Necessary Parameters of Vertically Mounted Textile Substrates for Successful Cultivation of Cress for Low-Budget Vertical Farming

Elise Diestelhorst,Thorsten Bache,Andrea Ehrmann,Jan Lukas Storck,Inken Blanca Post,Frank Gudermann,Rumen Korchev,Anke Rattenholl,Timo Grothe,Bennet Brockhagen

doi:10.14502/tekstilec2021.64.276-285

Abstract

A growing population needs an expansion of agriculture to ensure a reliable supply of nutritious food. As a variable concept, vertical farming, becoming increasingly popular, can allow plant growth for local food production in the vertical sense on, e.g. facades in addition to the classical layered structure in buildings. As substrates, textile fabrics can be used as a sustainable approach in terms of reusability. In our experiment, we investigated which properties a textile should possess in order to be suitable for an application in vertical farming by the example of cress seeds. To determine the best-fitted fabric, four different textiles were mounted vertically, and were provided with controlled irrigation and illumination. Our results showed that a hairy textile surface as provided by weft-knitted plush is advantageous. There, the rooting of cress plants used in this experiment is easier and less complicated than along tightly meshed, flat surfaces, as for woven linen fabrics.

Highlights

The system of vertical farming (VF) has generated increasing attention in recent years
In view of a growing population [1], the rising demand for nutritious food [2, 3] is expected to increase by about 70% until 2050 [4, 5], while the available arable land is decreasing in the face of growing cities and climate change [6]
As already stated in the previous paper [27], the slight varying intensity in the central area does not affect the comparability of plant development on different pieces of fabric as this low level of irradiance only triggers phototropism and the focus can be placed on the suitability of different textiles for the usage in VF [27, 29]

Summary

Introduction

The system of vertical farming (VF) has generated increasing attention in recent years. We investigated which properties a textile should possess in order to be suitable for an application in vertical farming by the example of cress seeds. To determine the best-fitted fabric, four different textiles were mounted vertically, and were provided with controlled irrigation and illumination.

Results

Conclusion