A study of sustainable growing media through the utilization of agricultural by-products as organic substrates for tomato seedling production

Abstract

Tomato is a widely cultivated and consumed vegetable crop in the world. It is a valuable source of nutritional compositions and health-promoting phytochemicals. This study aimed to evaluate the growth response of tomato seedlings to the use of media mixtures formulated from rice husk ash (RHA), coir (C), canna residue (CR), and animal manures, including pig manure (PM), chicken manure (CKM), and cow manure (CM). Five treatments were applied at proportions: 25% RHA + 25% C + 25% CR + 25% PM (T1), 25% RHA + 25% C + 25% CR + 25% CKM (T2), 25% RHA + 25% C + 25% CR + 25% CM (T3), 25% RHA + 25% C + 25% CR + 25% peat (T4), and 100% TS2 (Kultursubstrat aus Weibtorf White Peat Potting Substrate) commercial product (T5). Our results suggested that, in comparison with the treatment of T5 the experimented media showed positive effects on the growth of tomato plants during the nursery stage. The best response was recorded in the treatment T1 with the highest germination rate (96.05%) after 10 days of sowing. Also, T1 obtained great values of plant height, leaf number, and root volume on day 30 after sowing, which were 7.85 cm, 3.5 leaves per plant, and 1.08 cm3, respectively. These findings indicated that the tested byproduct materials offer a viable and sustainable alternative to producing growing media for tomato seedling practices.

Keywords: Growing media, rice husk ash, coir, canna residue, and animal manures, tomato by-product.