ISHS Acta Horticulturae 819: International Symposium on Growing Media 2007
ADVANCES IN THE STANDARDISATION OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES: THE WORK OF CEN TC 223, WG4 |
| Author: | A. Baumgarten |
| Keywords: | growing media, standardisation, analytical methods, CEN |
| Abstract:
Standardisation of analytical techniques for growing media is essential for two main reasons: in the scientific community, comparability of results can only be achieved if the same methodological set is used: for production and trading of growing media, consistent methods in different countries are necessary to facilitate quality control as well as matters of declaration. Although considerable achievements have been made in standardisation at the European level, the application of standards is still limited. To raise the acceptance, a proposal for guideline values based on the traditional methodology is made. During the last few years, a European-based research project has been undertaken that was meant to find a “horizontal” approach for analyzing different matrices, namely soil, sludge and treated biowaste. While the pH measurement, the aqua regia extraction and the determination of total nitrogen are comparable to existing CEN standards, the assessment of viable weeds and impurities offer new methods for the application to growing media. As a consequence of the finalization of “PROJECT HORIZONTAL”, CEN TC 223 has started to develop standards for the evaluation of the plant response to certain growing media or constituents thereof as well as the quantification of the aerobic biological activity as a criterion of the “stability” of a material. | |
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