ISHS Acta Horticulturae 150: International Symposium on Substrates in Horticulture other than Soils In Situ
MICROBIAL ACTIVITY IN BLOCKING COMPOSTS. 1. MEASUREMENT OF CO2 EVOLUTION AND O2 CONSUMPTION |
| Authors: | C.P. Turner, W.R. Carlile |
| Abstract:
CO2 evolution and O2 consumption were monitored in blocking media amended with varying concentrations of glucose. CO2 was continually evolved from blocking media (1–2 mg CO2-C per litre of medium per day at 11.5°C). When media were enriched with glucose, the rate of CO2 evolution, after a lag period of 2–3 days, rapidly increased for a period of 3–8 days (up to 100 mg CO2-C per litre of medium per day at 11.5°C in the case of the highest addition of glucose-equivalent to 2 mg glucose-C cm-3 medium) before returning to a rate similar to that in unamended media. Blocking media amended with glucose exhibited active periods of O2 consumption, again following a lag period of 2–3 days. Increases in O2 consumption were sustained for longer periods in media amended with high concentrations of glucose (1–2 mg glucose-C cm-3 medium). Increases in O2 consumption coincided almost exactly with rises in CO2 evolution and these phenomena undoubtedly reflect the increased microbial activity resulting from the metabolism of glucose added to blocking media. | |
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