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To identify practices that may simplify the use of small-scale hydroponic systems for indoor gardening, we compared two nutrient solution management treatments for basil (Ocimum basilicum) production. Experiments were conducted for 8 weeks to evaluate the effect of biweekly replacement of the nutrient solution (W) vs. biweekly fertilizer addition without nutrient solution replacement (W/O) on growth and nutrient uptake of basil ‘Genovese Compact’ grown in either a greenhouse or an indoor environment. Greenhouse day/night temperature was 29/24 ± 4 °C, relative humidity (RH) was 65 ± 4%, and daily light integral (DLI) was 26.1 mol·m‒2·d‒1. The indoor environment had a constant ambient temperature of 21 °C, RH of 65%, and DLI of 9 mol·m‒2·d‒1 provided by broadband white lamps. Four plants were grown in 7.6-L replicate hydroponic systems, with 178 mg·L‒1 N from a complete nutrient solution in two experimental runs. Shoot fresh and dry mass, leaf number, and leaf area showed an increasing quadratic trend over time when plants were grown in the greenhouse. In contrast, growth over time was linear for plants grown indoors. Within each environment, solution management treatment did not affect growth, indicating that the simpler W/O strategy was adequate under these conditions. Plants grown in the greenhouse required more frequent refill water applications compared with indoors, which resulted in three to four times more refill water applied. Because indoor-grown plants had a decreased growth rate, nutrient uptake rate, and volume of water applied compared with plants grown in the greenhouse, electrical conductivity (EC) for the W/O treatment increased over time. Final nutrient solution concentration was highest for indoor-grown plants under the W/O treatment, and final tissue nutrient concentration was higher for plants grown indoors compared with the greenhouse. Final nutrient uptake (dry mass × nutrient concentration) was higher for plants grown in the greenhouse rather than indoors. Considering that EC increased in the solution of indoor-grown plants under W/O, an appropriate strategy using this treatment would require reducing fertilizer input indoors. To refine simple and robust fertilizer management strategies for indoor gardeners, further research is needed to test variables such as different plant species, cultivars, and water qualities.

A stable food supply has been and still is one of the most valuable resources for any human society and essential to its success. Mastering agriculture allowed for groups of people to settle and develop societies and as populations settled and grew food systems evolved becoming more complex, ultimately providing people in most locations access to many types of food year-round. With the current population at almost 8 billion people food demand has tripled in the past 50 years (Hinnou et al.,2022) both because the population doubling and the increment in the per-capita demand. The global population is expected to grow around 10 billion by 2050 and food demand is expected to increase between 60% and 70% (Van Dijk & Luise Rauet al.,2021) so food production would need to be drastically increased. According to the World Bank and the United Nations this scenario means that there simply will not be enough food to feed the world population. In this scenario food shortages will become an issue especially on large urban areas where around 70% of the world population will live in (United Nations, “68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN”). The challenge of maintaining a stable supply chain in these circumstances and with the current volumes goes beyond a single solution, rather it depends on systematic changes in how we approach food production and consumption. In order to secure food supply in the long-term new systems need to be envisioned that consider the decentralization of food production and that also support and push people into developing habits like consuming locally grown produce and decreasing the consumption of animal-based foods. My research territory is urban food systems and the possibility of envisioning new and more resilient systems that can increase food security through the support of regional resilience, self-sufficiency and the participation of people as not just consumers. The objective with this thesis project, GreenUp is to design a concept that could seed the idea of growing food today to augment our daily diets in the future, with the long-term goal of developing resilient habits that will lead to food systems that are decentralized, stable and more democratic, all this achieved in the context of urban settings, were space is limited and growing indoors will be necessary to augment the production.

Der globale Lebensmittelanbau steht durch den Klimawandel und die wachsende Weltbevölkerung vor einer großen Herausforderung. Unsere Nahrungsmittel werden durch unnachhaltigen Anbau in Monokulturen nährstoffärmer und minderwertiger. Gleichzeitig haben sich, getrieben durch aktuelle Food- und Megatrends, neue und wiedererwachte Systeme und Prozesse zur Nährstoffgewinnung etabliert. Superfoods und individualisierte Ernährung sind in den Generationen Z und Y in aller Munde. Spirulina Algen sind vielseitig und nährstoffhaltig und bieten eine Basis für die Ernährung der Zukunft, da sie unbewusste Mangelernährung durch nährstoffarme Nahrungszufuhr mithilfe wertvoller Mikronährstoffe vorbeugen, ausgleichen und ergänzen. AlGarden ist ein System zur individuellen Anzucht frischer Spirulina Algen zuhause. Es besteht aus einer holistischen Produktserie und einer unterstützenden Smartphone-Applikation. Zentrum von AlGarden ist die PlantAlge, eine minimalistische und nutzerfreundliche Algenplantage. Hier werden Spirulina Algen unter optimalen Umgebungsparametern in Symbiose mit Microgreens kultiviert. Das System führt die Nutzer:innen durch einen kompletten Kultivierungsprozess, von der Bestellung der Algenkultur und weiterem Zubehör, über Setup des AlGarden, Kultivierung und Pflege der Mikroalgen, Ernte und Reinigung bis hin zum angeleiteten Konsum der frischen Algen in Form von Shakes, die mithilfe des Mixaufsatzes zubereitet werden. Der Fokus liegt hier auf dem autarken und nachhaltigen Homefarming eines Lebensmittels der Zukunft. Durch das nutzerfreundliche, ganzheitliche und simple System wird den Nutzer:innen der Konsum von Mikroalgen als alltägliches Nahrungsergänzungsmittel spielerisch und realitätsnah aufbereitet. AlGarden ist reduziert und hochwertig gestaltet und bildet einen Ruhepol in der urbanen Work-Life-Umgebung. Es integriert sich so ästhetisch und flexibel in die alltägliche Umgebung und dient als Eyecatcher und zusätzliche Stimmungslichtquelle. Due to climate change and the growing world population, the global food production nowadays faces some major challenges. Because of unsustainable cultivation in monocultures, our food is becoming less nutritious and inferior in quality. At the same time, driven by current food- and megatrends, new and reawakened systems and processes for nutrient extraction have established themselves. Superfoods and individualized nutrition are on everyone‘s lips for generations Z and Y. Spirulina algae is versatile and nutritious. It prevents, balances, and supplements undiscovered malnutrition, which is caused by eating nutrient-poor food. Spirulina provides a basis for future nutrition with the help of valuable micronutrients. AlGarden is a system for the individual cultivation of fresh spirulina algae at home. It consists of a holistic product series and a supporting smartphone application. The heart of AlGarden is a minimalistic and user-friendly algae plantation. It provides ideal environmental parameters for symbiotic cultivation of Spirulina algae and microgreens. Users are being guided through the complete cultivation process. Starting with ordering the algae culture and other accessories, through the setup of the plantation, as well as cultivation and caregiving of the microalgae, harvesting, and cleaning. It ends with guided consumption of fresh algae blended into shakes which are prepared using the blender attachment. The focus of this product family lies on the self-sufficient and sustainable home farming of a future‘s food. The consumption of microalgae becomes part of everyday life through a user-friendly, holistic and simple system. Dietary supplements are being prepared playfully and realistically. The design of AlGarden is reduced and high in quality and forms a haven of peace in the urban work-life environment. It integrates aesthetically and flexibly into the everyday environment and serves as an eye-catcher and mood light source. Sina Chlod Abweichender Titel laut Übersetzung der Verfasserin/des Verfassers Masterarbeit FH JOANNEUM 2022

Indoor farming in the global vertical farming market has been growing by more than 8% annually since 2010 and 31.6% growth is expected by 2025. It promises to be a possible future form of agricultural practices producing local, fresh, high quality, lower-carbon food year-round. Indoor farming experiment was designed to using LED and neon lights and water source of a dehumidifier. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata) was grown for 12 weeks in a naturally available forest surface soil, including its native biodiversity and biological activity. Two different levels of water supply were used, full- at 66%- and half- at 33% of the total water-holding capacity (WHC100%) of soil. Some of the physical-chemical, and soil-biological parameters, such as dehydrogenase- (DHA) and fluorescein diacetate (FDA) enzyme activities and the most probable number (MPN) of fungi and bacteria were assessed prior to and after lettuce cultivation. Although the abundance of countable microorganisms decreased appreciably by the end of the lettuce experiment, the growth of plants could result in an enhanced soil-biological enzyme activity of the used natural soil. DHA increased 4.2-fold at drought condition, and 2-fold at the optimal water supply. One can conclude that used natural forest soil with great fertility and biodiversity potential can provide a good facility for the indoor lettuce cultivation. Reduction of water supply can be further optimized with the required biomass-production of lettuce.