An Economic evaluation of horticultural alfalfa as a substitute for sphagnum peat moss

Yu, Ziyou; Akridge, Jay T.; Dana, Michael N.; Lowenberg‐DeBoer, James

doi:10.1002/1520-6297(199009)6:5<443::aid-agr2720060504>3.0.co;2-j

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…These limitations may be addressed by providing finically and nonfinancial policy support to motivate business practice change, improving biochar commercial availability, to educate consumers, extending biochar demand, and to establish good production and application practice, exploring more biochar application options (Pourhashem et al, 2019). (Yu et al, 1990;Bwi, 2018;Webber et al, 2018;Karofeld et al, 2020;Savichev et al, 2020). N/A means not applicable.…”

Section: Limitations and Possible Solutions For Biochar As A Containe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Replacing peat moss with biochar as a container substrate can bring large economic benefits due to its potential low price and large demand. The average customer price for sphagnum peat increased from $ 22 m -3 in 1986 to $172 m -3 in 2018 ( Yu et al., 1990 ; Bwi, 2018 ). Customers may have to pay higher prices based on the distributors they chose, for instance, the price of peat moss in Greenhouse Megastore is $ 310.7 m -3 ( Megastore, 2019 ).…”

Section: Economic Benefits Of Biochar As a Container Substratementioning

confidence: 99%

“… Information based on studies from ( Yu et al., 1990 ; Bwi, 2018 ; Webber et al., 2018 ; Karofeld et al., 2020 ; Savichev et al., 2020 ). N/A means not applicable.…”

Section: Economic Benefits Of Biochar As a Container Substratementioning

confidence: 99%

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Alleviate environmental concerns with biochar as a container substrate: a review

Qin

Niu

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Peat moss has desirable properties as a container substrate, however, harvesting it from peatland for greenhouse/nursery production use has disturbed peatland ecosystem and caused numerous environmental concerns. More recently, many nations have taken actions to reduce or ban peat moss production to reach the carbon neutral goal and address the environmental concerns. Also, the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides with peat moss in greenhouse/nursery production adds extra environmental and economic issues. Thus, it is urgent to find a peat moss replacement as a container substrate for greenhouse/nursery production. Biochar, a carbon-rich material with porous structure produced by the thermo-chemical decomposition of biomass in an oxygen-limited or oxygen-depleted atmosphere, has drawn researchers’ attention for the past two decades. Using biochar to replace peat moss as a container substrate for greenhouse/nursery production could provide environmental and economic benefits. Biochar could be derived from various feedstocks that are regenerated faster than peat moss, and biochar possesses price advantages over peat moss when local feedstock is available. Certain types of biochar can provide nutrients, accelerate nutrient adsorption, and suppress certain pathogens, which end up with reduced fertilizer and pesticide usage and leaching. However, among the 36,474 publications on biochar, 1,457 focused on using biochar as a container substrate, and only 68 were used to replace peat moss as a container substrate component. This study provides a review for the environmental and economic concerns associated with peat moss and discussed using biochar as a peat moss alternative to alleviate these concerns.

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Section: Limitations and Possible Solutions For Biochar As A Containe...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Economic Benefits Of Biochar As a Container Substratementioning

confidence: 99%

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Alleviate environmental concerns with biochar as a container substrate: a review

Qin

Niu

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…However, peat moss is expensive [20,21], and therefore the use of an alternative would be beneficial [21,22]. Previous work has shown that compost can be used for citrus rootstock germination [23] or production [24] and the low cost of compost could reduce production costs [19][20][21]25]. Bunt [19] reported that the use of up to 30% compost in potting media is optimal and yields acceptable results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Florida Citrus Nursery Trends and Strategies to Enhance Production of Field-Transplant Ready Citrus Plants

2020

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The Florida citrus industry is going through major changes and considerable replanting. Many growers are planting varieties, especially rootstocks, that are potentially productive under Huanglongbing (HLB; Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) prevalent conditions. However, the high demand for new plant material has put tremendous pressure on citrus nurseries and has created a bottleneck in production. Often it can take more than one year to produce field-transplant ready plants in nurseries; therefore, there is a critical need to accelerate plant production. This three-part study was conducted with the following objectives: (1) determine citrus nursery trends; (2) evaluate use of compost for rootstock germination; and, (3) evaluate use of compost for rootstock seedling growth. According to the nursery survey, rootstock seed germination and seedling growth were the most time-consuming, taking 6–8 months. Moreover, it was apparent from the survey results that 44% of the citrus nurseries were experimenting with potting mixes to achieve adequate plant growth and quality. Our greenhouse study demonstrated successful use of yard waste compost in place of peat moss in a potting mix. With use of 37% to 50% of compost in the potting mix, the overall germination rate and mean emergence time were improved to 70% in less than four weeks for US-897 rootstock as compared to no compost in the potting mix. In addition, 37% to 50% compost resulted in higher biomass accumulation in seedlings. When seedlings of rootstocks C-32 and Flying Dragon were grown with 37% to 50% compost, the growth rate and, therefore, percentage of successful budding were significantly increased as compared to no compost. In addition, substrate analysis indicated that a high compost potting media was rich in mineral nutrients, hence the use of fertilizer in nurseries could be minimized. Altogether, use of compost in place of peat moss seems promising and could accelerate germination and growth of rootstocks, reducing the production time as well as cost.

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Use of Composted and Fresh Spent Tea Grinds As a Potential Greenhouse Substrate Component

Wells

Sibley

Gilliam

et al. 2012

Compost Science & Utilization

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An Economic evaluation of horticultural alfalfa as a substitute for sphagnum peat moss

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

Alleviate environmental concerns with biochar as a container substrate: a review

Alleviate environmental concerns with biochar as a container substrate: a review

Florida Citrus Nursery Trends and Strategies to Enhance Production of Field-Transplant Ready Citrus Plants

Use of Composted and Fresh Spent Tea Grinds As a Potential Greenhouse Substrate Component

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