Authors
1
Dept. Plant Prod. (Veg.), Fac. Environ. Agric. Sci., Arish Univ., Egypt.
2
Dept. Prot. Cult., Hort. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Cent., Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
Abstract
Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the suitability of using some materials derived from agricultural and agriculture industrial wastes as alternative growth media for tomato cultivation grown under low plastic tunnels. Field trials were conducted at the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, North Sinai, Egypt under low plastic tunnels during winter growing seasons of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. This study included sixteen treatments (five substrate media, i.e, sand, sawdust, pressed olive cake, crashed wheat straw and vegetative green waste compost) and their combinations at a ratio of 1:1 (V/V) as well as coco peat as a control medium. The chemical properties of these substrates and their effects on plant growth were studied. Results indicated that addition of coco peat was the best growing media for vegetative growth (number of leaves/plant, plant height, number of branches/plant, root, as well as fresh and dry weight of tomato in both seasons at 40 days after transplanting. However, at 65 days after transplanting pressed olive cake +wheat straw medium was the superior treatment, since recorded the highest values for the studied traits in the first season. However, in the second season, the highest number of leaves and branches /plant were achieved with green waste compost + sand medium, while the highest plant height value was recorded with coco peat medium. Green waste compost, pressed olive cake + green waste compost, sand and sawdust medium showed the highest value for each of fresh and dry weight. Meanwhile, total leaves chlorophyll contents, in general, were the best with pressed olive cake + green waste compost medium in the first season, while green waste compost + sand medium recorded the highest content of Chlorophyll in the second season. Also, wheat straw and pressed olive cake, as well as, their combination showed the highest concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in leaves of tomato plants.
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