Analytical Methods

Used in Soilless
Cultivation

The book "Soilless culture theory and practice"

was used in the preparation of today's lesson.
Thank you to all contributors.
 WHY TO ANALYSE
GROWING MEDIA?
In the last decades numerous new raw or processed
products have been offered as potential growing media or
media constituents. The products can be as diverse as non-
processed raw materials (e.g. peat, pumice, tuff), waste
products from agricultural, forest and food industries (e.g.
bark, rice hulls, coir), recycled materials (e.g. From
mattresses, tires, paper waste), up to processed materials
(e.g. poly phenol foam, urea formaldehyde foam, stone
wool) or composted materials. The number of possible
growing media is further enhanced by mixing these diverse
materials. Ideally each potential growing medium should
be tested under commercial growing conditions in field
trials in order to assert its performance in crop production.
However, besides the costs and duration of these
‘biotests’, even these tests can give no 100 per
cent guarantee for optimal performance, since
commercial growing conditions such as
temperature or fertigation are never identical to
the experimental conditions. Moreover, the
performance of a product may be crop-specific,
which would considerably increase the number of
required field trials. Manufacturers of new
growing media sometimes do this extensive
testing of their products under commercial
conditions.
However, laboratory tests which should give a
reliable indication of the performance of the
medium with respect to, for example, water,
nutrient and oxygen availabilities on the short and
long term are normally more cost-effective, and
can be performed under standardized conditions
with reference samples. It is therefore logical that
analytical methods – mostly adopted from soil
science analytical methods – have become
available as part of the selection process of
growing media and for setting soilless growing
media standards.
Another reason for the use of reliable analytical
methods is that producers of growing media
and/or laboratories should be able to use these
methods for quality control by themselves or by
independent organizations for production of
described quality in order to provide growers or
retailers with media with prescribed physical
and/or chemical characteristics.
The next, difficult, step for analytical methods to be
really useful for end-users such as growers is a
recommendation of growing media based on the
physical, chemical and biological characteristics of
the media, in combination with the requirements.
These recommendations will vary according to the
crop, the growing system (slabs, containers), the
water supply system (e.g. ebb-flood, overhead
irrigation, drippers), water quality and the growing
season and duration. Each combination of crop,
growing system and water supply system thus may
require specific characteristics of a growing medium.
In the International Substrate Manual (Kipp et al.,
2001), an effort was made to set up such a system
based on salinity, oxygen and drought sensitivity of
crops. Although this system can not be totally
justified by scientific results, the philosophy is that it
is ‘better than nothing’, and that this system can be
improved according to ongoing experience and
research results. Finally, analysis of growing media
is done routinely for advice on fertilization. Systems
for fertilization advice based on various nutrient
analysis techniques have been in use for many years,
and are indispensable in hydroponics. Frequent
(weekly) sampling with analysis and advice within
two days has become a standard procedure for
vegetables and cut flowers in hydroponics.
Obviously, not all parameters which are
determined by means of physical, chemical and
biological methods are equally important for the
above-mentioned applications of the analysis
methods. The overview (Table 7.1) shows that
some of the parameters such as directly available
nutrients and EC are rather important and
frequently used for all applications. For physical
analysis, water retention characteristics including
rewetting are essential for screening, quality
control and recommendations.
This does not mean that other analysis methods are less
relevant. For example, the CaCO3 content can be very
important in screening substrates such as composts.
Hydraulic conductivity has been argued to be very
essential for horticultural practice (Raviv et al., 1999).
However, a routine method for (unsaturated) hydraulic
conductivity is not yet available due to technical
difficulties (Wever et al., 2004). For an updated discussion
of this subject, see Chap. 3. Measurement of some
parameters suffer from large variation (e.g. oxygen
diffusion), and/or the high costs involved, which makes it
less suitable to use it as a method for routine
measurements. Table 7.1 gives an overview of the
physical, chemical and biological parameters that are
measured in growing media and the relevance of their use
in specific stages along the decision-making process.
 VARIATION
Since there is a large variety of physical and
chemical analytical methods used by laboratories,
efforts have been made to compare and
standardize the laboratory methods. As an
example, for physical analysis not all laboratories
use the same sample preparation procedures. In
the method used in service labs for physical
parameter determination in the Netherlands, the
potting mix sample is pressed and not moistened,
whereas in the European Norm (CEN method)
the sample is not pressed and is moistened.
Hence, analysis reports can result in confusion to
users familiar with their own analytical methods.
Naturally, labs and countries are reluctant to
change their analytical methods. The ISHS
‘Working Group on Substrates in Horticulture
Other than Soils in Situ’ of the ISHS Commission
of Plant Substrates should be mentioned for their
efforts to encourage standardization of analytical
methods.
 INTERRELATIONSHIPS
To assess the suitability of a substrate for a well-
defined purpose, usually several interrelated
measurements should be interpreted. A common
example is the relationship between stability at the
one hand and water and air transport at the other
hand. The underlying mutual cause is the breakdown
of structural elements which results in a loss of pore
volume. Another example is the relationship between
loss of stability and the fixation of nitrogen and
phosphorous. Microbiological activity is the mutual
cause underlying both. Both examples show the
importance of interpretation and the available room
for new, more direct measurements.
 PHYSICAL ANALYSIS
SAMPLE PREPARATION
(BULK SAMPLING AND SUB-SAMPLING)

To perform most of the measurements discussed below, a

representative sample of the material to be assessed must be
prepared. From this bulk sample the final units for
individual measurements are prepared usually by sub-
sampling into test cylinders such as rings. Materials like pre-
shaped plugs for rooting will of course be measured as such,
without a test cylinder. Some materials like stone wool, peat
boards, coir boards or polyurethane slabs are preformed, that
is, they consist of linked or interwoven particles or form a
coherent mass by nature, others like peat and perlite are
loose, that is, they consist of unlinked particles.
 BULK SAMPLING
PREFORMED MATERIALS
Preformed materials have a variation in properties
within and between the units they are sold in, and
within and between the batches they are produced
in. Furthermore, most preformed materials are
pressed into some shape during production and
usually show a density profile in the direction
perpendicular to the compression force. The
pattern of cutting the material into the final
substrate units determines in what way these
density differences may manifest themselves in
the end product.
Finally, preformed fibre materials like stone
wool, coir pith and some peats may show
differences in fibre orientation in one or two
directions. If it is desirable, samples should be
taken in different directions of the original
product. The sample preparation of pre-formed
materials is usually confined to cutting a sample
of specific dimensions in such a way that the
material is not disturbed. To get a representative
sample, two or more samples from different units
are necessary.
 BULK SAMPLING LOOSE
MATERIAL
Big differences among samples of the same material
may exist among and within heaps or rows, and more
importantly among different production dates of the
same product. For most products like peat, coir dust
and compost, the weather conditions from the time
of harvest till the day of transport influence the
properties of the end product. Examples are peat
excavated during a wet or a dry summer, composts
made during a hot or cold period, coir dust from a lot
stored for one and up to five years and composts
made from summer grown plants or winter grown
plants.
Samples are taken from the heap or heaps with a hollow-
headed agricultural hand auger. The auger diameter should
be larger than three times the maximum particle size of the
sampled material. When no auger with a large enough
diameter is at hand, a scoop may be used. The samples
should be taken from a depth deep enough to avoid any
material from the outer layer that has dried or otherwise
obviously changed. This is usually deeper than 50 cm. To
get a representative sample, 20 or more samples from
different places are necessary. From bags (20–100 L), the
whole bulk sample is taken from randomly chosen bags.
Care should be taken to avoid fractionation of the sample,
especially when using a scoop. The total sample size
should not exceed what is needed in the laboratory to
minimize the need for sub-sampling and the risk of
segregation.
 SUB-SAMPLING PRE-FORMED
MATERIALS

The sample preparation is confined to cutting a

sample of specific dimensions in such a way that
the material is not disturbed. Special attention
should be paid to avoiding compression by the
knife or saw blade involved. When the material is
preformed but the form is not stable, for example
boards of peat, it can be necessary to put the
material in a holder.
 SUB-SAMPLING LOOSE
MATERIALS
The density of the materials may be stable
because of the rigid nature of the individual
particles. One might think of clay pellets,
pouzolane, perlite or sand. These materials may
be poured gently into a test cylinder of the right
dimensions (e.g. diameter 5 cm and height 5 cm
or diameter 10 cm and height 7.5 cm). No
compression by weight or by tapping is applied.
For softer materials, which might be compressed by their
own weight and moisture content, a laboratory-compacted
bulk density in its ‘as received state’ has to be estimated.
Based on that laboratory-compacted bulk density, the
weight of sample to be taken for sub-samples is calculated.
Different procedures exist in which the samples are
brought to a standard density and/or moisture content. A
specific example is given. The medium is manually
homogenized and passed through a screen beforehand. It is
then sieved into a 1 L test cylinder with a removable collar
until overflowing. The excess material is wiped off and the
sample is then compacted with a plunger of specific
weight. After a standard compaction interval, the collar is
removed and the sample is wiped off at the level of the test
cylinder. The test cylinder is then ready for weighing and
the laboratory-compacted bulk density is calculated.
 METHODS
BULK DENSITY
Definition and Units
The dry bulk density (kgm−3) is defined as the
ratio of the mass of dry solids to the bulk volume
of the substrate (after Blake and Hartge, 1986).
Bulk density is defined as the density of the
medium as it occurs. The bulk density is partly
dependent on the actual moisture content. Bulk
density is of importance for trade and handling.
 General Principle of Determination
The dry bulk density is measured by determining
the dry weight of a known volume of material
under specified conditions. Various older norms
have been condensed into CEN norms for trade
volume, chemical analysis and physical analysis
(CEN 13041, 1998; CEN 12580, 1999; CEN
13040, 2006). Usually bulk density, dry bulk
density and air and water content at a suction of
−10 cm of water column are simultaneously
determined (Fig. 7.1).
The bulk density measurement for the
determination of quantity (CEN 12580, 1999) is
measured using a container with a known capacity
of about 20 l and a height to diameter ratio
between 0.9:1 and 1:1. A 7.5-cm high collar and a
fall controller (a sieve with a defined mesh
aperture) with the same diameter as the container
are attached. The container and collar are filled to
the top after which the collar is removed and the
material is levelled off. The container is weighed
and the bulk density is then calculated according
to Eq. (1).
 Special Cases
Non-rigid materials such as peat and composts
need to be weighed under carefully defined
pressure and filling circumstances as described in
‘sampling’. Transport vibrations may alter bulk
density considerably. More than one figure for
bulk density is necessary to sufficiently
characterize media with a density profile as in
some peat products, or with layers of different
density as in some types of stone wool.
 Influence on Growth
For a given material, an increase in bulk density is
associated with decrease in total pore space and thus
affects growth mainly through the effects of reduced free
pore space. A decrease in total pore space will often
decrease oxygen transport and decrease root penetration. A
decrease in total pore space may also increase the water
retention as pore diameters decrease, which is to say that
loss of physical structure often results in an increase in
water retention of the remaining material. Interpretations
of the influence of bulk density on growth may be
improved by focussing on the individual effects of reduced
pore space rather than on the broader concept of bulk
density.