Reuse of waste materials as growing media for ornamental plants

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 96; no. 1; pp. 125 - 131
• Main Authors: Hernández-Apaolaza, Lourdes, Gascó, Antonio M., Gascó, José M., Guerrero, Francisca
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 2005; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Analysis of Variance; arboriculture; bark; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; biosolids composts; Chemical and physical characterization; Coconut fibre; Cocos - chemistry; coir; container-grown plants; Cupressus arizonica; Cupressus sempervirens; Electric Conductivity; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General agronomy. Plant production; growing media; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; ornamental trees; Other nutrients. Amendments. Solid and liquid wastes. Sludges and slurries; Pine bark; Pinus pinea; Plant Bark; Plant Development; Sewage; Sewage sludge compost; Soil; Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments; Species Specificity; Spectrophotometry, Atomic; Waste Products; waste utilization; Cupressus arizonica; Sewage sludge compost; Cupressus sempervirens; Pine bark; Coconut fibre; Chemical and physical characterization; Pinus pinea; Compost; Bark; Ornamental crop; Coconut fiber; Coniferous ornamental tree; Sewage sludge; Growing medium; Gymnospermae; Waste reuse; Coniferales; Spermatophyta; Physicochemical properties
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2004.02.028

The use of different waste materials: pine bark, coconut fibre and sewage sludge as substrates in the production of ornamental plants was studied, with an special interest on the suitability of coconut fibre as growing substrate for conifer plants. The plant species tested were Pinus pinea, Cupressus arizonica and C. sempervirens and the substrate mixtures were: (1) pine bark, (2) pine bark with 15% of sewage sludge compost, (3) pine bark with 30% of sewage sludge compost, (4) coconut fibre, (5) coconut fibre with 15% of sewage sludge compost and (6) coconut fibre with 30% of sewage sludge compost. Substrates were physically and chemically well characterized, and 75-cm plants were grown on them for one year. Plant and substrate status were periodically tested along the experiment. As biosolid recycling is the main objective of the present work, the mixtures with 30% of composted sewage sludge will be the most convenient substrate to use. For C. sempervirens and C. arizonica, a mixture between pine bark or coconut fibre and 30% of biosolid compost in volume gave the best results, but the lower cost of the pine bark than the coconut fibre substrate indicated the use of the PB + 30% CSS. For P. pinea the research of new combinations between waste products is recommended to attain better results.