{"id":24802,"date":"2023-08-04T12:28:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T09:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/april-july-2023-uth-testing-the-cascade-hydroponic-system-efficiency\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T07:27:01","slug":"april-july-2023-uth-testing-the-cascade-hydroponic-system-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/april-july-2023-uth-testing-the-cascade-hydroponic-system-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"April &#8211; July 2023 \u2013 UTH testing the Cascade Hydroponic System Efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-justify-content-center fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:1310.4px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>As part of the <strong>ECONUTRI Project<\/strong>, an innovative experiment was conducted at the <strong>Pilot Greenhouse Park of the University of Thessaly (UTH)<\/strong> with the aim of reducing water use and fertilizer use in soilless cultivation systems.<\/p>\n<p>Between <strong>April and July 2023<\/strong>, researchers tested a <strong>cascade hydroponic system<\/strong> in which the drainage from a primary cucumber crop was reused to cover the nutritional needs of a secondary melon crop. Since melons are less susceptible to salinity, they were able to thrive using only the recycled drainage solution.<\/p>\n<p>The results were impressive: the melons were produced <strong>without any additional water or nutrients<\/strong>, except of those drained by the donor crop, reaching a productivity of approximately <strong>10 kg per square meter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This experiment demonstrates the potential of cascade hydroponic systems to significantly <strong>increase water and fertilizer use efficiency<\/strong>, supporting ECONUTRI\u2019s mission to promote sustainable agricultural practices and reduce environmental impacts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:10px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\" data-scroll-devices=\"small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-center fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-four\"><h4 class=\"fusion-title-heading title-heading-center\" style=\"margin:0;\">Photos<\/h4><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-2 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:50%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:3.84%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:3.84%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-margin-bottom:50px;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" title=\"UTH testing the Cascade Hydroponic System Efficiency-2\" src=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2.jpg\" alt class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-24780\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271200%27%20height%3D%271600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201200%201600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271200%27%20height%3D%271600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2-200x267.jpg 200w, https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2-400x533.jpg 400w, https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2-600x800.jpg 600w, https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2-800x1067.jpg 800w, https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-2.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-3 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:50%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:3.84%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:3.84%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:center;--awb-margin-bottom:50px;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-2 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" title=\"UTH testing the Cascade Hydroponic System Efficiency-3\" src=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-3.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-3.jpg\" alt class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-24791\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271200%27%20height%3D%271600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201200%201600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271200%27%20height%3D%271600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/UTH-testing-the-Cascade-Hydroponic-System-Efficiency-3-200x267.jpg 200w, 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\/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[141],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"class_list":["post-24802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-nl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25339,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24802\/revisions\/25339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24802"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/econutri-project.eu\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=24802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}