Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Vol. LXVIII, Issue 2
Written by Ion NIȚU, Elisabeta Elena POPA, Elena MĂNĂILĂ, Silvana DĂNĂILĂ-GUIDEA, Mihaela GEICU-CRISTEA, Mona Elena POPA, Mihaela Cristina DRĂGHICI, Paul Alexandru POPESCU, Amalia Carmen MITELUȚ
The agricultural sector and food production have witnessed persistent expansion in the past few decades. This occurrence has resulted in the excessive utilization of intensive production methodologies, leading to the unsustainable depletion of soil nutrients and water resources. Numerous research endeavors have been undertaken with the aim of examining the influence of hydrogels on the enhancement and optimization of agricultural inputs. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of four different compositions of hydrogels based on montmorillonite on the morphological characteristics of lettuce seedlings (Lactuca sativa) subsequent to the transplanting procedure, in the greenhouse conditions. The effect of the tested hydrogels on the development of the plants was regularly monitored through evaluation of the overall height, number of leaves and the relative content of chlorophyll. The results show no noticeable differences for the height parameters of the samples, meanwhile the total number of leaves and relative content of chlorophyll proved to be significantly higher for the samples cultivated using hydrogels compared to the control samples.
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