## 3 Results and Discussion
### Chlorophylll and Carotenoid Contents
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**N Source**} & **N** & **Chl a, mg/g** & **Chl b, mg/g** & **Carotenoids** & **Chl a + Chl b**, & **Chl a/Chl b** & **(Chl a + Chl b)/(x + c)** \\  & **Level** & **DW** & **DW** & **(x + c), mg/g DW** & **mg/g DW** & **Chl a/Chl b** & **(Chl a + Chl b)/(x + c)** \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{NH\({}_{4}\)NO\({}_{3}\)} & N-50 & 5.20 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.91 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 0.96 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 7.11 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 2.72 \(\pm\) 0.08 \({}^{\rm c}\) & 7.42 \(\pm\) 0.44 \({}^{\rm ab}\) \\  & N-70 & 5.17 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.94 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 0.97 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 7.11 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 2.67 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm c}\) & 7.31 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\rm abc}\) \\  & N-90 & 4.99 \(\pm\) 1.90 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.96 \(\pm\) 0.72 \({}^{\rm ab}\) & 0.89 \(\pm\) 0.33 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 6.95 \(\pm\) 2.62 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 2.55 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm c}\) & 7.83 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\rm a}\) \\  & Mean & 5.12 \(\pm\) 0.86 & 1.94 \(\pm\) 0.32 & 0.94 \(\pm\) 0.15 & 7.06 \(\pm\) 1.18 & 2.64 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 7.52 \(\pm\) 0.33 \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{Ca(NO\({}_{3}\))\({}_{2}\)} & N-50 & 4.17 \(\pm\) 0.76 \({}^{\rm cd}\) & 1.53 \(\pm\) 0.31 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 0.86 \(\pm\) 0.13 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 5.70 \(\pm\) 1.07 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) & 2.73 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\rm c}\) & 6.63 \(\pm\) 0.27 \({}^{\rm bd}\) \\  & N-70 & 4.83 \(\pm\) 0.58 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.54 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 6.38 \(\pm\) 0.77 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) & 3.13 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.16 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\rm def}\) \\  & N-90 & 5.04 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.65 \(\pm\) 0.10 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.34 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 6.69 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) & 3.05 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 4.98 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\rm g}\) \\  & Mean & 4.68 \(\pm\) 0.59 & 1.58 \(\pm\) 0.18 & 1.08 \(\pm\) 0.23 & 6.26 \(\pm\) 0.75 & 2.97 \(\pm\) 0.19 & 5.92 \(\pm\) 0.77 \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{NaNO\({}_{3}\)} & N-50 & 4.89 \(\pm\) 0.20 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.62 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.25 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.50 \(\pm\) 0.29 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) & 3.02 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 5.22 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\rm g}\) \\  & N-70 & 4.73 \(\pm\) 0.12 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.50 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 0.93 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 6.23 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 3.16 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.72 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) \\  & N-90 & 5.66 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.52 \(\pm\) 0.50 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.13 \(\pm\) 0.17 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 7.19 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\rm b}\) & 3.91 \(\pm\) 1.15 \({}^{\rm a}\) & 6.49 \(\pm\) 1.61 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\  & Mean & 5.09 \(\pm\) 0.47 & 1.55 \(\pm\) 0.23 & 1.10 \(\pm\) 0.17 & 6.64 \(\pm\) 0.56 & 3.36 \(\pm\) 0.69 & 6.14 \(\pm\) 1.02 \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{NaNO\({}_{3}\)} & N-50 & 4.60 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.48 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 0.98 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 6.08 \(\pm\) 0.26 \({}^{\rm bcd}\) & 3.12 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.20 \(\pm\) 0.18 \({}^{\rm c}\) \\  & N-70 & 4.79 \(\pm\) 0.26 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 1.49 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.02 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\rm dc}\) & 6.27 \(\pm\) 0.30 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 3.22 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\rm abc}\) & 6.18 \(\pm\) 0.54 \({}^{\rm c}\) \\  & N-90 & 5.25 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.75 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 1.07 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bd}\) & 7.00 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 2.99 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\rm bc}\) & 6.52 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\rm b}\) \\  & Mean & 4.88 \(\pm\) 0.33 & 1.57 \(\pm\) 0.15 & 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.08 & 6.45 \(\pm\) 0.47 & 3.11 \(\pm\In hydroponic cultivation, both the effects, of the N source (nutrition) and the intensity of N nutrition, were statistically significant (Table S1, Supplementary Materials). Generally, the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of flowering Chinese cabbage grown in hydroponics were lower compared to the values from pot cultivation.