ASHS 2025 Conference

Livestock and poultry industries have expanded significantly to meet the food requirements of the rapidly growing global population resulting in the generation of almost 1.4 billion tons of manure annually in the United States. To establish innovative approaches to decrease these manure stockpiles, we investigated the potential of using composted manures as effective nutrient-rich amendments for vegetable crops in a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) system. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. in the Asteraceae family), one of the most important leafy vegetables, grows well in the field or a CEA system. Furthermore, it can grow under passive or active hydroponic systems. Therefore, in 2024, a project was established to evaluate an innovative solution for the application of composted manures for horticultural crops and their interaction with soil properties in controlled environment conditions in a greenhouse at the Derrickson Agricultural Complex (DAC) at Morehead State University, Kentucky. Three types of composted manures (sheep, cow, and horse) with and without zeolite (crystalline hydrated aluminosilicate) were added in various proportions to a commercial media (Pro-Mix BX All Purpose Growing Mix) and used as the growing media for seedlings of two Romaine lettuce cultivars (Salvius and Amadeus) in six-inch pots, sub-irrigated, and grown until harvesting in the greenhouse. Data on plant morphological and physiological characteristics were collected. The lettuce heads were harvested after two months, and fresh and dried yields were determined. The leaf tissue and media were analyzed for chemical nutrients. The initial results of the first season show significant differences among cultivars and media.