Vermicompost and biochar substrates can reduce nutrients leachates on containerized ornamental plant production

Abstract

Containerized ornamental plant production is facing several environmental challenges. One of them is to replace the widely used, but with questionable sustainability, peat based substrates and another is to avoid water contamination by chemicals leaching from the nursery. Therefore, as have been verified that petunia and pelargonium plants can be produced in peat-based growing media partially replaced by vermicompost (V) and biochar (B) without decreasing commercial quality, this study has focused on analyzing the leachate from a standard peat-based substrate as a control, used for producing these two ornamental species, and those from the same substrate to which different proportions in volume of V (10% and 20%) and B (4% and 12%) have been added. The amount of nitrogen leached from the mixed substrates was reduced compared to the control one in both species (on average 37%). Nitrogen was leached mainly as nitrate-nitrogen (89% in Petunia and 97% in Pelargonium). In Petunia phosphorous leaching was also decreased (30%) for the treatment with 10% V and 4% B, while potassium leaching in substrate containing 20% V and 12% B increased by 100%. Our results show that these two organic materials tested (V and B) can help producers to reduce the use of peat and chemical fertilizers as well as the risk of contamination by chemicals, mainly nitrate.

Seedlings production of Gomphrena globosaand Petunia x hybridain different times and substrates

“…The use of organic fertilizers in the composition of the substrates contributes to the addition of nutrients and improves soil conditions, promoting increased porosity and aeration (SALLES et al, 2017). Moreover, the composition of substrates with organic fertilizers can reduce by up to 37% the leaching of macronutrients important for the initial growth of ornamental plants (ALVAREZ et al, 2019).…”

“…Even though there are commercial substrates more recommended for the cultivation of certain species, new sustainable production technologies that supply the need and at the same time are accessible to the economic conditions of the producers must be evaluated (FERREIRA et al, 2018). Cultivation in substrates based on agricultural residues can result in plants with greater growth, phytomass accumulation (LUDWIG et al, 2010;PÊGO et al, 2019) and number of flowers (ALVAREZ et al, 2019) in relation to plants grown in commercial substrate. In this sense, the use of ecological waste in the formulation of substrates for seedling production may become an alternative to reduce costs and contribute to a more appropriate disposal of these wastes.…”

What is the optimal fertigation start time and frequency in lettuce seedlings?

“…Most research on vegetable seedling production focuses on substrate assessment and proposes new substrate formulations based on residue usage to lower seedling production costs (Tejada and Benítez 2015;Alvarez et al 2019).…”

Use of Biochar to Improve the Sustainable Crop Production of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L.)

“…Several studies have examined the effects of biochar co-applied with chemical and organic nitrogen fertilizer [30][31][32][33][34]. Specifically, biochar interaction with mineral or organic nitrate has recently been shown as a fundamental mechanism for the promotion of plant growth, with the slow release of N from biochar [35,36].…”