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A simple model for salt accumulation in closed-

loop hydroponics

Article in Acta horticulturae · September 2003

DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2003.614.20

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A Simple Model for Salt Accumulation in Closed-Loop Hydroponics
G. Carmassi, L. Incrocci, M. Malorgio, F. Tognoni and A. Pardossi
Dipartimento di Biologia delle Piante Agrarie,
Università degli Studi di Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 23, 56124 Pisa, Italy

Keywords: electrical conductivity, mineral nutrition, modelling, salinity, soilless culture,

tomato, uptake concentration

Abstract
The paper presents a simple model for the changes in ion concentration and
electrical conductivity (EC) of recirculating nutrient solution in closed-loop soilless
culture. The model was developed for closed hydroponic systems in which crop
evapotranspiration (E) is compensated by refilling the mixing tank with complete
nutrient solution; in these systems, EC gradually increases as a result of the
accumulation of macro-elements and, principally, of non-essential ions (Na and Cl)
contained in the irrigation water. The model was designed on the basis of balance
equation for nutrient uptake by hydroponically-grown plants, then calibrated for
tomato using data from the literature and, finally, validated with independent data
sets from two experiments conducted during spring and autumn of 2001 using water
with different NaCl concentration. The results of validation indicate that the model
describes well the variations in Na concentration and EC in closed-loop soilless
culture of tomato, although it slightly overestimates the measured quantities. How
the model can be used for managing greenhouse soilless culture is briefly discussed.

INTRODUCTION
In order to reduce environmental pollution induced by nutrient runoff, open-loop
soilless systems have to be converted in systems with recycling nutrient solution, which,
however, have some disadvantages and require more attention as regards plant nutrition
management and root disease control (Van Os, 1995). Undoubtedly, one of the main
factors that hinder the use of recirculating nutrient solution culture for greenhouse crops is
the salinity of irrigation water. Typically, when poor quality irrigation water is available,
there is a rapid increase in EC due to the accumulation of non-essential ions, which are
scarcely absorbed by the crops.
The paper presents a simple model for the changes in ion concentration and the
related variations in Na of recirculating nutrient solution in closed-loop hydroponics. The
model was calibrated for tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) using data from the
literature and, finally, validated with independent data sets from two experiments
conducted during spring and autumn of 2001 using water with different NaCl
concentration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv Jama) were grown on rockwool
slabs at a density of 3 plant/m2 in a heated glasshouse from late March to mid June and
from early August to late November in 2001.
The nutrient solution was prepared using irrigation water with two different NaCl
concentration: 10 (S1) and 20 (S2) mM. The refilling nutrient solution had a value of EC
around 2.9 and 3.9 in S1 and S2, respectively; in both treatments the following
macronutrient composition (meq/l) was adopted: N-NO3 12.5, P 1.1, K 8.5, Mg 4.8, Ca
6.8. Tomato plants were cultivated in closed-loop systems with high percentage of
drainage solution (80-90%) in order to avoid differences in EC between the solution in
the mixing tank and the one retained by the substrate. Irrigation was controlled by a PC
on the basis of measured indoor global radiation. The solution tank was automatically
refilled with complete nutrient solution; the recirculating solution was replaced when EC
reached 6.0 and 8.0 mS/cm in S1 and S2 treatment, respectively.

Proc. 6th IS on Protected Cult.

Eds: G. La Malfa et al. 149
Acta Hort 614, ISHS 2003
 The recycling solutions were regularly sampled and analysed for cation
concentration by flame photometry (K, Na) and titration (Ca, Mg).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Model Design and Calibration

The model was developed for hydroponic systems in which E is compensated by
refilling the solution tank with complete nutrient solution. In these systems, EC gradually
increases as a result of the accumulation of macro-elements and, principally, of non-
essential ions (Na and Cl) contained in the irrigation water, as shown in Figure 1.
The equation derived from standardized multiple regression analysis for the
relationship between EC and the concentration of cations (K, Ca, Mg and Na) measured
in the solution samples from the experiments with tomato was the following:

EC = 0 + 0.78 [Na] + 0.28 [K] + 0.04 [Mg] + 0.06 [Ca] (1)

Determination coefficient for the model was 0.93. Therefore, the variation in EC
was strongly dependent on Na and, to a much lesser extent, K concentrations and was not
related to the changes in Ca and Mg content.
Figure 1 also shows the close relationship among the increase in EC, the
accumulation of Na and crop transpiration.
In a recent paper, Silberbush and Ben-Asher (2001) presented a conceptual model
for nutrient uptake by hydroponically-grown plants that also accounts for salinity buildup;
the model is rather complex and depends on several physiological parameters.
In this study, a much simpler model was developed to simulate the changes in the
concentration of any ion, while Na was estimated on the basis of cation concentration by
means of the following equation that has been proposed by Sonneveld et al. (1999):

EC (mS/cm) = 0.19 + 0.095 C+ (meq/l) (2)

The model for ion concentration was derived by the balance equation for nutrient
uptake by the crop. The uptake (U) of any ion I over a given period can be calculated as
follows:

U = (V CI n-1) + (E CI NS) – (V CIn ) (3)

where CIn-1 and CIn are the concentration (meq/l) of ion I, respectively, at beginning and at
the end of the considered period; CINS is the ion concentration of the supply nutrient
solution; E is the crop evapotranspiration (l/m2); V is the volume (l/m2) of the
recirculating solution (including the water contained in the substrate).
Furthermore, uptake concentration CU is defined by the following equation:
CIU = UI/E (4)
The substitution of (4) in (3) leads to the following formula:
CIU= CINS + (CIn-1- CIn) V / E (5)
Rearranging equation 5, Cn can be calculated as follows:
CIn = CIn-1 + (CINS - CIU) E/V (6)
Therefore, the model simulates the changes in ion concentration and EC of
recirculating nutrient solution depending on the relevant factors that influence mineral
relations in hydroponics, such as the volume of recycling solution (the system buffer),
crop transpiration and the quality of irrigation water as well as a parameter, CIU, which
includes both genuine root uptake and nutrient loss by uncontrolled leaching and
precipitation in the substrate. One assumption of the model is that the difference between
the concentration of the nutrient solution in the mixing tank and in the substrate is
negligible; this assumption is valid for nutrient film technique and for substrate culture
with large leaching fraction.

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 The uptake concentration depends on crop species and growing conditions as well,
but in general this parameter is less variable than the nutrient uptake rate (Savvas and
Lenz, 1995; Sonneveld, 2000). Moreover, under the typical non-limiting nutrition
condition of hydroponics, the rate of nutrient uptake and then CU are non greatly affected
by the external ion concentration. Therefore, it was assumed that CU was constant and the
ion concentration model was calibrated with the values (expressed in meq/l) reported for
tomato by Sonneveld (2000): K 6.0, Ca 5.0, Mg 1.8.
For non-essential ions, such as Na and Cl, CIU was assumed to increase with ion
accumulation in the recycling solution (Sonneveld, 2000; Silberbush and Ben-Asher,
2001; Incrocci et al., unpublished). A linear function was used to describe the relationship
between CU for Na and its external concentration of Na:
CNaU = p C Na (7)
By substitution of (7) in (6) we obtain, after rearrangement
(CNan – C Nan-1) / (E/V) = CNS – p CNa (8)
where E represents the change in the crop water uptake between step n-1 and step n. For
small increments, equation (8) can therefore be written in a differential form
d C(E/V) / d (E/V) + p C(E/V) = CNS (9)
Integration of equation (9), with the initial condition C(E/V) = CNS for E /V = 0, leads to the
following expression
C(E/V) = (CNS – CNS/p) exp (- p E/V) + CNS/p (10)
In analogy with equation (6), it is useful to write equation (10) in terms of sodium
concentration at steps n and n-1 as follows
CNan = (C Nan-1 – CNS/p) exp (- p E/V) + CNS/p (11)
Some results reported recently by Sonneveld (2000) suggest that p ranges from
0.01 to 0.2 in horticultural crops and that it is aroung 0.10 in tomato; this values was used
in our simulation study.

Model Validation
Sonneveld’s Na model was validated by measuring EC and cation concentration in
the samples collected in tomato experiments as well as in different dilutions of both fresh
and exausted solutions; the comparison between measured and calculated values of EC is
illustrated in Figure 2 together with the linear regression equation.
Ion concentration and EC models were validated by using independent data sets
derived from two experiments with tomato plants grown with recycling nutrient solutions
prepared with 10 or 20 mM NaCl concentration of the irrigation water (see Materials and
Methods). The concentration of cations was estimated on the basis of the recorded values
of E following the equation (6) (K, Ca, Mg) or (8) (Na), the total cation concentration was
converted to EC by means of Sonneveld’s model.
Figure 3 reports the comparison of predicted and observed values of EC and Na
concentration in the two experiments, while Figure 4 illustrates the results of the
simulation of short-term changes in the same quantities that were observed during the
second month of cultivation in spring.
The results of validation indicate that the model describes well the variations in Na
concentration and EC, although it slightly overestimates the measured quantities, in
particular Na concentration. Apparently, the value of p adopted in this study (0.10) is
underestimated, since the results improve substantially when simulation was performed
with a p value of 0.20 (data not shown).

CONCLUSION
The simple model developed in this work simulates rather well the fast salt
accumulation which typically occurs in recycling nutrient solution culture when irrigation
water of poor quality is available; it seems to be valid over a wide range of growing
conditions, since it was validated with data from tomato cultures conducted in different
season and using irrigation water of different salinity.
The model may be a tool for the management of closed-loop hydroponics, in

151
particular i) to predict the amount of crop evapotranspiration that leads to a given
threshold value of EC or concentration of toxic ion and, then, the need for runoff in semi-
closed systems in which the recycling solution is periodically replaced; ii) to adjust the
concentration of nutrient solution used to refill the mixing tank, in order to avoid
undesired variations of nutrient concentration.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by EU. International Cooperation with Mediterranean
Countries (INCO-MED), Contract N° ICA3-CT-1999-00009: Sustainable Water Use in
Protected Mediterranean Horticulture (HORTIMED).

Literature Cited
Savvas, D. and Lenz, F. 1995. Nährstoffaufnahme von Aubergine (Solanum melongena
L.) in Hydrokultur. Gartenbauwissenschaft 60: 29-33.
Silberbush, M. and Ben-Asher, J. 2001. Simulation study of nutrient uptake by plants
from soilless cultures as affected by salinity buildup and transpiration. Plant and Soil
233: 59-69.
Sonneveld, C. 2000. Effect of salinity on substrate grown vegetables and ornamentals in
greenhouse horticulture. Ph. Thesis, Wageningen University.
Sonneveld, C., Voogt, W. and Spaans, L.. 1999. An universal algorithm for calculation of
nutrient solutions. Acta Horticulturae 481: 331-339.
Van Os, E (1995). Engineering and environmental aspects of soilless growing systems.
Acta Hort. 396: 25-33.

152
Figures

10 mM NaCl 20 mM NaCl
10 30 10 50

Na concentration (mM)

Na concentration (mM)
E

Cumulated E (mm)

Cumulated E (mm)
8 24 8 EC 40
EC(mS cm )

EC(mS cm )
-1

-1
6 18 6 30
EC
[Na]
4 12 4 20
[Na]
2 6 2 E 10

0 0 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (days) Time (days)

Fig. 1. Changes in crop evapotranspiration (E), EC and Na concentration of the recycling

nutrient solution in two closed-loop rockwool cultures of tomato conducted using
irrigation water with different NaCl concentration (10 and 20 mM). Data refer to
plants grown between 48 (9 April 2001) and 57 (18 April 2001) days from
planting.

15
y = 0.31 + 0.91 x
(r 2 = 0.91)
Estimated EC(mS cm-1 )

12

1.1 line
0
0 3 6 9 12 15

Measured EC (mS cm-1 )

Fig. 2. Comparison between observed and estimated values of EC of different samples of

nutrient solution collected in tomato experiments. The estimates were calculated
on the basis of cation concentration by mean of Sonneveld’s model (see text for
details).

153
 15 100

Predicted Na concentration (mM)

y = 0.68 + 0.98 x y = 4.56 + 0.99 x
(r 2 = 0.86) (r 2 = 0.93)

Predicted EC(mS cm )
12 80
-1

9 60

6 40

3 20

1.1 line 1.1 line

0 0
0 3 6 9 12 15 0 20 40 60 80 100

Measured EC (mS cm -1 ) Measured Na concentration (mM)

Fig. 3. Comparison between observed and predicted values of EC and Na concentration

of the recycling nutrient solution in substrate culture of tomato; the plants were
grown in spring (squares) or in autumn (circles) with 10 (open symbols) or 20
(closed symbols) mM NaCl concentration of the irrigation water.

10 mM NaCl 20 mM NaCl
6 30 9.0 90

Na concentration. (mM)
Na concentration. (mM)

5 EC 25 7.5 EC 75
EC(mS cm )

EC(mS cm -1 )
-1

4 20 6.0 60

3 15 4.5 45
[Na]
2 10 3.0 [Na] 30

1 5 1.5 15

0 0 0.0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Time (days) Time (days)

Fig. 4. Figure. Observed (symbols) and calculated (lines) variation of EC and Na

concentration in the recycling nutrient solution of closed-loop substrate cultures
of tomato that were conducted using irrigation water with two different NaCl
concentration (10 and 20 mM). The simulation refers to the data reported in
Figure 1.

154