DETERMINATION AND STUDY OF THE WATER AVAILABILITY OF SUBSTRATES FOR ORNAMENTAL PLANT GROWING

From every day observations in greenhouses, it soon becomes obvious that the classical concept on water availability and in particularly its lower limit being the wilting point (15 atmosphere tension) is of no use in ornamental plant growth.

Indeed, as external circumstances in ornamental plant growing is so much different from crop breeding, the concept and the way of determining water availability has to be adjusted.
To fix the limits of available water in ornamental plant growing the behaviour officus in greenhouse experiments has been studied.
A marked difference in growth has been observed at different water suctions and hence the range of water tension for optimal plantgrowth could be determined.
Once the proper limits of water availability fixed, a special device being a filter platefunnel system has been constructed to determine in the laboratory the water availability of a substrate.

With this technique different organic as well as inert substrates were examined.
So an objective way is now available to judge upon one of the very important aspects of a substrate for ornamental plant growing being its water availability.

Symposium on Water Supply under Glass and Plastics

M. de Boodt, O. Verdonck, I. Cappaert

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1974.35.7