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Fresh, Aged, and Decomposed Utility Mulch as a Soilless Media Supplement for Greenhouse Production of Petunia and Begonia
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DOI：10.3390/horticulturae12080993.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
For decades, soilless media have been used as a growing medium in horticultural production, but issues with sustainability and the climate impact of some components, like peat moss, have driven the industry to search for alternative products or fillers that are more environmentally viable. Utility mulch, a byproduct of tree trimming companies, is an organic mulch containing various components of a tree, including ground and chipped wood, and is often available for free. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate whether utility mulch can be an economically and ecologically viable soilless media filler for growing petunia (Petunia Juss.) ‘Multiflora Prostrate’ and begonia (Begonia L.) ‘Viking XL Red On Chocolate’ plants in a greenhouse. The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design with two replications. The rate of mulch was considered the main plot and the type of mulch as the sub-plot. Utility mulch was divided into three types: fresh, aged, and decomposed, and was applied at rates of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% v/v, while 100% soilless media was used as a control. For growth media properties, decomposed mulch showed a greater bulk density and water-holding capacity compared to the control, while fresh and aged mulch showed reduced values for both properties. The highest air porosity values (30.2–31.2%) were observed in media with fresh mulch at a 30 to 50% rate. For begonia, up to 20% of any of the different mulch treatments showed similar plant growth (height, width, SPAD, number of flowers) as the control. Shoot dry weight was found to be the greatest with the control but presented similar results when measured with 10% of fresh and decomposed mulch, while water use efficiency was only greater with the control. For petunia, only 10% of any type of mulch showed similar growth and performance as the control, except for the number of flowers. The number of flowers was reduced at all rates of mulch in petunia. Greater rates of fresh and aged mulch reduced nitrate content in the media, while the pH increased with all types of mulch. For phosphorus, a greater rate of aged and decomposed mulch showed the lowest value compared to the control for petunia, whereas in begonia, decomposed mulch showed the lowest P content, which might be associated with the higher substrate pH level. This study suggests that as much as 20% of the different-aged mulches for begonia and 10% for petunia could be used as a cheap substrate replacement in soilless media.
Keywords:
controlled environment
growth media
greenhouse production
ornamentals
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