Composted Green Waste as a Substitute for Peat in Growth Media: Effects on Growth and Nutrition of Calathea insignis

Abstract

Peat mined from endangered wetland ecosystems is generally used as a component in soilless potting media in horticulture but is a costly and non-renewable natural resource. The objective of this work was to study the feasibility of replacing peat with different percentages (0, 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, and 100%) of composted green waste (CGW) as growth media for the production of the ornamental plant Calathea insignis. Compared with 100% peat media, media containing CGW had improved physical and chemical characteristics to achieve the acceptable ranges. Moreover, CGW addition had increased the stability (i.e., reduced the decomposition rates) of growth media mixtures, as indicated by comparison of particle-size distribution at the start and end of a 7-month greenhouse experiment. Addition of CGW also supported increased plant growth (biomass production, root morphology, nutrient contents, and photosynthetic pigment contents). The physical and chemical characteristics of growth media and plant growth were best with a medium containing 70% CGW and were better in a medium with 100% CGW than in one with 100% peat media. These results indicate that CGW is a viable alternative to peat for the cultivation of Calathea insignis.

Biochar or Biochar-Compost Amendment to a Peat-Based Substrate Improves Growth of Syngonium podophyllum

“…Due to the incorporation of BC, formulated substrates BC and BioComp had higher pH values than the control substrate (Table 1). This result was consistent with reports of other peat-based growing media where biochar amendment generally increased substrate pH [23,45,46]. Moreover, the elevated pH was within or close to the appropriate range of 5.3-6.5 recommended for container ornamental plants [47,48].…”

“…Compost is another alternative to peat for formulation of substrates, which has been extensively studied [9,22,23]. Recent studies show that mixtures of BC with compost appear to have synergistic effects on container plant growth [1].…”

Growth Performance and Nutrient Uptake of Oil Palm Seedling in Prenursery Stage as Influenced by Oil Palm Waste Compost in Growing Media

“…However, C : N value would decrease gradually when microorganisms start breaking down the compost and slowly release plant available nutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth period. Similar results have been reported by [33] whereby addition of composted green waste of more than 70% caused reduction in plant growth and root morphology, probably due to the presence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes in chemical and physical properties of growth media.…”

“…Multiple regression study showed that root and shoot growth and macronutrients uptake were highly significantly related to the pH of the growing media (Table 4). Previous studies also reported plants, specifically lettuce and ornamental plant, showing similar response when the growing medium improved from acidic to slightly acidic [33,34]. This highlighted the effect of pH on the nutrient availability as macronutrients like P were heavily affected by the pH value and subsequently the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings.…”

Olive-Mill Waste Compost as a Peat Substitute in Leafy Vegetables Transplants Production

“…Many studies tried to identify new alternatives for peat made from locally available waste material from agriculture or urban activities, used after composting, as green waste (Spiers and Fietje, 2000;Zhang et al, 2013), municipal solid waste and sewage sludge (Hererra et al, 2008;Cai et al, 2010), seagrass posidonia (Mininni et al, 2012) and olive-mill waste (Papafotiou et al, 2004;Ceglie et al, 2011).…”