Quantitative Analysis of Bibb Lettuce Yield:
Deep Water Culture vs. Ebb and Flow
Abstract
In order to promote sustainability and healthy food options for urban food deserts, the
hydrosolutions team produced a prototype to implement the use of hydroponic agriculture
technologies for replication on a large scale in a standard shipping container. The goal was to
construct and compare two fully-functional hydroponic systems: an Ebb and Flow System (EF)
and a Deep Water Culture System (DWC). Systems being tested were chosen due to high success
rates of production and ease of implementation into the shipping container. Testing was done in a
lab located in a portable building with air conditioning and poor ventilation. Both systems were
housed on metal racks in a 76” x 74” inch tarp-coated space under four 54W fluorescent lights
per level. Two fans were mounted vertically to circulate air. After four weeks of testing, EF
offered more commercially-viable heads of lettuce but a higher chance of system failure. This
was due to the EF construction variables versus the DWC system which had a simpler setup.
Compared to DWC, EF had a higher yield measured by a fresh–to-dry weight ratio, leaf number,
and lettuce head diameter.