tailieunhanh - Agricultural and municipal waste as potting media components for the growth and flowering of Dahlia hortensis ‘Figaro’

This research project was conducted to evaluate the use of diff erent waste materials as potting media for the dwarf variety Dahlia hortensis ‘Figaro.’ A total of 10 treatments were used where each treatment, consisting of 9 plants, was replicated 3 times. | Research Article Turk J Bot 36 (2012) 378-385 © TÜBİTAK doi: Agricultural and municipal waste as potting media components for the growth and flowering of Dahlia hortensis ‘Figaro’ Usman TARIQ1,*, Shoaib ur REHMAN1, Muhammad Aslam KHAN1, Adnan YOUNIS1, Muhammad YASEEN2, Muhammad AHSAN1 1 Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040-PAKISTAN 2 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040-PAKISTAN Received: Accepted: Abstract: This research project was conducted to evaluate the use of different waste materials as potting media for the dwarf variety Dahlia hortensis ‘Figaro.’ A total of 10 treatments were used where each treatment, consisting of 9 plants, was replicated 3 times. The results associated with plant growth parameters indicated that the maximum values for plant height, number of side shoots per plant, number of tubers per plant, flower diameter, and least days to flower emergence were observed in media containing coconut coir; the maximum corm weight per plant, however, was found in T8, where rice hull was added to silt. The number of flowers per plant was increased in T9, where silt, coconut coir, dust, sewage sludge, spent mushroom compost, and rice hull were used together in equal proportions. The media containing sewage sludge alone and in combination with silt showed minimum results for these parameters. Sewage sludge, with its higher pH, produced the least results for all plant growth parameters when 50% or more sewage sludge was added to the potting media. Key words: Dahlia, potting media, coconut coir, rice hull, sewage sludge Introduction Natural soil and peat are the most used growing substrates for the container production of annual and perennial ornamental plants. Peat is the most widely used substrate for potted plant production in nurseries and it accounts for a significant portion of the material used to grow .