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Eleni Stavrinidou, associate professor, and supervisor of the study and Alexandra Sandéhn, Ph.D. student, one of the lead authors, connect the eSoil to a low power source for stimulating plant growth. Credit: Thor Balkhed
Barley seedlings grow 50% more when their root system is electrically stimulated through a new cultivation substrate, as revealed in a study published in the journal PNAS.
“The world population is increasing, and we also have climate change. So it’s clear that we won’t be able to cover the food demands of the planet with only the already existing agricultural methods. But with hydroponics we can grow food also in urban environments in very controlled settings,” says Eleni Stavrinidou.
Her research group has now developed an electrically conductive cultivation substrate, tailored to hydroponic cultivation, that they call eSoil. The Linköping University researchers have shown that barley seedlings grown in the conductive “soil” grew up to 50% more in 15 days when their roots were stimulated electrically.
Hydroponic cultivation means that plants grow without soil, needing only water, nutrients and something their roots can attach to—a substrate.
A barley seedling grows within the eSoil, an artificial electronic soil that makes seedlings grow faster. Credit: Thor Balkhed
Hydroponics also enables vertical cultivation in large towers to maximize space efficiency. The researchers’ “soil” has low energy consumption and no high voltage danger, which is an advantage over previous research using high voltage to stimulate the roots.