Project Overview
- This Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) project evaluated Green Lightning Treated Water (GLT) as a weekly foliar treatment for lettuce grown under a standard hydroponic nutrient program.
- GLT provides a nitrate-rich water enhancement generated from atmospheric nitrogen conversion and represents a potential alternative or complementary nitrogen strategy for controlled environmental production systems.
- Researchers compared crop growth and harvest biomass between lettuce receiving standard nutrients and lettuce receiving standard nutrients plus GLT.
- Nitrogen is the primary nutrient used in plants for foliage/leaf development, leading to lettuce being the evaluated crop. Lettuce was additionally selected due to its rapid vegetative growth rate and identifiable symptomatic signals to nutrient deficiencies.
Project Goals
- Provide a first trial for research in Olds College’s CEA container.
- Determine whether foliar-applied GLT increases lettuce leaf and canopy development.
- Determine whether GLT increases fresh biomass at harvest.
- Evaluate plant nutrient status following GLT application.
Funders/Partners: Nytro Agtek
