Articles
Comparison of different substrates for plant growing in containers in urban horticulture
Article number
1441_36
Pages
281 – 288
Language
English
Abstract
Urban horticulture has an important role to play in the response to the growing challenges of global urbanization, including food security, environmental sustainability and human well-being.
Urban gardening includes a wide range of practices and systems: kitchen gardening, community gardens, terrace gardening, landscape gardening, container plantings, herb gardens, meditation gardens, vertical farms etc.
Vegetable cultivation in containers provides an effective solution for utilizing limited urban space and allows individuals to grow their own fresh products in a controlled environment (on roofs, terraces, balcony, etc). The choice of substrates for vegetable growing in containers is an important factor in successful urban agriculture.
It comprises two different challenges – substrate has to be suitable for plants growth and maximally reduced weight, as often the containers are placed on the buildings.
One of the main components used for the substrates for containers until now is peat.
However, the using of peat in horticulture is going to be minimized due to its slow renovation as natural resource.
The investigations were carried out in two locations: at the Institute of Horticulture and Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics, Latvia, during the growing season of 2023. Research carried out within the project “Influence of agroecological conditions on the quality of vegetables in urban horticulture (Roof2Fork)”, financed by Latvian Council of Science.
Vegetable crops (radish, peas, lettuce, basil) were grown in wooden containers of 336 L volume.
Three different substrates were compared with the aim to reduce peat usage in horticulture – peat:perlite=4:1, peat:coconut fibre=1:1, and peat:hempseed sheaves = 1.5:1. Smaller plants and consequently significantly lower yields were obtained in the variant of peat:hempseed sheaves substrate for all crops.
Alternative substrates did not differ significantly in terms of vegetable yield from peat:perlite.
Urban gardening includes a wide range of practices and systems: kitchen gardening, community gardens, terrace gardening, landscape gardening, container plantings, herb gardens, meditation gardens, vertical farms etc.
Vegetable cultivation in containers provides an effective solution for utilizing limited urban space and allows individuals to grow their own fresh products in a controlled environment (on roofs, terraces, balcony, etc). The choice of substrates for vegetable growing in containers is an important factor in successful urban agriculture.
It comprises two different challenges – substrate has to be suitable for plants growth and maximally reduced weight, as often the containers are placed on the buildings.
One of the main components used for the substrates for containers until now is peat.
However, the using of peat in horticulture is going to be minimized due to its slow renovation as natural resource.
The investigations were carried out in two locations: at the Institute of Horticulture and Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics, Latvia, during the growing season of 2023. Research carried out within the project “Influence of agroecological conditions on the quality of vegetables in urban horticulture (Roof2Fork)”, financed by Latvian Council of Science.
Vegetable crops (radish, peas, lettuce, basil) were grown in wooden containers of 336 L volume.
Three different substrates were compared with the aim to reduce peat usage in horticulture – peat:perlite=4:1, peat:coconut fibre=1:1, and peat:hempseed sheaves = 1.5:1. Smaller plants and consequently significantly lower yields were obtained in the variant of peat:hempseed sheaves substrate for all crops.
Alternative substrates did not differ significantly in terms of vegetable yield from peat:perlite.
Publication
Authors
S. Zeipina, L. Ievina, P. Lakovskis, L. Lepse
Keywords
substrate, containers, peat, hempseed sheaves, coconut fibre, perlite
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Working Group Vertical Farming
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
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