Evaluation of Composted Green Waste In Ornamental Container-Grown Plants: Effects on Growth and Plant Water Relations

Compost Science & Utilization, (2007), Vol. 15, No. 4, 283-287

Sergio Mugnai, Tommaso Pasquini, Elisa Azzarello, Camilla Pandolfi and Stefano Mancuso
Department of Horticulture, University of Florence, Italy

Ornamental nurseries extensively utilize peat in commercial soilless potting media, but its use as an organic amendment with a superior water holding capacity is challenged by economic and environmental pressures so potential alternatives to peat need to be investigated. In our experiment, commercially available peat-based soilless mixes were amended with increasing composted green waste (CGW) percentages. Results on Photinia X fraseri and Viburnum tinus suggest that CGW could partially substitute peat in containerized nursery production, with a different effectiveness related to species behavior. Viburnum seemed to be less affected by CGW addition (only CGW-based media, T100, showed a significant difference compared to peat-based media, used as control), which on the contrary hardly affected Photinia growth in terms of biomass production and quality. On the other hand, a higher CGW content (75% or 100%) also improved plant susceptibility to water shortage. Concluding, peat-based media partially amended with CGW may have positive agronomic and economic consequences for commercial ornamental nursery production.

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