Quantifying the effects of hydroponic systems, nutrient solution, and air temperature on growth and development of basil (Ocimum L.) species

Basil (Ocimum sp.) is the most popular fresh culinary herb. An increased demand for locally grown food is causing greenhouse producers to expand production of hydroponically grown culinary herbs. Greenhouse basil producers often manipulate production parameters however, there is a lack of data characterizing the effect of parameters such as hydroponic production system, cultivar, daily light integral (DLI), nutrient solution concentration, and plant density on growth and development of hydroponically produced basil. Furthermore, the effect of temperature on basil production is not well modeled. Our objectives were to quantify productivity and characterize growth and development of basil cultivars grown in nutrient film technique (NFT) and deep flow technique (DFT) hydroponic systems, quantify the effect of nutrient solution electrical conductivity (EC) on the growth of basil species and cultivars grown under high and low DLIs, quantify the effect of air temperature on growth and development of basil species, and to quantify the effect of plant density and DLI on growth and yield of green and purple sweet basil. This thesis outlines research conducted to fulfill these objectives, the reasoning behind this research, and a discussion of the implications