TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of substrate reutilization on yield and properties of melon and tomato crops
AU - Urrestarazu, Miguel
AU - Mazuela, Pilar Carolina
AU - Martínez, Gabino Alberto
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was financially supported by the Commission Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain) under project AGL2002-2815, MECESUP (UTA 9901, Chile), Borges Andalucía S.A. and the Universidad de Almería (Spain). The authors would also like to thank Andy Taylor for critical discussion of the manuscript.
PY - 2008/11
Y1 - 2008/11
N2 - Certain ecologically-friendly substrates have recently been shown to be perfectly viable alternatives to other more traditional ones such as rockwool, perlite, or some hydroponic systems. However, in order to be competitive for vegetable production in the Mediterranean region, substrates must be used for at least one year. The present study assessed random samples of two commercial substrates, almond shell and compost from greenhouse vegetable residue. The substrates were evaluated as growing media for long-term soilless production. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of reusing these substrates, comparing them with rockwool in terms of yield and fruit quality characteristics of melon and tomato. The physical, physico-chemical, and chemical properties studied differed significantly on reutilizing these materials. However, these differences did not prove to be limiting factors when fertigation parameters applied were adjusted according to substrate properties. The results suggest that compost and commercial almond shells seem to be acceptable growing media after at least 265 and 530 days of reutilization, respectively.
AB - Certain ecologically-friendly substrates have recently been shown to be perfectly viable alternatives to other more traditional ones such as rockwool, perlite, or some hydroponic systems. However, in order to be competitive for vegetable production in the Mediterranean region, substrates must be used for at least one year. The present study assessed random samples of two commercial substrates, almond shell and compost from greenhouse vegetable residue. The substrates were evaluated as growing media for long-term soilless production. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of reusing these substrates, comparing them with rockwool in terms of yield and fruit quality characteristics of melon and tomato. The physical, physico-chemical, and chemical properties studied differed significantly on reutilizing these materials. However, these differences did not prove to be limiting factors when fertigation parameters applied were adjusted according to substrate properties. The results suggest that compost and commercial almond shells seem to be acceptable growing media after at least 265 and 530 days of reutilization, respectively.
KW - Almond waste utilization
KW - Compost reutilization
KW - Growing media
KW - Reused substrate
KW - Soilless culture
KW - Sustainable agriculture
KW - Waste reclamation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=53849117083&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01904160802405420
DO - 10.1080/01904160802405420
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0190-4167
VL - 31
SP - 2031
EP - 2043
JO - Journal of Plant Nutrition
JF - Journal of Plant Nutrition
IS - 11
ER -