Yard Trimming-Biosolids Compost: Possible Alternative to Sphagnum Peat Moss in Tomato Transplant Production

Long-Term Stability and Mineralization Rate Of Compost is Influenced by Timing of Nutrient Application During Composting of Plant Residues

“…However, as there is increasing focus on exploitation of the peat bogs, and organic animal manure can be sparse, a more appropriate growing medium might be produced by composting plant residues. When using compost as growing medium for greenhouse production, the quality requirements are high (Ozores-Hampton et al 1999).…”

Vegetable Waste Compost Used as Substrate in Soilless Culture

“…Controlled composting appears to be an effective method of eliminating residues by recycling them. For example, Ozores-Hampton et al (1999) reported that in Florida 1.5 million tons of compost could be produced per year. The wastes generateed by intensive agriculture systems are very varied and frequently cannot be reused directly.…”

“…Another alternative is to reuse these residues, incorporating them as ecologically friendly substrates in soilless cultivation in the form of compost. Using waste materials, most of them locally produced, as soilless growing media has been the subject of an important number of studies, especially as an alternative to peat for ornamental potted plants (e.g., Ingelmo et al, 1997;Offord et al, 1998;Lao and Jiménez, 2004a,b), and less frequently for vegetable production (Shinohara et al, 1999;Ball et al, 2000) and even for tomato transplant production (Ozores-Hampton et al, 1999). However, it has been suggested that certain types of compost alone are unsuitable as growing media due to unacceptably high salt and pH content (Spiers and Fietje, 2000), in particular when immature, unstable compost is used (Ozores-Hampton et al, 1999).…”

“…Using waste materials, most of them locally produced, as soilless growing media has been the subject of an important number of studies, especially as an alternative to peat for ornamental potted plants (e.g., Ingelmo et al, 1997;Offord et al, 1998;Lao and Jiménez, 2004a,b), and less frequently for vegetable production (Shinohara et al, 1999;Ball et al, 2000) and even for tomato transplant production (Ozores-Hampton et al, 1999). However, it has been suggested that certain types of compost alone are unsuitable as growing media due to unacceptably high salt and pH content (Spiers and Fietje, 2000), in particular when immature, unstable compost is used (Ozores-Hampton et al, 1999). Another disadvantage of the use of compost as substrate is that it is a very heterogeneous material and therefore needs to be amended so that it can be used as substrate Urrestarazu et al, 2001;Urrestarazu et al, 2003;Sanchez-Monedero et al, 2004;Carrión et al, 2005;Mazuela et al, 2005;Mazuela et al, 2010)).…”

Horticultural and Floricultural Applications of Urban Wastes Originated Fertilizers

“…Although soilless horticulture and floriculture rely largely on peat sourced from bogs, many studies have demonstrated that peat can be substituted by alternatives such as compost, sewage sludges and other transformed wastes in growth media preparations (Ingelmo et al, 1998;Raviv et al, 1998;Ozores-Hampton et al, 1999;Bustamante et al, 2008;Herrera et al, 2009;Andersen et al, 2010;Boldrin et al, 2010;Jayasinghe et al, 2010).…”