the paper.

5. The Experiment

The study will focus on comparing the growth of plants grown in soil and hydroponic system given the same seed type

and growing condition. Thus, the hypothesis will be:

𝐻0: Seed type, planting system, and their interaction do not have significant effect on the height of the plant

𝐻1: Seed type, planting system, and their interaction have significant effect on the height of the plant

5.2. Variables

Table 1 represents all variables in the experiment and divides them into three types: independent, dependent and

controlled variables.

Table 1: The list of all the variables.

Independent variables

Dependent variables

Controlled variables

 Types of seeds

 Planting system

 Height of the plant

 Length of leaves

 Location: rooftop of building

 Vitamins

 Solutions A and B

 Labor

 pH number

5.3. Procedures

The procedure of planting in soil system, summarized by the following steps:

1. Fill about 3/4 of the plastic container with planting soil.

2. Place seeds about 1 cm inside the soil.

3. Add A and B nutrient solutions to the water. Then, carefully irrigate the soil with it. Check soil moisture and add

100 ml of water every 3 days.

On the other hand, the procedure of hydroponic system, summarized by the following steps:

1. Prepare the hydroponic solution by adding A and B nutrient solutions in the water with a Ph of 5.5-6.5.

2. Connect the air pump device with electricity and put its air stone inside the container. Make sure that the hose is clear

and transfer appropriate amount of air.

3. Plant small seedlings out of their pots and carefully washing away most of the soil from the roots.

4. Place the clean seedlings in the growing medium which contain small hydro stones and into the hydroponic solution

container. See Figure 1.

5. Control the chemical balance of nutrients (solution A and B) to water by adding mostly water.

Finally, check and monitor daily plants growth for both systems in the experiment for 30 days and keep them away from

pests and root-rot (if roots go slimy, the plant will turn brown and die)

ICMIE 131-4

Fig. 1: The hydroponic system design.

5.4. Data Collection

Seed type factor has two levels and the planting system has two levels. Also, there are 2 pots for each treatment

combination (see Figures from 2-5). In fact, this is a factorial experiment consist of two-factors (planting system and seed

type) in two levels with replication. The list of the treatments in the experiment is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: The list of treatments with its description.

Description

Symbol

Cucumber seed in soil planting system. No.1

S(1,1)

Cucumber seed in soil planting system. No.2

S(1,2)

Cucumber seed in hydroponic planting system. No.1

H(1,1)

Cucumber seed in hydroponic planting system. No.2

H(1,2)

Armenian cucumber seed in soil planting system. No.1

S(2,1)

Armenian cucumber seed in soil planting system. No.2

S(2,2)

Armenian cucumber seed in hydroponic planting system. No.1

H(2,1)

Armenian cucumber seed in hydroponic planting system. No.2

H(2,2)

Table 3: Heights of treatments after 30 days.

Height (mm)

Seed Type (A)

Cucumber

Armenian Cucumber

Planting

System (B)

Soil

105

Hydroponic

190

146

177

150

Table 4: Lengths of leaves of treatments after 30 days.

Length of Leaves (mm)

Seed Type (A)

Cucumber

Armenian Cucumber

Planting System

(B)

Soil

Hydroponic

ICMIE 131-5

Fig. 2 and 3: Treatment H(1,1) in hydroponic system and treatment S(1,1) in soil system after 10 days.

Fig. 4 and 5: Treatment H(2,1) during growth stages, after 7 days, after 10 days.

Fig. 6: Plants Height Growth in (mm) for 30 days.

: Plants Leaves Growth in (mm) for 30 days.7 .Fig

5.5. Statistical Analysis

The aim of the experiment is to measure the effect of different combinations of levels of planting system and seed type

on the plant height growth and leave lengths. The statistical approach analysis of variance (ANOVA) allows us to test the

null hypothesis that seed type, planting system, and their interaction do not have a significant effect on the plant height and

leaves [3]. Figures 6 and 7 show the increasing trend in the plant heights and growths for 30 days.

As the experiment include replications, the responses are available from two subjects at each combination of levels of

planting system and seed type. So, the attendance of interaction can be measured. The test represents if that difference makes

sense or it must be ignored. By analyzing the collected data from Table 3 and Table 4, three questions must be answered:

 Is there a significant difference between seed type, planting system and the interaction on plant heights and leave

lengths?

100

150

200

22-Oct-1627-Oct-1601-Nov-1606-Nov-1611-Nov-1616-Nov-1621-Nov-16

H(1,1)

H(1,2)

H(2,1)

H(2,2)

S(1,1)

S(1,2)

S(2,1)

S(2,2)

22-Oct-1627-Oct-1601-Nov-1606-Nov-1611-Nov-1616-Nov-1621-Nov-16

H(1,1)

H(1,2)

H(2,1)

H(2,2)

S(1,1)

S(1,2)

S(2,1)

S(2,2)

ICMIE 131-6

 How much is the difference between the traditional planting system and the hydroponic planting system?

 Did hydroponic system give the best growth results with all seeds types?

6. Results

The Model F-value of 9.70 implies the model is significant. There is only a 2.63% chance that a "Model F-Value" this

large could occur due to noise. Values of "Prob > F" less than 0.0500 indicate model terms are significant. In this case, B

(the planting type factor) is the significant model term. Values greater than 0.1000 indicate the model terms are not significant

which include both A and AB (the type of seed factor and the interaction between two factor). See Figure 8 from Design-

Expert which represent height response.

Fig. 8: ANOVA results from Design-Expert for height response.

The "Model F-value" of 0.36 implies the model is not significant relative to the noise. There is a 78.34 % chance that a

"Model F-value" is large could occur due to noise. In this case, there are no significant model terms. All values (A, B and

the interaction AB) greater than 0.1000 indicate the model terms are not significant. See Figure 9 from Design-Expert which

represent length of leaves response.

Fig. 9: ANOVA results from Design-Expert for length of leaves response.

7. Discussion

The whole experiment took one and a half month to complete. The growth of the plants was measured for thirty days

starting 22 October 2016 till 20 November 2016. The height of the plants and the length of the leaves were measured to

indicate any difference in growth. The data shows treatments that are planted using hydroponic system did indeed grow

faster than traditional soil system.

According to the results from Design-Expert software, the planting system did have a significant effect on the height of

treatments. On the other hand, it will not affect the length of leaves. The other terms, seed type and their interaction between

the planting system and seed type, did not affect the growth- height, and length of leaves of the treatments.

After the plants were germinated, the difference in the speed of growth was noticeable in the height of the treatments.

For example, cucumber treatments equal 94 mm in soil and 190 mm in hydroponic. Similarly, for Armenian cucumber

treatments equal 78 mm in soil and 177 mm in hydroponic. As for the length of the leaves, the differences were little. For

instance, cucumber treatments equal 50 mm in soil and 76 mm in hydroponic. Similarly, for Armenian cucumber treatments

equal 43 mm in soil and 69 mm in hydroponic.

All plants in the hydroponic and soil systems germinated and grew. However, since only eight treatments were studied

the chance of plants not germinated is lower. If more treatments were considered the chance of plants not germinated is

higher. There could also be a probability for plants to die in the middle of the experiment, especially in the soil system due

ICMIE 131-7

to human factors such as overwatering. The hypothesis of the experiment is accepted for changing the planting system will

influence the plants’ height. In this case, the hydroponic system has a better effect as it makes the plant grow faster.

8. Conclusion

High demand for food production is increasing as the world population is growing. Meanwhile, the traditional farming

using soil system will not cover the world's growing demand for food. Thus, developing a new farming and planting system

techniques is required to avoid food crisis issue in the future. This study aimed to examine an efficient technique for

alternative planting system which is the hydroponic system. The statistical experimental design approach was used to analyze

and compare between traditional soil system and hydroponic system by planting two types of seeds: cucumber and Armenian

cucumber in both systems.

The analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to test two factor factorial design with two levels hypothesis, whether the

hydroponic system is better than the traditional system. The final results from Design Expert software show that hydroponic

planting system has a better effect than traditional soil system as it makes plants heights grow faster. On the other hand, the

planting system has no significate effect on the length of leaves. Moreover, seed type and the interaction between seed type

and the planting system have no signification effect on plant growth.

For future work, the experiment can be done on a larger scale, this will help in reflecting whether the hydroponic system

will meet the demand of today and future market. Considering different factors such as soil type and solution type will help

in implanting the experiment on a larger scale. Also, the period of the experiment should be extended as new changes may

appear after a while. An important note to consider is the type of plants. In this experiment, only two plants were considered.

However, the experiment can be done with different types of seeds to see if the results can be generalized to more plants.

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[3] D. C. Montgomery, Design and Analysis of Experiment, 8th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2013.

[4] C. Somerville, M. Cohen, E. Pantanella, A. Stankus and A. Lovatelli, “Small-scale aquaponic food production,” 2014.

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Traditional agricultural system is heavily dependent on soil and natural environment. It is encountering significant challenges from climate change, soil degradation, and water scarcity. Hydroponic fodder production offers as an alternative solution to traditional agricultural system of fodder cultivation which does not rely on soil and can be produced in controlled environment while yielding highly nutritious fodder. This study assesses biomass production, plant height, primary root length, chlorophyll index, nutritional content and economic feasibility of five hydroponic fodder species which includes maize (Zea mays), wheat (Triticum aestivum), oat (Avena sativa), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata). The research was conducted at Dr. Purnendu Gain field laboratory and Animal Husbandry laboratory at Khulna University, Bangladesh. Experimental design was completely randomized design (CRD). Seeds were carefully selected, prepared, and grown in a controlled environment. It was harvested at 11th day after germination. Results indicated that oat consistently achieved the highest biomass yield, peaking at 1254.22g ± 249.98 from 250 g seeds on day 11, followed closely by cowpea at 1045.22 g ± 71.57 from same quantity of seeds. Oat also maintained the highest plant height reaching up to 19.81 cm ± 1.34 by day 11. Maize showed the longest root length, measuring of 28.59 cm ± 0.120. Cowpea demonstrated the highest chlorophyll levels across all days. Wheat was proved to be the most cost-effective options. Highest dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), ether extract (EE), total ash (TA) and nitrogen-free extract (NFE) was found in wheat (26.62% ± 2.91), cowpea (25.80% ± 0.48), oat (19.31% ± 1.62), maize (3.59% ± 0.17), cowpea (9.61% ± 0.36) and maize (54.15% ± 2.48), respectively. The results demonstrated the potential of hydroponic fodder production as a viable, sustainable solution for livestock farming, particularly in regions where traditional fodder cultivation is constrained.

Perspective Chapter: An Overview of Hydroponic Cultivation for Sustainable Food Production

Chapter

Full-text available

Dec 2024

Global food security is increasingly challenged by unpredictable climatic conditions and population growth. Currently, most farmers rely on soil-based cultivation methods for food production. The limitations of this approach mainly include high dependence on the seasonal changes and chemical additives. These limitations suggest that traditional cultivation methods may not be sufficient to supply the world’s food needs in the future. As a result, alternative, sustainable food production methods are needed. Hydroponic technology has emerged as a promising alternative, allowing for improved food production at both local and commercial scales. This review article, therefore, explores the potential of hydroponic systems to support plant growth and further looks at the performance of various crops in hydroponic systems. The key findings from the literature point out that while lettuce is still a common food crop produced hydroponically, herbs, certain fruits and medicinal plants are also gaining popularity. The review also exposed a gap in the research regarding the impact of hydroponic systems on health-promoting compounds and secondary metabolites on plant species. In addition, the review provides evidence that hydroponic cultivation accelerates plant growth as compared to soil-based cultivation methods. Finally, the review highlights the role of technology in optimizing hydroponic practices.

Nutrient Analysis of Soil and Soilless Strawberries and Raspberries Grown in a Greenhouse

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2015

Soilless (hydroponic) vegetables and fruits grown in greenhouses are gaining popularity and potentially represent a compliment toward sustainable food sources. Only a few studies have looked at the nutrient quality of strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) and raspberries (Rubus idaeus) grown in soilless systems. Dry weights, content of ascorbic acid, tocopherol, total polyphenolic compounds, glucose, fructose, and soluble solids (BRIX) of strawberries and raspberries grown in soilless systems were compared to their counterpart grown in soil. There was no change in dry weights but BRIX values (28% - 31%), glucose (158% - 175%), and fructose (75% - 102%) content for strawberries and raspberries respectively were significantly higher for the soil grown berries compared to soilless grown berries. Contents of ascorbic acid, tocopherol and total polyphenolic compounds were significantly higher in soilless grown strawberries compared to soil grown strawberries by 74%, 53%, and 22% respectively, and contents of ascorbic acid and total polyphenolic compounds were significantly higher in soil grown raspberries by 83% and 67% respectively compared to soilless grown raspberries. Soilless grown produce warrants future research to strive toward the potential to provide nutrient dense crops and opportunities toward optimized sustainable production.

A REVIEW ON PLANT WITHOUT SOIL - HYDROPONICS

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2013

Mamta Deorao Sardare

With the advent of civilization, open field/soil-based agriculture is facing some major challenges; most importantly decrease in per capita land availability. In 1960 with 3 billion population over the World, per capita land was 0.5 ha but presently, with 6 billion people it is only 0.25 ha and by 2050, it will reach at 0.16 ha. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization as well as melting of icebergs (as an obvious impact of global warming), arable land under cultivation is further going to decrease. Again, soil fertility status has attained a saturation level, and productivity is not increasing further with increased level of fertilizer application. Besides, poor soil fertility in some of the cultivable areas, less chance of natural soil fertility build-up by microbes due to continuous cultivation, frequent drought conditions and unpredictability of climate and weather patterns, rise in temperature, river pollution, poor water management and wastage of huge amount of water, decline in ground water level, etc. are threatening food production under conventional soil-based agriculture. Under such circumstances, in near future it will become impossible to feed the entire population using open field system of agricultural production only. Naturally, soil-less culture is becoming more relevant in the present scenario, to cope-up with these challenges. In soil-less culture, plants are raised without soil. Improved space and water conserving methods of food production under soil-less culture have shown some promising results all over the World.

Soil-less systems vs. soil-based systems for cultivating edible plants on buildings in relation to the contribution towards sustainable cities

Article

Jan 2016

Food production and consumption for cities has become a global concern due to increasing numbers of people living in urban areas, threatening food security. There is the contention that people living in cities have become disconnected with food production, leading to reduced nutrition in diets and increased food waste. Integrating food production into cities (urban agriculture) can help alleviate some of these issues. Lack of space at ground level in high-density urban areas has accelerated the idea of using spare building surfaces for food production. There are various growing methods being used for food production on buildings, which can be split into two main types, soil-less systems and soil-based systems. This paper is a holistic assessment (underpinned by the triple bottom line of sustainable development) of these two types of systems for food production on buildings, looking at the benefits and limitation of each type in this context. The results illustrate that soil-less systems are more productive per square metre, which increases the amount of locally grown, fresh produce available in urban areas. The results also show that soil-based systems for cultivation on buildings are more environmentally and socially beneficial overall for urban areas than soil-less systems.

Small-scale aquaponic food production: integrated fish and plant farming

Article

Jan 2014

Design and Analysis of Experiment

Article

Apr 1978

World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100

Jun 2017

U Nation

U. Nation, "World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050, and 11.2 billion in 2100," United Nation, 21 June 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2017.html

Effectiveness of Aquaponic and Hydroponic Gardening to Traditional Gardening

Jan 2015
35

E Okemwa

E. Okemwa, "Effectiveness of Aquaponic and Hydroponic Gardening to Traditional Gardening," International Journal of Scientific Research and Innovative Technology, vol. 2, no. 2313-3759, p. 35, 2015.

Comparative Analysis of Two Plant Growth Mediums: Hydroponic vs. Soil

Jan 2014

M. M. S. G, "Comparative Analysis of Two Plant Growth Mediums: Hydroponic vs. Soil," The Academy of Science, Research and Medicine, 2014.

Comparison of Nutritional and Sensory Qualities between Hydroponic and Soil-Grown Strawberries and Raspberries

Jan 2015

C Treftz

C. Treftz, Comparison of Nutritional and Sensory Qualities between Hydroponic and Soil-Grown Strawberries and Raspberries. Reno: ProQuest LLC, 2015.

Jan 2013
299-304

M Sardare
S Admane

M. Sardare and S. Admane, "A Review on Plant without Soil -Hydroponics," International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 299-304, 2013.