ISHS Acta Horticulturae 898: V International Symposium on Seed, Transplant and Stand Establishment of Horticultural Crops
USE OF BEEKEEPING RESIDUES FOR TOMATO SEEDLING PRODUCTION |
| Authors: | R. Morales-Corts, M.A. Gómez-Sánchez, R. Pérez-Sánchez |
| Keywords: | slumgum, organic fertilizer, dry weight, Lycopersicon esculentum |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2011.898.22 |
| Abstract:
An organic beekeeping waste called “slumgum” appears in the beeswax-rendering process from old scraped honeycombs, which are eliminated every three or four years. The main objective of the present work was to study different strategies for the utilization of slumgum for tomato seedling production and to verify their fertilizing potential. Assays on tomato seedling production were carried out under greenhouse conditions and different slumgum treatments were performed: granules slumgum-gypsum (SG) and minced slumgum (MS) in different proportions (w/w) mixed with a commercial peat: 10% SG, 5% SG, 10% MS and 5% MS. Two commer¬cial fertilizers were employed as controls: -organic fertilizer- Guano (G) and -mineral fertilizer- Fertilent® (F). A fertilizer-free peat (FFP) treatment was also carried out as control. The parameters recorded were: plant emergence percentage, number of leaves in two different growth stages [20 days after sowing (I) and at the end of the assays (II)], stem width, seedling height, third leaf area, chlorophyll level of leaves (SPAD-502, MINOLTA)and root and shoot dry weight. In general, addition of minced slumgum (5% with peat) gave the best results for tomato seedling parameters. Granules slumgum-gypsum (5% with peat) treatment also presented similar results to those obtained with commercial fertilizer controls. However our results suggested that adding 10% slumgum have not so positive influence as commercial fertilizers on tomato growth. | |
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