RESPONSE OF PEAT- AND COMPOST-BASED SUBSTRATES TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZATION IN CYCLAMEN

The two groups were subjected, in the same greenhouse, to the following treatments:

1. high irrigation frequency (IF) and high fertilizer concentration (FC);
2. high IF and low FC;
3. low IF and high FC;
4. low IF and low FC.

With both substrates, high IF and high FC, separately, improved plant vegetative growth, but decreased flower number; combined high amounts of water and fertilizers led to an excessive length of foliar and floral peduncles, which remained weak and subject to stretching.

In the peat-based substrate the best quality of the plants was obtained with low IF and low FC: these conditions allowed good vegetative growth and greatly improved flowering.

The compost-based medium, characterized by a lower water retention capacity compared to the peat-based substrate, gave good results for flowering, but not for growth, at low IF: at the end of the cultivation, foliar analysis showed a lower nutrient content in the plants raised on this substrate in comparison with plants grown in peat. For this reason, plants receiving a higher amount of nutrients, i.e. plants treated with high IF and low FC or with low IF and high FC, attained the best quality.

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