Microbial activity in peat-reduced plant growing media: Identifying influential growing medium constituents and physicochemical properties using fractional factorial design of experiments

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:256

Article

Van Gerrewey, Thijs^1,2,3,4  Ameloot, Nele³  Navarrete, Oscar⁴  Vandecruys, Maarten⁴  Perneel, Maaike⁵  Boon, Nico²  Geelen, Danny¹ 

[1] Univ Ghent, Horticell, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

[2] Univ Ghent, CMET, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

[3] Agaris Belgium NV, Skaldenstr 7a, B-9042 Ghent, Belgium

[4] Urban Crop Solut BVBA, Grote Heerweg 67, B-8791 Beveren Leie, Waregem, Belgium

[5] Univ Ghent, Cropfit, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

关键词: Plant growing media;    Peat;    Compost;    Water-filled porosity;    Hydroponics;    Microbial activity;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120323

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The development of peat-reduced plant growing media for horticulture is needed to tackle sustainability concerns related to the peat production process. Alternative growing media constituents with unique physicochemical properties, like coir pith, wood fiber, compost, and inorganic materials are currently used. However, little is known about the impact of these materials on microbial activity. Because microbial communities play an important role in plant growth and development, the impact of various growing media constituents on microbial activity was analyzed using two-level fractional factorial statistical design of experiments. The results showed that growing media composition greatly affected microbial activity. White peat (+2.4% CO2) and composted bark (+1.5% CO2) significantly promoted microbial activity over black peat and green waste compost respectively. In contrast, the organic materials coir pith and wood fiber, as well as the inorganic materials perlite and sand, had little effect on microbial activity. Physicochemical analysis of the different growing media mixtures revealed that the water-filled porosity (WFP) was the most important parameter driving microbial growth, increasing microbial activity (+2.1% CO2) at 62.95% WFP compared to 82.95% WFP. Our results are instrumental for developing novel organic growing media with distinct microbial features to move towards a low peat sustainable horticulture. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free