Performance test of organic planting bags for woody plant seedlings

Abstract

Organic planting bag has been developed to overcome both weaknesses of plastic polybags, contaminating the soil and damaging the plant's root when transplanting. The improvement in this stage was achieved by inserting coconut fiber to strengthen a bag. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of seedling and transplanting by using organic planting bags, employed, three woody plants, i.e., Albizia (Albizia julibrissin), Cadam (Neolamarckia cadamba) and Gmelina (Gmelina arborea). Performance testing of organic plant bags was conducted on three compositions of coconut fiber and water hyacinth. Two stages of experiments were conducted to know bag performance. First, the testing of organic plant bags during the nursery was conducted for 50 d from day 0 to day 50. Second, the testing of organic plant bags after transplanting and observed on days 60, 70, and 80, after transplanted on the field. The parameters in this study were plant height, a total of roots that penetrate the organic plant bags and a total of leaves and stem diameters of plant grown in the organic bag and transplanting on land. The results showed that organic planting bag with the composition 155 g of coconut fiber and 505 g of water hyacinth (A3B3) has 0.020 kg/cm 2 compressive strength and provides the best plant growth rates. Compressive strength affects the number of roots which penetrate the organic bag. Generally, the growth of seed in organic bags is faster than that in polybags. Albizia shows a higher growth rate (0.379 cm/d) compared to Cadam and Gmelina.

Microbial Fertilizers and Shading Contribute to the Vegetation Assembly and Restoration of Steep-Slope after Soil Spray-Sowing in the Yuanjiang Dry-Hot Valley Region

“…Although arch columns + planting bags have produced good results for the restoration of slopes along highways and railway in certain areas [46], they are expensive and unsuitable in the dry-hot valley area. This is mainly because partitioned arch columns impede the horizontal movement of plant roots and soil water, and the gaps among planting bags accelerate the evaporation of soil water [47], ultimately leading to regional droughts and species failure [18], potentially owing to seeds being planted too deep to germinate in planting bags.…”

Study on Ecological Mini-Aggregations Based on Polymer Composite Materials

“…Scholars have been trying to improve the materials used for ecological aggregation, seeking materials that can provide sufficient erosion resistance and stability to the planting substrate while also being environmentally friendly [1,8,9]. For example, Lutfi [10] studied using coir and water hyacinth to develop ecological bags to replace plastic bags and reduce environmental pollution. Shaari [2] utilized waste cotton nonwoven fabric and starch as material for ecological aggregation, resulting in ecological aggregations with sufficient strength and stability.…”