Effect of different soil depths on selected lettuce (Lactuca sativa) growth parameters in a developed self-watering vertical garden

Vertical farming, a technique for reducing land required for agricultural production is a very promising method of agricultural production. Though the technology is readily available, the cost of the system is a deterrent factor for deploying the technology within households in developing countries. This study was conducted between January and March, 2018 at the University of Ghana School farms with the aim of developing a self-watering vertical garden (VG) that is easy to operate as well as cost effective to own by evaluating the system at different soil depths in the growing troughs used. As such different soil depths (3 cm, 6 cm, 9 cm, and 12 cm) were evaluated considering lettuce growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight and dry weight. The crop in the troughs attained an average fresh weight of 12.78 g at harvest. Even though the ANOVA test performed on the experimental data showed that the soil depth did not have a significant effect on the growth parameters considered, the soil depth of 9 cm yielded the best result comparatively. Therefore, a soil depth of 9 cm will suffice for the final design of the growing troughs of the VG. Further investigation into the uniformity of water distribution with the VG is recommended.