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Enhancing Lettuce Biomass

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

Results

  • GLT-treated lettuce produced approximately 49 per cent greater average fresh biomass at harvest compared with lettuce receiving the standard nutrient program. 
  • Canopy and leaf area were also larger in lettuce receiving GLT compared to standard nutrients. 

2026 Summary

This controlled environment trial evaluated Green Lightning Treated Water (GLT) as a weekly foliar treatment for lettuce grown under a standard hydroponic nutrient program. The study compared crop growth and harvest biomass between lettuce receiving standard nutrients and lettuce receiving standard nutrients plus GLT. The trial was conducted in the Olds College controlled environment vertical growing system.

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