Growth, yield and fruit quality of tomato Solanum lycopersicum L grown in sewage-based compost in a semi-hydroponic cultivation system
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2022-09-27
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Taylor & Francis Group - Informa UK Limited
Abstract
Purpose: Due to environmental concerns, there is a demand to reduce the use of peat as a growing medium for horticultural crops. Simultaneously, there is an interest to recycle organic waste materials in the form of compost. This study aimed to document effects on growth, yield, and fruit quality of tomato plants when cultivated in a sewage digestate-based compost in a subirrigation container system. Materials and methods: The compost used in this experiment consisted of 30% hygienised sewage digestate from biogas extraction and 70% garden waste. The treatments were 100% compost, a peat mix and mixtures of the two in 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25 ratios. Results and conclusion: Considering the contrast in chemical and physical properties of the treatments, variations in growth, yield and quality were expected. The plants differed in leaf area and number of leaves, but there were no differences in yield or quality of the tomato fruits. It is assumed that this is in great part due to the remediating effects of subirrigation with an ideal nutrient solution, and the use of pre-established plants. Further research should focus on benefits of this cultivation system for use in sustainable horticulture in combination with recycled organic waste.
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Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Øyvind Vartdal, Kari Grønnerød, Signe Hansen for their help with conducting the analysis of the substrate and fruit material. We greatly appreciate the help of Ronny Steen, Ngan Bao Huynh and Hilde Vinje for help with analysing the data. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Version of Scholarly Record of this Article is published in Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science, 2022, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09064710.2022.2117079 . Keywords: Compost; organic growing media; subirrigation; tomato; growing media; waste management; yield; sustainability; circular system; food production; urban agriculture; semi-urban agriculture; Europe; Norway; urban horticulture.
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Siv M. Aurdal, Bente Foereid, Trine Sogn, Trond Børresen, Trine Hvoslef Eide & Siv Fagertun Remberg (2022) Growth, yield and fruit quality of tomato Solanum lycopersicum L grown in sewage-based compost in a semi-hydroponic cultivation system, Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science, 72:1, 902-912, DOI: 10.1080/09064710.2022.2117079