Farshid Esmaeili; Sepideh Kalate Jari; Zarintaj Alipour
Volume 36, Issue 1 , September 2013, , Pages 51-65
Abstract
It seems necessary to study different beds on which pot plants can be grown in apartments. Organic wastes and different types of mineral substances can be used to prepare domestic beds as cheaper, more available, and higher-quality alternatives for foreign and imported beds. For this purpose, the present ...
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It seems necessary to study different beds on which pot plants can be grown in apartments. Organic wastes and different types of mineral substances can be used to prepare domestic beds as cheaper, more available, and higher-quality alternatives for foreign and imported beds. For this purpose, the present study explores effects of different organic and inorganic beds on the pot plant Dracaena marginata Ait and its ornamental leaves. The beds used for growing the plant in this study included different ratios of peat, urban waste compost, and vermicompost in combination with perlite and zeolite. Findings indicated that the beds composed of peat (50%) + perlite (50%), waste compost (50%) + perlite (50%), and vermicompost (50%) + perlite (25%) + zeolite (25%) are the most effective ones on plant altitude, number of leaves, and stem diameter while the poorest results were obtained for a combination of waste compost (50%) + perlite (25%) + zeolite (25%). The highest level of absorption for nitrogen, phosphor, and potassium was observed in the treatment peat (50%) + perlite (50%) while the lowest absorption was found in the plants treated with waste compost (50%) + perlite (25%) + zeolite (25%). Given these results, and due to the lower cost and availability of urban waste composts and vermicompost compared to peat, the combination of vermicompost (50%) + perlite (25%) + zeolite (25%) as well as waste compost (50%) + perlite (50%) can be used to replace the imported products (i.e. peat (50%) + perlite (50%)) in growing Dracaena marginata Ait and other ornamental or pot plants in our country.
