**8.12 Shelves, benches, and plant substrate gutters**

Shelves and benches are now used for contemporary production of seedlings (in containers, pots, peat briquettes, etc.), as well as potted vegetables. Usually, they are constructed of reinforced concrete or metal that reacts poorly or not at all with acids from the leachate, and may be movable or immovable. Movable shelves and benches

**Figure 24.** *Tomato crops tied to the supporting strings and guide wires (the Netherlands).*

**Figure 25.** *Crops support structure and guide wires (The Netherlands).*

**Figure 26.**

*Plastic film placed under the roof inside the greenhouse for catching water droplets from condensation, protecting the crops (Serbia).*

are very good for an efficient production of seedlings or potted vegetables, as well as for hydroponic production of certain leafy vegetables. The gutters should be resistant to acids that the plants have not used and are drained from the nutrient solution (for instance, due to a fast flow of the nutrient solution through the hydroponic substrate). Such compounds can damage the material the gutters are made of (but also the shelves and benches), which can then affect the nutrient solution (as they may react with the solution due to gutter corrosion, thus changing the chemical composition of the solution) and generally the whole crop production process (**Figures 28** and **29**).

## *Advantages of Growing Vegetable Crops in Modern Greenhouses DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101469*

**Figure 28.** *Benches for the seedling or potted plant production (The Netherlands).*
