The growth responses of Chinese Cabbage, lettuce, and spinach were evaluated to investigate the feasibility of carbonized rice-hulls as a sanitary cultivation media instead of soil. The carbonized rice-hulls were pretreated with several inorganic acid...
The growth responses of Chinese Cabbage, lettuce, and spinach were evaluated to investigate the feasibility of carbonized rice-hulls as a sanitary cultivation media instead of soil. The carbonized rice-hulls were pretreated with several inorganic acid such as nitric, sulfuric, hydrochloric, and phosphoric acid for neutralization. The neutralization of the carbonated material using nitric, sulfuric, and phosphoric acid did not alter the growth responses of these vegetables compared to those of control plants grown on the normal cultivation soil. Especially, the nitric acid pretreatment resulted in the better growth of these plants than the mixture of soil and compost. This is probably due to the additional supply of the nitrate-nitrogens. However the growth responses of lettuce and spinach on the carbonated materials neutralized with hydrochloric acid were different and appeared to be having symptom which is analogous to the chloride toxicity during the late stage of growing. Although no difference was observed in chemical composition, the contents of protein-nitrogen were higher in the plants grown on the carbonated material compared to those of plant grown on the mixture of soil and compost. Based on our preliminary results, the carbonized and neutralized rice-hulls are very useful bed material for the sanitary cultivation under the controlled environmental condition.