ISHS Acta Horticulturae 779: International Symposium on Growing Media
STRUCTURAL QUALITY OF COMPOSTED PLANT RESIDUES TO BE USED AS AN ORGANIC GROWING MEDIUM |
| Author: | D.B. Dresbøll |
| Keywords: | compost, decomposition, particle geometry, scanning electron microscopy, structure |
| Abstract:
Structural properties are key issues when using alternatives to peat as growing media, as high-quality structural properties are one of the main reasons why peat is widely used as a growing medium. Structural changes during decomposition of three different plant materials in a compost environment were investigated. This was done in order to increase the knowledge of decomposition of specific plant tissues. Compost was made of wheat straw and clover-grass hay. Decomposition was followed by examining three straw materials in litterbags within the compost piles by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The SEM studies revealed large differences in the physical breakdown of the monocotyledons (wheat and Miscanthus) compared to the dicotyledonous species (hemp). The hemp had higher fibre cell content and more lignified helical secondary walls which gave the degraded particles a more flexible structure. Based on the SEM studies and previous results on the water retention capacity of hemp-based compost, it was concluded that hemp would be suitable as a structural element in plant based composts used as constituents of growing media. | |
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