Grapevines from the hyper-arid Atacama Desert possess unique hydraulic and biomechanical root adaptations that confer resilience to extreme drought and salinity. Here, we provide insights into root hydraulic properties, tissue–water relations, and mechanical traits to investigate resilience strategies in naturalized genotypes (R-65 and R-70) and commercial rootstocks (101-14Mgt and 110-R). Using root pressure probes, uniaxial tensile tests, pressure-volume analyses, and fluorescence microscopy, we evaluated the effects of salinity (0–250 mM NaCl) and severe drought on fine root functionality. The results reveal that the hyper-arid genotypes integrate superior hydraulic conductivity, elastic-plastic mechanical behavior, and reduced cortical damage to withstand high salinity and water stress. Although R-65 and R-70 maintained larger root diameters, higher water content, and stable osmolality under extreme salinity and drought conditions, commercial rootstocks showed increased stiffness, significant cortical lacunae formation, and reduced recovery capacity. These responses align with xerophytic adaptations that safeguard fine root functionality through enhanced energy dissipation, structural flexibility, and water retention, thereby minimizing permanent damage. Complementary hydraulic and biomechanical traits are critical for maintaining fine root integrity and stress resilience in hyperarid environments. This integrated analysis of hydraulic and mechanical traits highlights the potential of Atacama-adapted genotypes as genetic resources for breeding resilient crops. These findings contribute to the development of sustainable agricultural practices in saline- and drought-prone regions.

How to cite: Cuneo, I., Knipfer, T., and Barrientos-Sanhueza, C.: Integrated Hydraulic and Biomechanical Strategies of Grapevine Fine Roots for Adaptation to Aridity and Salinity, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-316, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-316, 2025.

Earlier studies have shown that plants may use their root systems to communicate with other plants, this enables them to recognize and react to genetic relatedness and differentiate between self and non-self roots. Our ground-breaking study has shown that crops in the Solanaceae family, particularly bell pepper and tomatoes (cherry tomato and field tomato), can communicate through the root systems based on their degrees of relatedness (DOR). The study examined the effects of root-root communication on physiological and metabolic aspects in tomatoes and bell pepper plants, and the results showed that as DOR decreased, root growth and respiration increased in L-DOR plants with lower organic carbon and protein levels, suggesting that genetic relatedness plays a key role in root communication within the Solanaceae. Building on these findings, our objective was to know how plants respond differently to plants that are not genetically related or are outside their family. We examined the physiological and morphological changes in response to neighbor relatedness within the Solanaceae family (cherry tomato (C) and bell pepper (B)) and between the Solanaceae and Fabaceae family (pea (P)). Nine combinations were studied, examining self (C, B, P) and non-self-interactions (CC, CB, CP, BB, BP, PP). Two separate experiments were conducted; using rhizoslides, a paper-based growth system, and a pot experiment with a four-pot design with a split root system. The results demonstrated that cherry tomato increased plant height, stem diameter, chlorophyll content, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and root respiration parameters when paired with bell pepper. In contrast, when paired with cherry tomato, bell pepper exhibited decreases in all these parameters, indicating that bell peppers are beneficial neighbors to cherry tomato, whereas cherry tomato are costly neighbors to bell pepper. However, both cherry tomato and bell pepper performed better when grown with a neighbor from outside the family, pea. Pea showed an increase in all parameters when grown alone or with a Solanaceae neighbor but decreased when grown with a closely related neighbor. By understanding natural plant communication networks from both inside and outside of the Solanaceae family, root-to-root communication may result in improved agricultural techniques that increase crop resilience and yield.

How to cite: Miti, M., Ko, A. N., Falik, O., and Rachmilevitch, S.: Family Ties: Root-Root Communications Within and Outside the Family (Solanaceae to Fabaceae), EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-1117, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-1117, 2025.

Individual plants vary in their ability to respond to environmental changes. For dynamic responses in plants, long-distance carbon (C) transport is required to support growth. Therefore, investigating C allocation in plants is crucial for developing a mechanistic understanding of plant functioning. However, little is known about short-term assimilate transport patterns and velocities, as literature values from singular and invasive measurements are hard to interpret for a highly susceptible system. To study the transport of photo assimilates within plants, we developed phenoPET, a plant dedicated positron emission tomography (PET) scanner. While PET scanners have been widely used in medical science since decades, their use in plant research is less common. For tracing the transport, carbon dioxide containing the short-lived positron-emitting isotope carbon-11 (¹¹C) is applied as ¹¹CO₂ to a single leaf or the whole canopy of a living plant. The plant fixes CO₂ and the ¹¹C is subsequently transported in the form of photosynthates towards C sinks, e.g. through leaf and stem towards the root system. The decaying tracer can then be located inside the plant by detecting its radiation. To this end, the living plant is placed in the field-of-view of the scanner, which is a volume with a diameter of 18 cm and a height of 20 cm. A lifting table can move the scanner vertically and allows for repeated measurements of different regions of interest along the plant axis. The phenoPET system is located in a climate chamber equipped with LED panels in order to create defined environmental conditions.

In our presentation, we will highlight our workflow for gathering quantitative data on C tracer transport velocities between different plant types, single plants, for different plant parts, during a day, and over days. We believe that this will provide new insights into the functioning and dynamics of C transport processes in in the plant-soil system.

How to cite: Streun, M., Scherer, B., Metzner, R., Huber, G., Pflugfelder, D., Chlubek, A., Koller, R., Knief, C., Wüstner, P., Zimmermann, E., and Natour, G.: phenoPET: Observing Carbon Transport within Individual Plants, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-4311, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-4311, 2025.

The arid Northwest of China is the main production area of China's jujube, where reasonable irrigation and fertilization strategies is key to improving the quality and production of jujube trees. While current research primarily focuses on the effects of different irrigation regimes on jujube growth, there is a lack of systematic studies on the relationship between potassium application amount and jujube growth and metabolism, making it challenging to provide clear guidance for jujube fertilization strategies. This study investigated the effects of different potassium application amount (240, 180, 120, and 0 kg·hm⁻²) on the growth and production efficiency of jujube trees. The results showed that the application of potassium fertilizer improved water use efficiency of jujube trees, significantly promoted their growth, and increased transpiration rate and production efficiency with higher potassium application amount. The water-potassium transport model in the root zone and the production model of jujube trees under drip irrigation with potassium application were calibrated and validated using experimental data from four potassium application treatments. Nine orthogonal numerical experiments were designed with the irrigation volume and potassium application amount as variables. The results revealed that the irrigation volume and potassium application amount significantly influenced the growth of jujube trees (P < 0.05), with a notable interaction effect between the two. When the potassium application rate was 240 kg·hm⁻² and the irrigation volume was 180 mm, the water use efficiency of the jujube trees was optimized, aligning better with the water-saving and high-production goals of the Xinjiang region. The maximum root-uptake radius of jujube trees for soil water and potassium was 50–70 cm. Within this radius, the potassium concentration significantly decreases with increasing distance from the root system, while beyond the absorption radius, potassium infiltrates vertically into deeper soil layers along with irrigation water. An empirical formula relating the transpiration rate and production of jujube trees to irrigation volume and potassium application amount under drip irrigation conditions were established in this study, offering guidance for irrigation and potassium application strategies in arid regions.

How to cite: Yao, C., Wu, J., Guo, C., and Qin, S.: Optimization of Irrigation and Potassium Application for Improved Jujube Production in arid Northwest China, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-10903, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10903, 2025.

It is not known whether modern crop breeding lost valuable root-soil interface traits present in landraces beneficial to soil-carbon storage, nutrient and water use efficiency, and remediation of degraded soil structure. Landraces are defined as crop genotypes which are locally adapted to environmental and management conditions. These ancient cultivars may provide a valuable source of genetic diversity and agronomic traits which can be bred into higher-yielding modern cultivars to improve yield stability under lower input or stressed conditions. Within the Highlands of Scotland, the “Bere” barley landrace is a multipurpose crop with cultural importance, early maturity, and evidence of advantageous root-soil adaptations to micronutrient deficiency.

In this study, three Bere genotypes and the modern barley cultivar KWS Curtis were grown under highly controlled conditions to evaluate genotype differences at the root-soil interface. In a seedling assay, plants were grown in growth cabinets for 4 days in sandy loam soil packed to a defined bulk density and water contents. This rapid and low-cost methodology demonstrated a high level of reproducibility in rhizosheath size and root traits, with no significant difference between root hair length and root system length between experiments. Additionally, two of the three Bere landraces were found to have a significantly larger rhizosheath (P=0.001) than the modern cultivar KWS Curtis at the earliest stage of seedling growth (GS 10, first leaf emergence): 39% and 19% increase for “Unst” and “Challoner” vs KWS Curtis, respectively. Conversely, KWS Curtis had much greater (P<0.001) above ground biomass than the three Bere genotypes with “Unst” having a 93% lower above ground biomass than KWS Curtis. This suggests that the modern cultivar favoured above-ground allocation of resources over root exudation in early seedling growth.

This study serves as a platform to investigate fine-scale rhizosphere characteristics and spatial distribution of soil modification through root hair-exudate-microbial interactions. The screening approach provides a rapid assay to select genotypes with favourable traits from seedling characteristics, which will be verified with more mature plants in future research.

How to cite: Graham, S., George, T., Marin, M., Malik, A., and Hallett, P.: Curtis and The Three Beres: investigating early seedling root-soil interface traits in modern and landrace barley genotypes, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-4453, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-4453, 2025.

Plants are the main connection between soil and atmosphere. Below ground, nitrogen, carbon, and water fluxes are mediated by roots, which therefore strongly influence nitrogen, carbon, and water distributions throughout the soil profile and impact, for instance, if conditions favorable for denitrification occur or not. However, the representation of roots in biogeochemical models is often strongly simplified, allowing only for a static prescribed root development. Further, the root system is normally not taken into account during model calibration, due to a lack of measurements. This disregard of roots prevents model veracity. In this study, we evaluate three model settings of the biogeochemical model framework LandscapeDNDC and compare them to site measurements of winter wheat and maize on a stony and a silty soil to illuminate and quantify these shortcomings. As a baseline, the model is calibrated regarding above ground parameters and measurements only. These results are compared to calibrations on above and below ground parameters and measurements with two different root models. One static root model and one dynamic root model proposed by Jones et al. in 1991. The calibrated settings yield overall comparable qualities of fit for the above ground properties. As expected, the root depth and the root length density are better represent after calibration. The best qualities of fit in the validation are relative root mean square errors (coefficients of determination) of 0.76 (0.36) and 0.39 (0.86) for the root length density and root depth, respectively. At last, for the best-fit model run of each setting, the nitrogen balance is analysed. On the stony soil, the simulated nitrate leaching from the baseline is 80 % smaller than in a setting where the roots were properly calibrated. In line, the plant nitrogen uptake was on average 40 kgNha^-1 bigger in the baseline compared to the other settings. These large impacts on the nitrogen cycle illustrate the need for joined measurements of roots and nitrogen fluxes.

How to cite: Boos, C., Nguyen, T. H., Cai, G., Morandage, S., Kraus, D., Haas, E., and Kiese, R.: Root simulations in a biogeochemical model and impacts on nitrogen fluxes, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-9480, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-9480, 2025.

The growing demand for sustainable food production requires innovative farming techniques that optimise water use and minimise environmental impacts. This experiment tested the cultivation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in a greenhouse environment. Two cropping systems were tested, a soil-based system with a humus-sand soil and a perlite system. Two different levels of water management were applied for the soil-based system, these were 70% and 90% of the minimum water capacity (WCmin). Both the soil and perlite systems were irrigated daily to ensure adequate water supply. The nutrient supply methods included nutrient solution and compost treatments in addition to the control group.

Key growth parameters including plant height, leaf number, head diameter, Fv/Fm fluorescence ratio and SPAD values were monitored weekly for five weeks. In addition, biomass (shoot and root mass), root length, and chlorophyll and carotenoid content were determined at the end of the experiment to evaluate the overall productivity and physiological status of the plants.

The results showed that in perlite-based systems, plant growth was faster, while soil-based cultivation showed more stable growth, especially the 70% WCmin treatment resulted in a more balanced growth compared to the 90% WCmin treatment. Based on nutrient replenishment, it can be said that nutrient-based treatments significantly increased plant biomass, especially wet head weight and chlorophyll content.  Statistical analyses confirmed the differences between treatments, highlighting the effects of both nutrient supply and water management strategies on plant growth.

The results underline the importance of optimising water use in closed environment cropping systems. By contributing to the development of sustainable water management strategies for lettuce production, this study is in line with the main objectives of the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. These results provide practical insights into efficient water use, nutrient use and plant physiological responses under different growing conditions, pointing the way towards more sustainable, resilient food production systems.

The research presented in the article was carried out within the framework of the Széchenyi Plan Plus program with the support of the RRF 2.3.1 21 2022 00008 project.

How to cite: Kiss, N. É., Pásztorné Orosz, A., Szabó, A., Kun, S., Tamás, J., and Nagy, A.: Water management strategies for lettuce cultivation in soil and soilless systems under controlled conditions, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-10254, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-10254, 2025.

In the rhizosphere, all transport processes considered fundamental in regulating resource availability and accessibility for plants and microorganisms are controlled by water retention and its temporal dynamics in the soil pore space, the rhizosphere liquid architecture (RLA). As the soil dries, root water and nutrient uptake becomes increasingly limited as the cross-sectional area and connectivity of the pore water declines. At the same time, diffusive transport ceases, negatively affecting root exudate transport and limiting microbial activity as enzyme diffusion and activity drop. The extent to which soil structural and biological processes influence local water retention and, in turn, related transport processes in the rhizosphere remains a challenging task. This study aimed to elucidate the effect of root growth and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on soil water retention in the rhizosphere of maize. High-resolution X-ray tomography was used to capture gradients in water distribution as a function of rhizosphere age and distance from the root surface. This combination of techniques allows distinguishing between soil structure versus primarily biologically induced modification. This study is a step toward a better understanding of the feedbacks between plants, microorganisms, and soil in controlling rhizosphere transport properties in this complex process aimed at optimizing resource availability and acquisition.

How to cite: Benard, P., Duddek, P., Stoll, F., Waldner, L., Kirchgessner, N., Lovric, G., and Carminati, A.: Rhizosphere Liquid Architecture, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-11631, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-11631, 2025.

Soil moisture content is a critical factor in the hydrological cycles of terrestrial ecosystems, especially in sandy environments. The spatial variation in soil water content is influenced by both dynamic and static factors. To understand the ecohydrology of desert environments, a detailed analysis of the vadose zone and topsoil in coastal dunes is essential. This study focuses on the soil hydrology of coastal mini-dunes (Nabkhas) in the Al-Hail North area of Oman, particularly examining moisture redistribution following a 13 mm rainfall event. The area, characterized by a sabkha landform with a shallow water table (approximately 1.4 meters below the surface), is interspersed by an array of Nabkhas. The length and height of three Nabkhas (N1, N2, and N3) were measured. Native plants were present in all Nabkhas: Haloxylon salicornicum in N1 (alive) and N3 (dead), and Salvadora persica in N2. Soil samples were collected from the interdune and Nabkha cores for grain size analysis. Decagon EC-05 sensors were installed at depths of 0 and 20 cm in the vertical profiles of N1, N2, and N3 to monitor diurnal variations in volumetric water content (ϴ_v).

A significant increase in ϴ_v in the top sensor immediately after the rain event was detected, while the bottom sensor showed a minimal increase over time. The top sensor's ϴ_v peaked at 0.1 m³/m³ on the last day of the rain event, then decreased to 0.054 m³/m³ after 8 days due to evaporation. The bottom sensor's ϴ_v reached a maximum of 0.58 m³/m³ on the final recording day. The spatial and temporal variation in ϴ_v is also influenced by vapor condensation from humid air and around native shrubs. High moisture content in the top layers of dunes significantly impacts vegetation patterns.

Another field investigation examined soil moisture variability using excavated profiles at four locations, including three sites under Nabkhas and a vegetation-free control plot. Analysis of volumetric water content demonstrated clear moisture stratification throughout the profiles. Near-surface soil layers showed minimal moisture levels, consistent with the residual water content (θ_r) typical in desert sandy soils. Moving downward through the profile, a significant increase in moisture content was detected, with lower horizons reaching near-saturation conditions (θ_s). This enhanced water retention in deeper layers was associated with both finer soil textures and water table influence. Such moisture-rich deeper soil zones appear to provide continuous capillary water movement to Nabkha vegetation root systems, enabling water redistribution throughout the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface.

This study contributes to the conservation/restoration of desert vegetation and understanding the resilience of small-scale soil-water-plant ecosystems in arid regions. Further research on soil properties, water availability, and microclimate close to Nabkhas is necessary better to comprehend plant distribution and functioning in these landforms.

How to cite: Al Shukaili, A., Kacimov, A., Al Ismaili, S., Al Ghabshi, M., and Al Mamari, H.: Exploring the Hidden Interplay: Moisture and Vegetation Dynamics in the Nabkhas of Omani Coastal Dunes, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-12041, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-12041, 2025.

It is commonly thought that plastic responses of root hydraulics and morphology to water availability have evolved to help plants face the heterogeneous soil water availability under unpredictable climatic conditions. However, quantifying these responses is an experimental challenge, as water uptake is continuously affecting root environment. The objective of this study is to investigate the structural and functional plasticity of roots under soil water heterogeneity from the plant down to the organ scales. We developed a novel rhizotron platform comprising 15 independent rhizotrons, each equipped with 9 hydraulically isolated compartments (three rows × three columns) and individual control units that allow for imposing constant spatial moisture patterns or differing water potentials in each compartment while monitoring local water consumption with minute time resolution and tracking root growth and development. A trial was made in which maize plants (cv. B104) grew in the rhizotron platform during four weeks at constant and homogeneous water potential, followed by a fifth week during which three water potentials were imposed. Morphological and hydraulic root responses to these different levels of water availability have been observed using manual root annotation and continuous leaf psychrometer measurements. These results allowed us to compute the elongation of main and lateral roots and real-time changes of the transpiration and local water consumption. This platform will be instrumental to dissect the complex response of maize plants in heterogeneous and variable soil water environments.

How to cite: Wei, T.-J., Draye, X., and Javaux, M.: A novel rhizotron platform to evaluate root plastic responses to soil water heterogeneity, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-11748, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-11748, 2025.

Of the earth’s 840 million hectares are of soil, roughly 683 million hectares are saline, and 157 million hectares are saline-sodic.  The direct impact of an osmotic stress to plant growth in salt affected soils is well known. Plant roots in salt-affected soils often have morphological changes, and ionic imbalance that interfere with nutrient uptake. In saline-sodic soils, decreased physical stability is typical, likely driving greater penetration resistance and decreased soil aeration.  This could reduce root growth, but research is missing that directly links these measurements of physical behaviour to plant growth. The present study explores these effects in repacked cores of sandy loam and clay loam soils in saline-sodic (NaCl,1.76 g kg^-1 soil) or saline (KCl, 2.25 g kg^-1 soil) conditions. Different physical conditions of light  (50 kPa) and high (200 kPa) compaction stresses, and wet (-5 kPa) and drier (-50 kPa) water potentials were imposed under controlled conditions. Physical data of compression characteristics, bulk density, water content, air-filled porosity, and penetration resistance were measured on the soil cores. Wheat (salt intolerant) and barley (salt tolerant) were grown in the cores and the lengths of their seedling roots were measured 48 hours after sowing in a rapid growth screen. This study investigates the comparative impacts of saline-sodic and saline soils on soil physical properties and the subsequent effects on barley and wheat root growth. Saline-sodic soil exhibited significantly greater penetration resistance, ranging from 0.58 to 2.73 MPa, compared to the control range of 0.62 to 1.70 MPa. In contrast, saline soil demonstrated less penetration resistance, with a maximum value of 1.84 MPa. Additionally, air-filled porosity in saline-sodic soil decreased to 19%, indicating reduced oxygen availability, while saline soil retained higher aeration (43%), surpassing the control value (34%).

These alterations in soil properties significantly influenced root growth. Barley root elongation was more strongly linked to physical changes, while wheat root growth was adversely affected by both physical and chemical alterations due to its lower salt tolerance. In saline-sodic soil, barley and wheat root elongation were reduced to 32% and 20% of the control, respectively, primarily due to increased penetration resistance. A reduction in air-filled porosity further restricted root growth to 46.7% for barley and 30.6% for wheat. Conversely, the lower penetration resistance in saline soil supported higher root elongation, reaching 82.8% for barley and 63.6% for wheat in comparison to the control. Our analysis with concepts from the least limiting water range indicate that soil physical constraints exacerbate root growth restrictions in saline-sodic soils.

How to cite: Elsakloul, F.:  Saline-sodicity and soil physical impact on root growth, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-14146, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-14146, 2025.

The role of root mucilage in facilitating water uptake during soil drying has been studied for decades. Recently, we demonstrated that mucilage slows the dissipation of water potential in the rhizosphere of actively transpiring plants. While these findings provide new insights into how mucilage maintains the hydraulic continuity between soil and roots under drying conditions, the interaction between mucilage and soil texture remains underexplored.

We used two cowpea genotypes with contrasting mucilage production, grown in two distinct soil textures (coarse and fine), and measured physiological and morphological parameters during and after a dry-down experiment. We hypothesized that mucilage would have a greater role in coarse-textured soils due to its ability to form polysaccharide networks within larger soil pores, enhancing hydraulic connectivity during drying.

Although shoot biomass did not differ between genotypes and soil textures, root morphological analysis revealed significant adaptations to soil texture. The low-mucilage genotype developed a root system twice as long in sand compared to loam, while the high-mucilage genotype showed only a slight increase in root length in sand. Normalized transpiration rates and leaf water potential were similar between genotypes in loam. However, in sand, the high-mucilage genotype maintained relatively lower leaf water potentials (≤ -1.0 MPa), while the low-mucilage genotype closed its stomata at less negative leaf water potentials (≤ -0.6 MPa). These results underscore the critical role of soil texture in shaping plant drought responses and highlight the importance of mucilage in enhancing water uptake in coarse soils.

The ability of mucilage to maintain hydraulic continuity during soil drying is particularly beneficial in coarse-textured soils, where larger pores cause steep decline in water potential in the rhizosphere. The contrasting strategies observed in the two cowpea genotypes—root system elongation versus mucilage-driven water retention—highlight the diverse adaptations plants employ to cope with edaphic stress.

How to cite: Abdalla, M. and Ahmed, M.: Soil texture shapes plant adaptation to edaphic stress, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-15272, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-15272, 2025.

Potato is one of the most important food crops in the world. It is grown in many countries in different climates, including temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions. Yet its cultivation is hampered by low soil fertility, pests and diseases, and inadequate, good-quality seed tubers. To improve the quality and production of potatoes, it is necessary to develop the potato cultivation technology. The aeroponic system is a way to grow food without soil and save water. Growing tubers has its limitations and challenges to producing good quality seed potatoes. The soilless system allows for a higher growth rate and healthy potato tubers, using a small amount of water. Production is not affected by weather or seasonal adverse effects such as hot, dry, cold, or windy weather. Cultivation can be carried out all year round and yields disease-free potatoes in larger quantities.

Our experiment was set up in the Aeroponics System of the University of Debrecen Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Environmental Management, Institute of Water and Environmental Management. Two Hungarian potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars, Démon and Botond, were tested in this experiment. We planted 28-day-old, in vitro-raised, properly hardened, 8-10 cm high microplants in the growing units. The nutrient solution, temperature, humidity, and light conditions were set according to the needs of the plants based on literature data. After a few days, the plants' root system began to develop, with a 100 percent survival rate, the plants grew rapidly, and on the 58^th day in the system, the beginnings of flowers appeared.  During their development, we examined the height, number of leaves, stem thickness, photosynthetic activity, the chlorophyll-carotenoid content of the plants, and we also examined the characteristics of the individual growth stages with the help of active GIS (LiDAR).

This manuscript provides insight into the potential use of aeroponics for the development of agro techniques for seed potato production. Differences were found between the cultivars in the examined parameters. Démon is a cultivar with stronger stems and greater stem strength, which started flowering earlier but is more sensitive to the composition of the nutrient solution. The Botond cultivar is more elongated in the direction of the light. Aeroponic systems are suitable for growing seed potatoes.

The research presented in the article was carried out within the framework of the Széchenyi Plan Plus program, with support from the RRF 2.3.1 21 2022 00008 project.

How to cite: Kovács, G., Szűcs, I., Pásztor, D., Nagy, A., and Tamás, J.: Investigations of the growth and development of seed potatoes under aeroponic conditions, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-15440, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-15440, 2025.