Chris Blok, Researcher, Wageningen University & Research

Thirty years of professional research on soilless cultivation in the greenhouse horticultural industry with papers, scientific articles and patents on growing media and irrigation technology. Present focus on innovation with (conglomerates of) private companies for reciruculation of nutrients (ion specific control); resilient growing (enhancing functional groups); circular fertilisers (including organic fertilisers) and circular growing media. Specialties: Rooting media quality measurements, method development, propagation, irrigation and fertigation strategies.

Examples of relevant publications:

Blok , C.; Baumgarten, A.; Baas, R.; Wever, G.; Lohr, D. Analytical methods used with soilless substrates. In Soilless culture. Theory and Practice, Raviv, M.; Lieth, H.; Bar-Tal, A., Eds. Elsevier: Oxford, United Kingdom, 2019.

Blok, C., Jackson, B.E., Guo, X., de Visser, P.H.B. and Marcelis, L.F.M. (2017). Maximum Plant Uptakes for Water, Nutrients, and Oxygen Are Not Always Met by Irrigation Rate and Distribution in Water-based Cultivation Systems. Front. Plant Sci., 11 April 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00562

Blok, C., Salm, C.V.D., Hofland-Zijlstra, J., Streminska, M., Eveleens, B., Regelink, I., Fryda, L., and Visser, R. (2017). Biochar for Horticultural Rooting Media Improvement: Evaluation of Biochar from Gasification and Slow Pyrolysis. Agronomy 2017, 7(1), 6; doi:10.3390/agronomy7010006