| 1. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix
(författare)
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An updated glossary of terms and basic characteristics of growing media
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; 1377, s. 925-934
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the research community of growing media, there is an increasing confusion related to inappropriate use of terms, and to a lack of description of minimal chemical, physical, biological characteristics of growing media and their components for adequate data interpretation in scientific publications. A survey was conducted between the summer of 2019 and the autumn of 2020 among growing media scientists worldwide to help addressing these two issues and published later as a basic framework (Caron and Zheng, 2021). In 2022, a workshop was organized to update terms and definitions and report further progress with respect to terms and basic characteristics. This paper summarizes the improvement of the glossary suggested by Caron and Zheng (2021).
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| 2. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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Concept based mapping as a tool to disentangle biological properties and interactivities in research on growing media and hydroponics
- 2024
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 163-174
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cascading use of valorized constituents from societal side-streams in growing media (GM), but also the reuse of growing media, has brought increased attention to their biological properties and processes. These processes are complex, dynamic and interconnected. They are a result of the origin and treatment in previous steps of the cascading use as well as in the re-use. Furthermore, they are affected by physical and chemical characteristics in the GM and in the environment that they are exposed to. Thus, the complexity of factors and events shapes the outcome of research studies as well as product development and the manner how such outcome may be interpreted and how manufacturing processes and product quality can be standardized. In addition, the recent development of high-throughput methods for culture independent description of microbial community composition, gathering a copious volume of data, increases the level of complexity even more. To draw clear-cut conclusions on biological characteristics, processes and dynamics in GM, this complex picture needs to be disentangled, a process that already has to be in place at the early step of the study, process or product design. Based on three examples, we describe the power of conceptbased mapping to disentangle biological properties and interactivities in research and product development of GM and hydroponics and show its potential for big data analysis and modeling.
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| 3. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix
(författare)
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GREENRESILIENT – Applying agroecology to organic greenhouse production
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; 1296, s. 1099-1105
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Some organic greenhouse production systems are very intensive with potentially negative effects on the public trust on organic products as a whole. In this context, the year-round production of high quality and tasty vegetables in unheated and low-energy greenhouses or polytunnels, using resilient, sustainable and local systems, is a challenge, especially in areas with long winters and low light, low temperature conditions. The CORE Organic Cofund transnational project titled “Organic and biodynamic vegetable production in low-energy GREENhouses – sustainable, RESILIENT and innovative food production systems” (GREENRESILIENT) has taken up the challenge and aims to demonstrate that an agroecological approach to greenhouse production is feasible and allows the establishment of robust agroecosystems in different European areas. The use of agroecological practices in organic greenhouse production systems is an innovative approach and a team of scientists with multidisciplinary competences (agronomy, agroecology, soil chemistry, entomology, plant pathology, weed science, life cycle analysis) from 12 research centres in eight European countries are involved. Research activities are carried out in five experimental sites (two in Mediterranean countries and three in central and northern countries), comparing innovative systems in unheated or frost protected conditions to a standard organic system specific for each experimental site. Results obtained will be used for actors’ involvement (farmers, consumers and policy makers) and sustainability assessment.
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| 4. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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Integrated greenhouse production in new light: prospects on improved LED-assisted biocontrol of foliar diseases
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 293-296
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Horticultural greenhouse production in circumpolar regions (>60°N latitude) is dependent of artificial assimilation lighting, which is a common tool to improve plant performance and consequently profitability of ornamental crops and to secure production of greenhouse vegetables and berries all year round. The anticipated light technology shift in the greenhouse industry not only affects crop growth and development but also quality of the produce. It also influences the interactions with the associated microbiota, i.e., community structure and function as well as establishment, dispersal, survival and propagation of microbial pathogens and biocontrol agents. We present a novel ecological theory and principle based approach for integrated production of greenhouse crops, using improved LED-assisted biocontrol of foliar diseases.
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| 5. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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New challenges for organic greenhouse horticulture in Sweden
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 1079-1084
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Swedish consumers buy increasing amounts of organic food. Also, the Swedish Government aspires to increase food sovereignty and volume of organic food stuff in public meals from 36 (2017) to 60% in 2030. There is a substantial mismatch between demand and the production of organic vegetables. Today, 4.9% of the total greenhouse area in Sweden is used for organic production. The majority of organic production of greenhouse vegetables in Sweden is performed in containers and confined beds. The approval of the revised European regulation for organic farming in 2018 reinforces production in natural soil, leads to dramatic changes for organic greenhouse horticulture in Sweden. Confined beds need to be phased out. Cultivation methods that conserve or increase organic matter in the soil should be used. Thus, soil bound systems using crop rotations and soil fertility maintaining activities need to be implemented. This corroborates with increased burden of soil borne diseases and lower yields. Such systems, well established in southern Europe, cannot be translated to northern European conditions, due to constraints in climate and day length, as well as constraints due to greenhouse construction (permanent construction). This presentation displays the challenges and consequences to meet the changed legislation.
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| 6. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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The search for alternative growing media constituents fuels the need for terms and definitions for biological characteristics of growing media and gold standard methods
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; 1377, s. 935-939
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Growing media are commonly evaluated with respect to their physical and chemical properties and some standard methods were established during the 1990s (CEN methods). Biological characterization of growing media has not received the same attention over the years. Currently, there is a search for alternative growing media constituents to replace peat. A cascading use of valorized material from societal side streams is considered. This development engages expertise from various disciplines who often neither own a common terminology for biological factors and processes in growing media, nor a common set of methods to describe them. This hampers the comparability between various studies as well as properties and qualities of different products. This opinion note highlights factors to be considered for biological characterization of growing media and sets up a disposition for the establishment of a common terminology.
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| 7. |
- Alsanius, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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The two sides of the coin: sustainability and controlled environment horticulture
- 2023
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 427-438
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainability, although already outlined in the late 1980s, has evolved into a game changer in the discourse of production systems. This review puts a finger on the pulse of horticultural research with respect to i) the 17 UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and identifies areas (targets) directly or indirectly providing benefits and trade-offs based on scrutiny of 169 targets and to ii) grouping outputs of a systematic literature search with respect to basic sustainability and resilience criteria. Direct and indirect benefits of the SDGs to horticulture were identified within SDG 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Health and wellbeing), 4 (Quality education), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Clean energy) and 9 (Innovation, infrastructure and industry), whereas SDGs that benefit from horticulture within the SDGs 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 (Responsible consumption and production) and 13 (Climate action). 104 publications were extracted and 53 of these were found eligible for the systematic literature analysis based on the criteria for exclusion and inclusion. Few publications considered the concept of resilience, in terms of absorbance, recovery and adaptation to disturbances. Meanwhile, the majority of publications focused on sustainability, but rather referred to the term than integrated sustainability as a concept. Studies involving life cycle analysis highlight the strong energy dependence of high-tech horticulture, underlining the interactivities with SDG7. Fine-tuning of input means and measures were prioritized to the detriment of holistic approaches. The shift in the global challenges framework requests a shift in perspective of horticulture research. To holistically focus on the food system-horticulture-SDG link, an agenda for research on high-tech horticulture was established. Current pandemic and geopolitical disturbances urge for a stronger engagement of resilience research in horticulture.
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| 8. |
- Asp, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Circularity in practice: reusing restaurant waste for in-house vegetable production
- 2021
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 281-286
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Production of biogas is a common way to handle organic waste products and it provides not only energy but also an anaerobic digestate (AD) rich in plant nutrients. In order to create a close loop between food consumption and vegetable production this project was undertaken to see if food waste from a restaurant, could be used to produce a liquid fertilizer for lettuce production to the same restaurant. Growth experiments in a hydroponic set up were made with nitrified AD. The AD was tested as a hydroponic fertilizer at two dilution levels. In one trial the solution was also amended with mineral nutrients and all the trials were compared to a mineral nutrient control. Results indicate that it is possible to use the digestate as a fertilizer for lettuce, and that amendment with certain mineral nutrients enhances the growth. Plant concentrations of Na and Cl indicates that there might be a problem with toxicity but it was not clarified by these experiments.
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| 9. |
- Bergstrand, Karl-Johan, et al.
(författare)
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End-of-day treatments as a way of controlling growth in ornamental pot plants
- 2020
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; 1296, s. 287-292
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the introduction of light emitting diode (LED) technology for greenhouse lighting, the possibility to apply narrow band light becomes available to the grower. With narrow band light, it is possible to target the different photoreceptors of the plant, and thus control plant growth and development. Applying a brief period of narrowband light at the end of the photoperiod (end-of-day lighting) has been suggested as a way to control growth with a low total input of electric energy. Controlling stem elongation is an important part of greenhouse horticulture, especially for ornamental crops but also for vegetable transplants. Chemical plant growth regulators are efficient and widely used for this purpose, but questioned from an environmental point of view and not compatible with organic practices. In a series of experiments, end-of-day treatments with different wavebands were applied to poinsettia plants in order to evaluate the concept and to establish the most suitable wavelength. Red (660 nm), green (525 nm), and white (continuous spectrum) LED lights were evaluated. End-ofday light was applied for one hour after the main photoperiod, at an intensity of 10 µmol m-2 s-1. A treatment without end-of-day light was used as the control treatment. The results displayed significant differences among treatments.
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| 10. |
- Bergstrand, Karl-Johan, et al.
(författare)
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Methods for measuring nutrient mineralization in growing media with organic fertilizers incorporated
- 2021
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Ingår i: Acta Horticulturae. - 0567-7572 .- 2406-6168. ; , s. 87-92
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of organic nutrient sources is mandatory when producing plants according to organic standards. As the nutrient release from organic fertilizers is depending on microbial processes, they are in turn affected by factors such as moisture content, temperature, and pH. This makes mineralization hard to control and predict, and lacking synchronization between mineralization and crop demand is a major problem when using organic fertilizers (Bi et al., 2010; Burnett et al., 2016; Rosen and Allan, 2007) affecting crop productivity and potentially leading to decreased nutrient use efficiency and leaching. This fact invokes the need for analytical methods offering possibilities to predict nutrient availability during the crop cycle. However, as of today, there is a lack in standardized methods for characterization of nutrient release patterns from organic fertilizers. Also methods for analysis of horticultural growing media are not internationally standardized (Baumgarten, 2005), although incubation methods for N analysis have been suggested (Thorup-Kristensen, 1994). There are numerous different extraction methods for analysis of growing media which will provide fundamentally different values. Also for plant analysis, a number of different methods such as total analysis, plant sap analysis, and non-invasive optic methods are applied to scrutinize plant nutrient status. In the this paper, an attempt was made to track nutrient uptake from organically bound, to plant available in the peat-based growing medium, to uptake in the plant using different analysis methods. The overall objective was to develop a protocol to assess nutrient release from organic fertilizers.
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