Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Compost as a Tomato Transplant Medium |
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| Authors: | JE Castillo F Herrera RJ López-Bellido FJ López-Bellido L López-Bellido EJ Fernández |
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| Institution: | 1. Departamento de Ciencias y Recursos Agrícolas y Forestales, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain;2. Departamento de Produccion Vegetal, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain;3. Departamento de Produccion Vegetal y Tecnología Agraria, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain;4. Departamento de Biología Vegetal, Producción Vegetal y Ecología, University of Almería, Spain |
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| Abstract: | For 3 years, different types of growing media were evaluated in nursery-produced tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill. cv “Atletico”). Five mixtures of substrates were used: old peat (65%) + white peat (30%) + perlite (5%), old peat (65%) + MSW compost (30%) + perlite (5%), MSW compost (65%) + white peat (30%) + perlite (5%), MSW compost (95%) + perlite (5%) and MSW compost (50%) + cocofiber (50%). Various seedling indices were measured in order to assess the quality of the nursery-produced plant. The quality of the MSW compost used (pH, salinity, organic matter) bore a strong influence on results. Electrical conductivity (EC) values of the MSW compost of over 9 dSm?1 produced poorer quality tomato seedlings in the mixture of substrates with peat. The use of MSW compost as the only substrate and the mixture of MSW compost with cocofiber had a lower growth index and poorer performance than the standard peat mixture. However, growth and development of the tomato seedlings in the mixture: old peat (65%) + MSW compost (30%) + perlite (5%) were similar to that obtained with the standard mixture: old peat (65%) + white peat (30%) + perlite (5%). |
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