Rotary forcespun styrofoam fibers as a soilless growing medium

To make styrofoam fibers from used styrofoam, rotary forcespinning technique was used because it offers high production rate and affordable production cost. The used styrofoam was dissolved in acetone to obtain styrofoam solution as a precursor of syrofoam fibers. Since the technique utilizes centrifugal force, the precursor was thrown out and its phase changed to be solid following acetone solvent evaporation. Long, clean and light styrofoam fibers were then produced. To determine if the styrofoam fibers is a good soilless growing medium, physico-chemical properties including pH and electrical conductivity, bulk density, water retention and wettability were measured. Rockwool, which is the most popular soilless growing medium and easily obtained from local farm suppliers, was selected as a benchmark to evaluate the styrofoam fibers.