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Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence

The most common substrate for potted ornamental plants is prepared with Sphagnum peat; however, the cost and declining availability of high-quality peat, due to environmental constraints, make it necessary to investigate for alternative organic materials. The present study aimed to determine the eff...

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Autores principales: Cristiano, Giuseppe, Vuksani, Gjok, Tufarelli, Vincenzo, De Lucia, Barbara
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6027461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29565271
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants7020024
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author Cristiano, Giuseppe
Vuksani, Gjok
Tufarelli, Vincenzo
De Lucia, Barbara
author_facet Cristiano, Giuseppe
Vuksani, Gjok
Tufarelli, Vincenzo
De Lucia, Barbara
author_sort Cristiano, Giuseppe
collection PubMed
description The most common substrate for potted ornamental plants is prepared with Sphagnum peat; however, the cost and declining availability of high-quality peat, due to environmental constraints, make it necessary to investigate for alternative organic materials. The present study aimed to determine the effects of partial compost replacement with peat and the optimum electrical conductivity (EC) level of the nutrient solution in potted weeping lantana [L. montevidensis (Spreng.) Briq.] under a recirculating soilless system. Three compost-based substrates were prepared by mixing peat (Pe) with sewage sludge-based compost (Co.) at a rate of 0% (Pe90Co0Pu10, control), 30% (Pe60Co30Pu10), or 60% (Pe30Co60Pu10), respectively. The soilless recirculated closed system was equipped with two different EC levels (high and low) of nutrient solution. Growing media main characteristics and plant bio-morphometric parameters were evaluated. Our first evidence clearly demonstrates that the replacement of peat with compost at doses of 30% and 60% gave the poorest results for plant diameter, shoots, leaves, flowers, and fresh and dry mass, probably indicating that the physical characteristics of the compost based substrates may be the major factor governing plant growth rate. Compost media pH and EC values, too, showed negative effects on plant growth. Considering the effect of EC level, all morphological traits were significantly improved by high EC compared to low EC in weeping lantana. Thus, based on first evidence, further research is needed on organic materials for the establishment of ecological substrates with optimal physicochemical characteristics for the growth of weeping lantana.
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spelling pubmed-60274612018-07-13 Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence Cristiano, Giuseppe Vuksani, Gjok Tufarelli, Vincenzo De Lucia, Barbara Plants (Basel) Article The most common substrate for potted ornamental plants is prepared with Sphagnum peat; however, the cost and declining availability of high-quality peat, due to environmental constraints, make it necessary to investigate for alternative organic materials. The present study aimed to determine the effects of partial compost replacement with peat and the optimum electrical conductivity (EC) level of the nutrient solution in potted weeping lantana [L. montevidensis (Spreng.) Briq.] under a recirculating soilless system. Three compost-based substrates were prepared by mixing peat (Pe) with sewage sludge-based compost (Co.) at a rate of 0% (Pe90Co0Pu10, control), 30% (Pe60Co30Pu10), or 60% (Pe30Co60Pu10), respectively. The soilless recirculated closed system was equipped with two different EC levels (high and low) of nutrient solution. Growing media main characteristics and plant bio-morphometric parameters were evaluated. Our first evidence clearly demonstrates that the replacement of peat with compost at doses of 30% and 60% gave the poorest results for plant diameter, shoots, leaves, flowers, and fresh and dry mass, probably indicating that the physical characteristics of the compost based substrates may be the major factor governing plant growth rate. Compost media pH and EC values, too, showed negative effects on plant growth. Considering the effect of EC level, all morphological traits were significantly improved by high EC compared to low EC in weeping lantana. Thus, based on first evidence, further research is needed on organic materials for the establishment of ecological substrates with optimal physicochemical characteristics for the growth of weeping lantana. MDPI 2018-03-22 /pmc/articles/PMC6027461/ /pubmed/29565271 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants7020024 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Cristiano, Giuseppe
Vuksani, Gjok
Tufarelli, Vincenzo
De Lucia, Barbara
Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title_full Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title_fullStr Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title_full_unstemmed Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title_short Response of Weeping Lantana (Lantana montevidensis) to Compost-Based Growing Media and Electrical Conductivity Level in Soilless Culture: First Evidence
title_sort response of weeping lantana (lantana montevidensis) to compost-based growing media and electrical conductivity level in soilless culture: first evidence
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6027461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29565271
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/plants7020024
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