Development and Validation of Alternative Palm-Derived Substrates for Seedling Production

The constraints associated with peat use in horticulture has led to a search for alternative materials for their use as growing media. The organic materials derived from palm trees (composted or not) can constitute an alternative due to their ligneous and fibrous character, similar to coir fiber. Th...

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Published inAgronomy (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 6; p. 1377
Main Authors Gomis, María Pilar, Pérez-Murcia, María Dolores, Barber, Xavier, Martínez-Sabater, Encarnación, Moral, Raúl, Bustamante, María Ángeles
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 08.06.2022
Subjects
Analysis
chemometric tools
Cluster analysis
Coir
coir fiber
compost
Composting
Composts
Feasibility studies
Germination
growing media
horticultural crops
Horticulture
Leaves
Lettuce
Mixtures
Organic materials
Parameters
Peat
Phoenix dactylifera
Phoenix dactylifera L
Physical properties
Salinity
Seedlings
Substrates
Vegetable industry
Spain
United States > US
Europe
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Summary:The constraints associated with peat use in horticulture has led to a search for alternative materials for their use as growing media. The organic materials derived from palm trees (composted or not) can constitute an alternative due to their ligneous and fibrous character, similar to coir fiber. This work studies the feasibility of using several palm-tree-derived (Phoenix dactylifera L.) organic materials as growing media ingredients for the transplant production of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. Senna). For this, the following substrates were studied: five mixtures for each palm-derived material (palm trunks and leaves and composts derived from palm trunk and leaves), in the proportions of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% by volume, mixed with coir fiber. Coir fiber at the proportion 100% was used as the control treatment. Physical, physico-chemical, and chemical analyses were conducted on the substrates, and the germination and morphological parameters of the seedlings were examined. Chemometric tools, such as random forest (RF) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were also used to evaluate the data obtained. The type and proportion of material used in the growing media principally affected the parameters studied in the lettuce seedlings. The substrates with a percentage of compost lower than 60% showed behavior closer to that observed in the growing media with 100% coir fiber and with the mixture of coir fiber and palm leaves or trunks at all proportions.
ISSN:2073-4395
2073-4395
DOI:10.3390/agronomy12061377