Prospects of artificial soil substrate use for flower crops cultivation in protected ground

Abstract

Harsh continental climate of Orenburg region is characterized by extremely low rates of precipitation at vegetation period, so the cultivation of flowers with protected root system has wide usage and is highly developed. The search for the optimal combined artificial soil in terms of physico-chemical composition is of great scientific and practical importance. In the short-term model experiment, variants of artificial soils are under exploration, with differing ratios of basic fillers that cover the physiological needs of flower crops when grown with a closed root system in greenhouse complexes. The results of laboratory study of artificially constructed soils based on essential materials (peat, coconut filler, river sand) and agricultural waste (horse manure, sunflower seed husk, raw fawl dung) are also presented. Combined soils are developed for the purpose of growing gerbera on “Bounty” soil and garden chrysanthemum on “Elysium” soil. These soils take into account the bioecological and agrotechnological features of greenhouse cultivation of these types of flower plants. The studied flower crops respond quite well to the physico-chemical composition of soils, showing stable growth of vegetative and generative organs.