Polymer Gel Substrate: Synthesis and Application in the Intensive Light Artificial Culture of Agricultural Plants

Summary

This work is devoted to the description of the synthesis of hydrogels in the process of cryotropic gel formation based on copolymerization of synthesized potassium 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (SPMA-co-HEMA) and assessing the potential possibility of their use as substrates for growing plants in intensive light culture in a greenhouse. Gel substrates based on the SPMA-co-HEMA were created in two compositions, differing from each other in the presence of macro- and microelements, and their effects were studied on the plants’ physiological state (content of chlorophylls a and b, activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes, intensity of lipid peroxidation, elemental compositions) at the vegetative period of their development and on the plants’ growth, productivit