In:
Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Economy, SAGE Publications, Vol. 27, No. 2 ( 2009-03), p. 112-118
Abstract:
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of a sewage sludge-based compost (SSC) on the growth and mineral composition of containerized Pinus pinea L. seedlings. In the first experiment, five different substrates were tested: four binary mixtures of SSC and peat (100% SSC, 75% SSC, 50% SSC and 25% SSC, by volume) without fertilization, and a control substrate (peat-based substrate + fertilizer). Seedlings growing in the 100% SSC substrate showed the lowest growth, a consequence of both the low water availability and the high electrical conductivity that made SSC unsuitable to be the only component of a growing-media for pine `seedlings'. The 50% SSC substrate presented physical and chemical properties similar to the control substrate and near the acceptable range for a growing-media. Moreover, no significant differences were found between growth of seedlings from treatment 50% SSC (without mineral fertilization) and seedlings from control treatment (with mineral fertilization). In the second experiment, a fertilization assay was performed with two substrates selected from the first experiment (50% SSC and control). The two substrates were fertilized with three levels of a macronutrient fertilizer (0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g L —1 ) and two levels of a micronutrient fertilizer (0 and 0.4 g L —1 of fertilizer containing only micronutrients). Results obtained suggest that replacing 50% (by volume) of peat-based substrate by the sewage sludge-based compost allowed: maintenance of the commercial value of seedlings; reduction of the amount of peat used in the substrate; a need for only half the amount of macronutrient fertilizer applied in the basal fertilization; and omission of micronutrient fertilization.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0734-242X
,
1096-3669
DOI:
10.1177/0734242X08089463
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2009
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1480483-9
detail.hit.zdb_id:
46937-3
