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Volume 19(3), 77- 80, 2015 JOURNAL of Horticulture, Forestry and Biotechnology www.journal-hfb.usab-tm.ro Adapting the flower species Sparaxis tricolor to aquaponic organic hydroponics Moldovan Iulia-Adriana1*, Băla Maria1 1 st Banat's University of Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael the 1 of Romania" from Timisoara, Faculty of Horticulture and Forestry) *Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] Abstract In this study, we analyse the adaptability of the species Sparaxis tricolor (Schneev.) Ker Gawl., a member of the Family Iridaceae, to the conditions specific to floating shelf hydroponics starting from its natural features that make it fit for this type of culture. A first argument is its origin – Cape Floral Kingdom, South Africa – characterised by droughty summers and rainy winters, where it can be cultivated in temperate areas by saving heating; the second factor was its preference for moist soils rich in humus and the possibility of cultivating it both in gardens and in pots – very important features for a hydroponics culture characterised by a permanently moist soil. Since we wanted a culture as close to nature as possible, we wanted to integrate in it recycled materials that we used in our study in the making up of a mechanic feeder for fishery species and as pots for the culture of Sparaxis tricolor, which proved beneficial because the plants developed harmoniously and produced many flowers. The use of aquaponic in floricultural cultures is a relatively recent practice particularly appreciated in Taiwan, where organic culture on floating shelves has been used with maximum profit to decorate public or private institutions: this made us choose this cultivation method and try to integrate it in the climate specific to the city of Timişoara; the study was carried out in one of the multiplying greenhouses of the “Young Naturalists” Teaching Station of the Floriculture Department of the Faculty of Horticulture and Sylviculture within the Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Michael I of Romania” from Timisoara. The success of this study relied on the ability of the Genus Sparaxis sp. to be naturalised: it can be found in a relatively restricted area along the Atlantic coast in Cape Floral Kingdom, South Africa [2], a region known for the beauty of its widespread Geophytes flowers [4]; six of these species belong to the Genus Sparaxis sp. [5]. Several factors related to the adaptation of the plants to environmental conditions contribute to the increased naturalisation ability of the species: the development of a tuber-bulb, the development of a replacement tuber-bulb, the appearance of bulbils on the stem, and the adaptation of the plant to specific pollination conditions. The first adaptation of the plants to environmental conditions was done through the development of tuber-bulbs that allow plants to vegetate during winter when low temperature and increased precipitations stimulate germination and Key words Hydroponics, Organic hydroponics, Aquaponic, Iridaceae, Sparaxis tricolor vegetative growth [7], followed by strong blooming in spring and wintering during the hot, droughty season [3]. This can be exploited in temperate climates where bulbs can be forced, in early fall, to produce flowers in winter or by maintaining the natural cycle (blooming in spring) while saving electricity [3]. Upon tuber-bulb de-wintering, mature tuberbulbs [10] start sharing nutrient resources to new roots and aerial parts and slow down nutrient storage in the reproduction structures represented by replacement tuber-bulbs. When the latter start developing, there is competition between aerial parts and replacement tuber-bulbs, a competition that is affected by environmental factors. When the plants grow on a poor soil there can occur slow growth [1], which makes the plant direct its energy to the replacement bulb; in other cases, when the plants cannot rely on soil moisture and undergo thermal stress, there is abortion of inflorescences: the blooming process is replaced by bulbils at the basis of the leaves (Figure 1, d). Other important factors that act together with the factors mentioned above and that determine the quantity of nutrients available for the formation of new vegetative organs are drought aggressiveness and the presence of pollinating insects in spring [11]. Of all multiplication methods, the method of the greatest interest when naturalisation features of a species are aimed at is seed production. Thus, selfpollinating floricultural species with a high ability of producing large numbers of fruits with high sprouting rate seeds have the greatest chance to naturalise [9]. 77 From this perspective, the Genus Sparaxis sp. responds best to this demand: it adapts seed germination to the conditions specific to the rainy season ensuring an increased germination rate. Since Sparaxis tricolor has no smell and produces little nectar, pollination is done, in its place of origin, by beetles of the genera Anisonyx, Anisochelus, Heterochelis, Khoina, Lepisia, Lepithrix, Pachycnema and Peritrichia. These beetles manage to pollinate the flowers of Sparaxis tricolor through the consumption of anthers and pollen, which, during feeding, attaches on the hairy body of the insect. To be more conspicuous, the flowers have vivid colours – red, orange and yellow – and the basis of the petals is brown, brown and yellow, or yellow, the combination with yellow being the most conspicuous [6, 8]. In Romania, we prefer to multiply the plant through tuber-bulbs, because multiplication through seeds is tricky and is fit rather to improvement works. Materials and Methods A first step in establishing a culture of Sparaxis tricolor was to choose a warm room to manage to force the bulbs. The room chosen was one of our own homes, where the bulbs stayed in a layer of expanded clay constantly moisturised with water between February 21, 2014 and March 28, 2014, when they were introduced into the system. The second step, more important than the first one, was to purchase polystyrene boards and to settle the culture proper. The boards were 3 cm thick, 100 cm long and 50 cm wide. We then made 25 conical holes in the polystyrene board (5 cm Ø and 2 cm Ø) specially adapted to the culture in recyclable plastic bottles (Figure 1, a). The processing technology of these recyclable plastic bottles consisted in cutting them in two and making holes in the filleted part to allow the roots to get out of the pot and to ensure a better aeration of the soil (Figure 1, b). The pot thus created was set in the conical hole in the polystyrene board, in the water, capped, to prevent the soil from leaking into the water. . Fig. 1. Aquaponic organic hydroponic culture on floating shelves: a) perforation of polystyrene boards, b) pots of recycled plastic bottles, c) monitoring inflorescences through the leaves cover, d) details of bulbils of Sparaxis tricolor, e) view of the culture of Sparaxis tricolor, e) detail of inflorescence of Sparaxis tricolor, g) wire kneading to support plants and bulbils of Sparaxis tricolor (our own photos) Results To produce rich blooming, we tried to create the natural growth conditions of Cape Floral Kingdom, South Africa, observing the directions of the producer who mentions that the proper period for the planting of tuber-bulbils is March-April and that they should be 78 removed from the soil when the weather cools and there is frost risk. This proved beneficial because the tuber-bulbs sprouted roots in short time (February 21, 2014 – February 28, 2014) (Figure 2). Fig. 2. Appearance of roots Fig. 4. Length of floral stems In parallel with root sprouting, there was also leaf growing, a quick growth rate reaching, and a month after leaf appearance, upon introduction into the hydroponic system a length of 13 cm (Figure 3). This sudden passage from high temperatures specific to blocks of flats to low temperatures specific to cold greenhouses proved beneficial because it stimulated the appearance of the floral bud, visible, three weeks after the introduction of the plants into the system, through the leaf cover (Figure 1, e). At that moment, because of the process of imbibitions of the peat with water, there was gliding of the bulbs and inclination of the entire plant since there was no culture medium support. Though the vertical growth mode was not affected (the plant had a straight growth), with no undulated areas, we consider it is necessary to introduce a cylindrical support of kneaded wire around the plants to help the culture medium support leaves and floral stems (Figure 1, g). Maximum blooming was on May 5, 2014, for one week, followed by wilting of all inflorescences on May 21, 2014, and wilting of the entire plant on June 5, 2014. The length of floral stems and of inflorescences ranged between 8 and 10 cm (Figure 4 and Figure 5); the flowers were pink with a yellow basis (Figure 1, f) or orange with a yellow basis. Observations Though Sparaxis tricolor proved to have a spectacular blooming, with a good adaptability to high Fig. 3. Plant height Fig. 5. Length of inflorescences moisture levels in the aquaponic system, we recommend it for aquatic landscape compositions, for the interior decoration of dwellings and public spaces since it needs support: pants cannot keep vertical because the species is best suited for commercial cut flower culture where the ornamental factor consists in floral stem and inflorescence and not the decorative effect of the aquaponic system (and of the support). We recommend the cultivation of Sparaxis tricolor for cut flowers in an aquaponic system because of the floral stems measuring between 8 and 10 cm and of its vertical growth, with no undulation. Specimens of Sparaxis tricolor have a good resistance to diseases and pests and needed no special control measures, and root consumption by the fish has no toxic effects whatsoever on the animals. Another advantage is plant resistance to a deeply moist medium characterised by green moss that seems to have no negative effect on them – an extremely important feature since its removal would be difficult because of the support. References 1. Chapin F.S. III. 1980. The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics II: 233-260. 2. Duncan G. 2003. Endangered Geophytes of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, Volume 20, Issue 4, pages 245-250. 3. Ehrich L., Grüneberg H. and Ulrichs C. 2010. South African Geophytes: Comparison of Temperature and 79 Light Intensity Requirements for Container Production under Central European Conditions. Europ.J.Hort.Sci., 75 (2). S. 71-76, ISSN 1611-4426. © Verlag Eugen Ulmer KG, Stuttgart Europ.J.Hort.Sci. 2/2010. 4. Goldbblatt P. I978. An analysis or the flora of Southern Africa: Its characteristics, relationships and ongtn. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 65, 369-436. Africa. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 85, No. 2 (1998), pp. 215-230. 7. Manning, J.C., Goldblatt P. and Snijman D. 2002. The color encyclopedia of Cape bulbs. Timber Press, Oregon/Cambridge. 8. Mark van Kleunen, Nanni Ingrid, Donaldson J. S. and Manning J. C. 2007. The Role of Beetle Marks and Flower Colour on Visitation by Monkey Beetles (Hopliini) in the Greater Cape Floral Region, South Africa. Annals of Botany Vol. 100, No. 7, pp. 14831489. 9. Mark van Kleunen, Manning J. C., Pasqualetto Vanessa and Johnson S. D. 2008. Phylogenetically Independent Associations between Autonomous Self‐Fertilization and Plant Invasiveness. The American Naturalist, Vol. 171, No. 2, pp. 195-201. 10. Ruiters C., McKenzie B. and Raitt L. M. 1992. Ontogenic and demographic studies or Sparaxis 80 5. Goldblatt P. 1992. Phylogenetic Analysis of the South African Genus Sparaxis (Including Synnotia) (Iridaceae-Ixioideae), with Two New Species and a Review of the Genus. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 79, No. 1 (1992), pp. 143-159 6. Goldblatt P., Bernhardt P. and. Manning J. C. 2006. Pollination of Petaloid Geophytes by Monkey Beetles (Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Hopliini) in Southern grandiflora subspecies fimbriata (Iridaceae). South African Journal of Botany 58: 182-187. 11. Ruiters C. and McKenzie B. 1994. Seasonal Allocation and Efficiency Patterns of Biomass and Resources in the Perennial Geophyte Sparaxis grandifiora Subspecies fimbriata (lridaceae) in Lowland Coastal Fynbos, South Africa, Botany Department, Faculty of Science, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17. Bellville 7535, South Africa, Annals of Botany 74: 633-646. 12. Ruiters C. and McKenzie B. 1994. Seasonal Allocation and Efficiency Patterns of Biomass and Resources in the Perennial Geophyte Sparaxis grandiflora Subspecies fimbriata (Iridaceae) in Lowland Coastal Fynbos, South Africa. Annals of Botany, Volume 74, Issue 6, pp. 633-646.