ISHS Acta Horticulturae 644: International Symposium on Growing Media and Hydroponics
GROWTH OF NURSERY CROPS IN PEAT-REDUCED AND IN PEAT-FREE SUBSTRATES |
| Author: | H. Bohne |
| Keywords: | available water, bark compost, irrigation, peat, wood fibre, woody ornamentals |
| Abstract:
Since 1993 experiments with container growing plants in the open were carried out with peat-reduced and with peat-free substrates. The non-peat components were mainly wood fibre and bark compost. For each experiment the air and water characterisitic was determined with the modified ISHS-method. The data for the available water (–10 hPa to –100 hPa) were used to set up a substrate specific irrigation. Growth of the plants was equal or better in the peat-reduced and in the peat-free substrates compared to peat. Smaller amounts of available water were held in the peat-reduced and in the peat-free substrates. Therefore, plants growing in these substrates had to be irrigated more frequently with smaller amounts of water per irrigation event, however the total amount of irrigation water was reduced compared to peat. | |
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