栽培容器型式對都市農園蔬菜生長之影響

Effects of Container Types on the Growth of Vegetables in Urban Farm

本研究首先調查大台北地區都市農園的種植狀況，結果發現多數民眾使用容器種植蔬菜，且以育材模型股份有限公司生產之網孔式容器和興農股份有限公司生產之非網孔式容器最為普遍。因此，使用這兩個容器於春夏季種植蕹菜（Ipomoea aquatica），秋冬季種植半結球萵苣（Lactuca sativa L.），評估容器對介質特性和植物生長的影響。結果顯示，兩種容器型式在介質容積含水量（Volumetric water content, VWC）上雖無顯著性差異，但以非網孔式容器有偏高的趨勢，且其介質電導度（Electrical conductivity, EC）值顯著高於網孔式栽植箱，可能因網孔式栽植箱之養份隨多餘的水分從孔壁排出，而造成EC值偏低。蕹菜（暖季蔬菜、需水性高）在北台灣夏季種植於非網孔式容器生長表現較佳，半結球萵苣（涼季蔬菜）在北台灣冬季種植於網孔式容器生長表現較佳。 In this research, we first investigated the cultivation conditions of urban farms in the greater Taipei region, and found that most people used containers for cultivating vegetables. The mesh type container produced by YIU TSAY CO., LTD and the non-mesh type container produced by Sinon Corporation are the most popular. Therefore, we used the two most popular containers to cultivate water convolvulus (Ipomoea aquatica) in spring and summer, and semi heading lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in fall and winter, and then evaluated their effects on the characteristics of medium and plant growth. The results showed that these two containers brought no significant difference on media volumetric water content. Nonetheless, the non-mesh type container exhibited a tendency towards higher water retention and significantly higher media electrical conductivity (EC) than the mesh type container. The lower media EC exhibited by the mesh type container may be attributed to the nutrient loss upon the discharge of excess water through the openings in the mesh type container. Water convolvulus (a warm-season vegetable which has high water requirement) had a better growth performance in the non-mesh type container in the northern Taiwan during summer. On the other hand, Semi heading lettuce (a cool-season vegetable) had a better growth performance in the mesh type container in the northern Taiwan during winter.