Some species had
media-dependent growth, but certain parameters,
such as plant height and chlorophyll level, did not
vary much with media type. Shoot microbial
loads were generally lower in plants grown in
arcillite than in other types of media tested. A
mixture of Fafard #2 and arcillite produced larger
lettuce plants than these media separately, while
lettuce did not grow well in a perlite: vermiculite
combination. Chinese cabbage and radish had a
greater dry mass response to media than other
species tested, and both did best in blends of
Fafard #2: arcillite though not at the same ratios.
Radish plants showed increased carbon
partitioning to the root zone and decreased
partitioning to the shoot with increasing levels of
arcillite in the media.