Peat use in horticulture continues to be scrutinized as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental sustainability concerns associated with peat. Thus, the horticultural industry ...is driven to search for peat alternatives. Substrate stratification (i.e., vertical layering of unique media atop another in a singular container) has been studied in nursery substrates and has demonstrated improved resource efficiency with regard to water and fertilizer inputs. However, minimal research has evaluated using the concept of stratified substrates as an attempt to reduce peat inputs in greenhouse production. Hence, the objective of this study was to identify if stratifying costly floriculture media atop of low-cost pine bark can reduce peat use, reliance, and cost within the floriculture industry. A floriculture crop,
Petunia
hybrid ‘Supertunia Honey’, was grown in two distinct substrate treatments: 1) nonstratified (commercial peat-based floriculture substrate) and 2) stratified peat-based substrate layered atop aged pine bark (1:1 by volume) under two different irrigation schedules. Crop growth was evaluated, including growth indices, shoot physiological responses, and root growth measurements. Substrate hydraulic properties such as matric potential and volumetric water content were monitored over time. The results demonstrated that a petunia crop can be produced in stratified substrate systems and yield similarly sized and quality crops as traditionally grown plants. Furthermore, the stratified substrate-produced crop had improved root productivity, yet less bloom, when compared with nonstratified-grown crops.
Bioretention systems have gained considerable popularity as a more natural approach to stormwater management in urban environments. The choice of bioretention media is frequently cited as one of the ...critical design parameters with the ultimate impact on the performance of the system. The goal of this review is to highlight data that challenge the importance of media as being the dominant design parameter and argue that the long-term performance is shaped by the interactions between media and the living components of a bioretention system, especially vegetation. Some of the key interactions are related to the impact of plant roots on media pore structure, which has implications on infiltration, storage capacity, and treatment. Another relevant interaction pertains to evapotranspiration and the associated impacts on the water balance and the water quality performance of bioretention systems. The impacts of vegetation on the media are highlighted and actual, as well as potential, impacts of plant-media interactions on bioretention performance are presented.
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•Plant-media interactions impact physico-chemical properties of bioretention systems.•Bioretention design does not address the combined effects of media and vegetation.•Plant impacts may enhance or compromise bioretention performance.•Root-induced changes to media properties need further investigation.•The impact of evapotranspiration on water quality needs further investigation.
The burgeoning population and climate change posing a challenge to meet the sufficient and quality food, fodder and fuel demand in 2050.The cultivable land is also shrinking due to industrialization ...and urbanization as the availability was 0.50 ha in 1960 which has come down at 0.25 ha. The continuous intensive agriculture led to poor soil health. The demand of food, fodder and fuel is ever rising with rise in population therefore; it is very difficult to sustain supply with present cultivation practices under climate change regime. To overcome this problem, soilless culture is one of the best alternatives. Soilless culture is a novel methodology for growing of crops or plants without soil by using growing media which can be solid, liquid, organic or inorganic material. One of the major advantages of soilless media is saving of water up to 85-90%, as water is recycled and provide better yield as compared to conventional cultivation with almost zero environmental pollution. Plug tray nursery raising using soilless medium is being done on commercial scale at many places. Research on Soilless cultivation is being carried out at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, New Delhi since 2016. Hydroponic has been emerged as a new technique to grow plants in recent era. Aeroponics is one of the most successful and rapid methods of seed potato production in which large numbers of mini tubers can be produced in one generation which reduces time and cost. Plants grown in soil less culture are of superior quality with high yield, rich in nutrient content and rapid harvest as compared to conventional cultivation/soil. The growing conditions are generally regulated resultantly a robust resilient production system may be developed for continued supply of vegetables/fruits/flowers, it can synergistically add in total production.
The medium from which seedlings are transplanted influences seedling growth and survival on the field. The objective of the experiment was to compare how growing media affect the growth and survival ...of cocoa seedlings under field conditions. The seedlings were raised in both soil and soilless media and were transplanted on the field in June, when they were six months old. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with three different growing media: 1. top soil, 2. sawdust + poultry manure + rice husk biochar (70%:25%:5%), and 3. sawdust + poultry manure + municipal solid waste compost (50%:35%:15%). The cocoa seedlings were transplanted at a spacing of 3 m × 3 m at 12 plants per plot and each plot size measured 45 m × 45 m. Data were collected on plant height, leaf number, stem girth, leaf chlorophyll content, percentage of plants that shed their leaves, and percentage of survival. Results indicated that seedling survival at the onset and end of the dry season was significantly (P < 0.05) higher for seedlings transplanted from soilless media compared to those from the top soil treatment. Irrigation will be necessary to maintain high seedling survival when seedlings are transplanted from the top soil for a well-established plantation.
Using the right growing media is pivotal for cultivating high-quality seedlings. While topsoil remains a prevalent choice in nurseries, there is a growing need to explore its effectiveness in cashew ...seedling production and find potential alternatives that might reduce our dependence on it. A three-month experiment was undertaken at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria’s nursery. The setup followed a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) incorporating ten treatment variations, each replicated thrice. These treatments involved two cashew nut types, Jumbo and Medium, and five distinct growing media: 100% Topsoil, 100% Sawdust, 75% Topsoil + 25% Sawdust, 50% Topsoil + 50% Sawdust, and 25% Topsoil + 75% Sawdust. For the procedure, each of these media was filled into perforated polythene bags measuring 30cm x 15cm, with one seed planted per bag. Data collected were on % emergence, morphological, shoot and root data. Data were subjected to ANOVA using SAS (version 2010) statistical package and means were separated using DMRT at (P≤0.05). Findings revealed no notable variance in percentage mean emergence at four weeks post-planting or in leaf count at the twelve-week mark. Control treatments (100% topsoil) for jumbo and medium had the shortest plant height, lowest number of leaves, seedling vigour, fresh root weight and taproot length. 100% topsoil as a growing medium for raising cashew seedlings should be discouraged as the experimented growing media offered statistically the same or improved emergence, morphology, and root growth development.
Plant nutrition in greenhouse cultivation differs in many essential aspects from field crops and justified the development of a special publication on this subject. The high productions realised and ...the specific produce quality requirements ensure high uptakes of nutrients and a careful tuning of the application. The covering with glass or plastic is responsible for specific climatic conditions, which in modern greenhouse can be fully adjusted to the requirements of the crop by automatic climate control. The natural precipitation is excluded, thus, the water has to be applied in greenhouses by artificial irrigation of water from different origin. On thing and another involves that the growing conditions are more or less completely controlled. This especially holds when the crops are grown in substrates.The high uptake of minerals in greenhouses requires high fertilizer additions. The quantities absorbed by many crops are that high, that it is impossible to supply the required quantities of nutrients as a base dressing at once. Therefore, top dressings are common practice and are carried out together with the supply of the irrigation water. Therefore, fertigation is common practice and in greenhouses already for many years. Specific systems have been developed for the application of the right concentrations to keep the level of nutrients in the root environment on the optimum level for the performance of the crop.Beside the management of the nutrient application, greenhouse growers also need a close control on the salt accumulation. This accumulation is closely connected with the quality of the irrigation water. Moreover, also the addition of the fertilizers plays a role in the salt accumulation in the root environment. Therefore, choice of the fertilizers used is important to prevent accumulations of residual salts possibly supplied with the fertilizers. On the other hand, for a number of crops the level of fertilizer supply is not only focussed on the nutrient requirements, but also utilized to realize a certain salt concentration in the irrigation water. In this way the osmotic potential of the soil solution is affected and this characteristic is an important tool for the grower for the regulation of the growth of the crop and the quality of the produce. When the salinity passes certain threshold values, the growth and production of crops is reduced, but the quality of the harvested produce of some crops is improved. Such regulations are very precisely adjusted to the crops grown and to the growing conditions in the greenhouse. Another line is the development of sustainable production methods. For the main subject discussed in this book, namely plant nutrition, methods for an optimum use of fertilizers with a minimum environmental pollution were developed last decennia. In this field the development of the cultivation in substrates offered excellent possibilities for an optimal use of water and nutrients. With this growing method it has been proved that it is possible to grow greenhouse crops without any discharge of minerals to the environment. The conditions required for such cultivation are thoroughly discussed. Moreover, growing in substrates offers suitable opportunities for optimization of yield and quality, because of the adequate control on the conditions in the root environment, like the supply of water and nutrients. However, this requires a perfect management of water and nutrient supply. Not only for the fact that plants are grown in very small rooting volumes and therefore, mistakes with irrigation and fertilizer supply easily will damage the crop, but also for the fact that the fertilizer supply is complicated. For substrate growing it is not enough that some nutrient elements are controlled, like with soil grown crops, but the full packet of nutrients essential for plant growth will be kept in view. This means that the addition of six macro nutrients and at least six micro nutrients will be regulated, with respect to the right concentration and mutual ratios in the irrigation water. Physical and chemical properties of substrates essentially differ and a right use of these properties is necessary for a right interpretation of the nutrient and salinity status. To this purpose the grower is supplied with detailed recommendations developed by the research stations founded in The Netherlands. The horticultural research stations in The Netherlands developed numerous tools to the growers often in cooperation with the horticultural industries and laboratories. An example of such cooperation is the development of soil and substrate testing methods by the research stations. These methods offered excellent possibilities for a frequent control for the salt and nutrient status in the root environment. Together with these methods schedules for interpretation and recommendation were developed and adjusted for computerized information to the growers. The book contains information about soil testing methods, in relation to a universal interpretation based on the composition of soil solution. Methods for interpretations of tissue tests are supplied. Crop response on salinity and water supply is discussed in relation to fertilizer application. The management of fertilizer addition in relation to analytical data of soil and substrate samples is presented for a wide range of crops grown in greenhouses. The specific requirements in relation with the climatic conditions and the crop grown are discussed. The management as described is especially focussed on a sustainable production of vegetable and ornamental crops. The water supply, fertilization and the realisation of the osmotic potential in the root environment is focussed on the production of the high quality products required on the consumer market as appeared last decennia in the Western world. Such a market is characterized by diversity, quality and immediate answers to demands of luxurious productions. Greenhouse production is able to meet these demands including the demands with respect to environmental pollution. The contents of the book supply much information to these requirements suitable for greenhouse industry, being an important, strongly growing high technological horticultural activity.
•Biochar can be used for peat replacement in substrates.•Biochar reduces the over-explotation of peatlands.•Biochar and paper sludge are phytonutrient for lettuce.•Biochar addition doubles crop ...yield.
Peatlands are crucial sinks for carbon in the terrestrial ecosystem, but they are jeopardized by their use as fuel or as growing media. Much research has been performed aiming to find high quality and low cost substrates from different organic wastes, such as coir, compost, sewage or paper sludges, and thus decrease peat consumption. The main objective of this work is to study the effect on peat and coir-based growing media of deinking sludge (R) and biochar obtained by pyrolysis of deinking sludge at 300°C (B300). For this reason, mixtures of peat or coir with deinking sludge and corresponding biochar were prepared mixing them at 50/50 v/v ratios. The results showed that it is possible to improve the chemical and hydrophysical properties of peat and coir with addition of biochar and deinking sludge. Indeed, biochar increased air space, water holding capacity and total porosity of peat-based growing media whereas for coir, the best hydrophysical properties were obtained after deinking sludge addition. Finally, the use of biochar plus peat as growing media can increase lettuce yield by more than 100% with respect to peat growing media, which can be related with the improvement of hydrophysical growing media properties. This yield increment along with the reduction of the over-exploitation of peat can justify the use of biochar as growing media in spite of the cost associated to the pyrolysis process.
This research paper presents a case study analysis of the behavior of three Sedum varieties and their growth in three different types of substrates without additional watering or fertilizing. The ...study aims to identify a suitable substrate for propagation and to provide insight into the plant’s growth patterns. By analyzing the growth of the Sedum species and varieties—SS’PW’, SS’CB’, and SS’P’—without intervening in their growth process, we were able to identify factors that play a more crucial role in promoting root growth, plant growth, aesthetic value, and use. Over a 20-month period, various technical tools were employed to conduct observations and measurements for both plants and weather conditions. The type of substrate significantly affected plant growth, with the green roof substrate exhibiting the highest overall average monthly root growth rate (0.92 ± 0.05 d, 1.01 ± 0.05 b, 0.96 ± 0.05 c) while in the case of stem growth, among all three varieties, the best results were obtained in the commercial mix (0.87 ± 0.04 a, 0.40 ± 0.02 c, 0.35 ± 0.02 d). Based on the morphological analyses, all values were significantly lower than the control. Best results for leaf weight and surface area were noticed in the green roof substrate with an average growth of 46%, 53%, 55%, and for stem weight, length, and thickness in the commercial mix with 64%, 61%, and 55% compared to the control, respectively. Leaves had varying morphological characteristics, but the chromatic characteristics were preserved. The plants had an overall poor growth which may not be desirable in landscape designs. The findings of this study are applicable in the planning and execution of eco-friendly infrastructure initiatives, leading to the development of more robust and environmentally friendly urban settings.
•A washing pre-treatment was applied to livestock derived substrates.•The washing pre-treatment did not affected negatively substrate physical properties.•The growing media with washed composts ...showed positive effects on seedlings.
The search for alternative materials for peat substitution in soilless systems has led to an increasing use of compost as ingredient of growing media. These materials may have similar characteristics to peat for their potential use as substitutes of this non-renewable material. However, the high salinity is one of the most usual limiting factors in compost for its use in growing media. This work evaluates the effect of the use of a washing pre-treatment to improve the quality of livestock waste-derived composts as peat substitutes in substrates for pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) seedling production. For this, different growing media were prepared using as ingredients five composts from livestock manures and anaerobic digestates (M1, M2, M3, D1 and D2), with or without a washing pre-treatment. Each respective material was mixed with peat in the proportions 25 %, 50 % and 75 % (volume:volume), using as control treatment pure (100 %) peat. The main physico-chemical, chemical and physical characteristics of the composts before and after washing and those of the growing media were studied, as well as germination and biomass production of the seedlings. The use of a washing pre-treatment was effective in the reduction of compost salinity, without implying a negative effect on the physical properties and nutrient content of the growing media, which were adequate for being used in seedling production, as reflected in the beneficial effects on the germination and growth of pepper seedlings.
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