Rashwan Mohamed A, Naser Alkoaik Fahad, Morsy Mohamed Ibrahim, Blanqueza Fulleros Ronnel, Nagy Ibrahim Mansour
Department of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2021 Sep;71(9):1067-1075. doi: 10.1080/10962247.2021.1890278. Epub 2021 Mar 23.
Peat-moss (Sphagnum spp.), is currently an expensive material and a nonrenewable resource with variable properties. Therefore, its use should be gradually reduced. Hence, there are numerous attempts aiming to reduce the use of peat-moss as a bulk substrate and to search for high-quality, locally available and low-cost alternatives to peat-moss. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of partial replacing of peat-moss with tomato waste compost (TWC) on plant growth, productivity, fruit quality, and morphological features of two types of economic cucurbits species under greenhouse conditions. The plants were planted into pots containing different proportions of TWC (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 30%) with peat-moss, sand and clay as growing substrates. The results indicated that the plant height and the leaves number of both plants were significantly influenced by different substrate treatments. TWC ratios of 15% and 20% increased the amount of cucumber and summer squash fruit yield more than the commercial peat media but they had insignificant differences. Also, they were significantly improved fruit quality characteristics, particularly total soluble solid (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) of crop fruits more than commercial peat-moss treatment.: Because of the high price of peat-moss and that it is a non-renewable material, farmers resorted to using other alternatives, including green residue compost. Thus, the aim of this work is to reduce the use of peat-moss by replacing it with the use of lokw percentages of TWC. When tomato plant residues return to the soil by converting them into compost, this is a valuable agricultural practice to improve soil fertility and increase the organic matter of the soil as well as increase the source of nitrogen (N) that supports the growth of beneficial microorganisms.
泥炭藓（泥炭藓属植物）目前是一种昂贵的材料，且是一种具有可变特性的不可再生资源。因此，应逐步减少其使用。因此，有许多尝试旨在减少泥炭藓作为大量基质的使用，并寻找高质量、本地可得且低成本的泥炭藓替代品。因此，本研究的主要目的是在温室条件下，研究用番茄废渣堆肥（TWC）部分替代泥炭藓对两种经济葫芦科植物生长、生产力、果实品质和形态特征的影响。将这些植物种植到装有不同比例TWC（0%、5%、10%、15%、20%和30%）与泥炭藓、沙子和粘土作为生长基质的花盆中。结果表明，不同基质处理对两种植物的株高和叶片数量有显著影响。15%和20%的TWC比例使黄瓜和西葫芦的果实产量高于商业泥炭培养基，但差异不显著。此外，它们显著改善了果实品质特征，尤其是作物果实的总可溶性固形物（TSS）和可滴定酸度（TA），比商业泥炭藓处理效果更好。由于泥炭藓价格高昂且不可再生，农民们转而使用其他替代品，包括绿色残渣堆肥。因此，这项工作的目的是通过使用低比例的TWC来减少泥炭藓的使用。当番茄植株残体通过转化为堆肥回归土壤时，这是一种宝贵的农业实践，可提高土壤肥力、增加土壤有机质以及增加支持有益微生物生长的氮（N）源。
