Setting Up a Lab-Scale Pilot Plant to Study the New Growing System (NGS®) for Leafy Vegetable and Culinary Herb Growth

New cultural techniques have been developed to improve the yield and raw material quality at harvest, enhance postharvest shelf life, by standardizing growing system. Among different Soilless Cultivation Systems, Growing System (NGS®) is a closed-recirculating system that was designed for open fields protected cultivations. The aim of this work investigate structural setting its functioning harness full potentiality NGS®. A lab-scale pilot plant (LSPP) with NGS® technology technical aspects set up standardized reproducible trials were conducted on mature-leaf vegetable species; is, both head multi-leaf vegetables, culinary herbs high densities. Positive results found leafy vegetables. Mints showed yields two re-growths carried out after first harvest. LSPP can also be used in series reliable experiments enable researches test several species, substrates, hydroponic nutrient solutions, fertigation scheduling.