Siv Mari Aurdal
Postdoktor
(+47) 986 95 126
siv.aurdal@nibio.no
Sted
Ås - Bygg O43
Besøksadresse
Oluf Thesens vei 43, 1433 Ås (Varelevering: Elizabeth Stephansens vei 21)
Sammendrag
This study evaluates the effectiveness of various peat-free and peat-reduced growing media on the growth and yield of tomatoes and carrots, with the aim to develop sustainable alternatives to traditional peat-based substrates in horticulture. Thirty different growing media mixtures were tested, incorporating materials such as wood fiber, compost, biochar, bio-ash, and struvite, with the goal of identifying viable alternatives to peat. The experiments were conducted in greenhouse conditions, and the performance of these mixtures was assessed based on yield and overall vitality of tomato and carrot plants. The results revealed that fully peat-free mixtures generally underperformed compared to peat-based references. However, some peat-reduced mixtures with 30% peat in combination with wood fiber, compost, struvite or bio-ash demonstrated promising results. Bio-ash and struvite were evaluated as phosphorus sources, with findings suggesting that both materials can enhance substrate fertility when combined with appropriate nitrogen fertilizers. The effect of biochar was not very pronounced in general. Moreover, the addition of biochar was associated with a disappearance of plant-available nitrogen from the growing media, which likely contributed to its limited effectiveness in improving crop performance. The study underscores the continual challenge of completely phasing out peat in growing media for horticulture but highlights the potential of reducing it greatly and integrating more sustainable materials such as wood fiber and recycled materials such as compost, bio-ash and struvite. The results suggest that with further refinement, specific combinations of these materials could be developed into optimized substrate mixtures for sustainable horticultural practices without compromising productivity.
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