Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ.

, 2012

THE SUITABILITY OF BIOLOGICALLY PREPARED COMPOST AS GROWTH MEDIA INGREDIENT FOR NURSERIES OF TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SEEDLINGS

[1]
El-Tahlawy, Y.A.1; Wedad T. Ewada2; M.S. Sharaf2 and A.F. Abdel-Wahab1 ABESTRACT An experiment was conducted in a greenhouse to assay the suitability of the biologically prepared outcome composts, with different strategies, as a peat substitute into the growing media, for nurseries of tomato and cucumber seedlings production. Control media consisted of peat moss, vermiculite and sandy soil in the ratio of 1:1:1 v/v/v. The compost treatments were represented by 100% compost (Mix-1) or substitution peat moss ingredient of control with different types of compost (Mix-2). The assessment was observed on the base of emergence status as well as some biometric aspects of seedlings. Generally, both tomato and cucumber seedlings behaved similar trends toward such treatments on the seedlings emergences as well as biometric aspects. Despite of negative effects of the compost treatments on the seed emergence, the substitution of peat moss with compost led to promotion of seedling. Partially addition of compost increased the biometric indices, which were significantly correlated with greenness index as compared with control. However, the absolute compost media led to inhibition of the seed germination as well as retarding the growth. The compost type that was produced with action of lignocellulose decomposers or compost tea recorded the best results for both vegetables, particularly when partially added to the growth media. KEYWORDS: Biologically prepared compost, Nurseries of tomato and cucumber, Growth media. media were relating to high cost pasteurization, the risk of unavoidable INTRODUCTION herbicides, watering necessitate as well as The purpose of a container medium is compaction. Many light weight to physically support the plant and to inorganics, such as vermiculite and supply adequate oxygen, water and perlite; non-biodegradable organics or nutrients for proper root functions. The virtually bio-stable organic materials such unfavorable practices of soils in container 1- Agric. Microbiol. Dept., Soil & Water Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt. 2- Agric. Microbiol. Dept., Agric. Fac., Ain Shams Univ. Shubra El-Khema, Cairo, Egypt. (Received 12 November, 2012) (Accepted 18 November, 2012)

El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab considerations. Allam (2005) found significant increases in fresh and dry weight of tomato seedlings grown in growing media where compost, prepared by action of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trichoderma used as a natural substitute of peatmoss. Bustamante et al, (2008) published that media containing composts revealed adequate physical, physico-chemical and chemical properties as compared to peat in growing media for lettuce, chard, broccoli and coriander grown vegetables. The aim of the current study was to assay the suitability of the biologically prepared outcome composts, with different strategies, as peat substitute into the growing media, for nurseries of tomato and cucumber seedlings production. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse of Biofertilizers Production Unit, Microbiol. Dept., Soils, Water and Environ. Res. Inst., ARC, Giza, Egypt. Control media consisted of peat moss, vermiculite and sandy soil in the ratio of 1:1:1 v/v/v according to Abou-Hadid et al, (1995). The compost treatments were represented by 100% compost (Mix-1) or 1:1:1 v/v/v of compost:vermiculite:sandy soil (Mix-2). Foam nursery trays filled with various growth media were sown manually in 6th January 2011, one seed per cell, and covered with vermiculite. Nursery trays were watered manually every three days using a hose with a sprinkler nozzle, and all media took water amount to maintain the substrate at the field capacity. Six compost types from piles of rice straw which composted in various scenarios under controlling of multifarious bio-inoculant sources, represented with farmyard manure (FM),

as old bark and peat moss also could be potentially used. However, these materials are not as good at anchoring the plants as the heavier soil nor do they carry many plant nutrients (Mathur and Bruce 1996; Ingram et al, 2003). Peatmoss is major ingredient in formulating growth media for starting vegetable seedling. Nowadays, Peat is an accumulation of organic detritus that forms in anoxic, waterlogged and acidic conditions of bogs and fens. With respect to greenhouse gas emissions, the compost is considered a saving, while peat is considered an emission, because peat in a peatland is considered stored biogenic carbon. Moreover, the impact of peatlands, transportation and biological decomposition of excavated peat on climate change, as determined by the net emissions of GHGs during the peat lifecycle, while CO2 released during compost degradation can be considered neutral with respect to GHG (Christensen et al, 2007). Boldrin et al, (2010) compared the life-cycleinventories (LCIs) of the compost/peat alternatives, using life-cycle-assessment (LCA) modelling, considering a 100-year period and a volumetric substitution ratio of 1:1. They assumed that for compost 14% of the initial carbon was left in the soil after 100 years, while all carbon in peat was mineralized. As a LCA, compost performs better regarding global warming and nutrient enrichment, while peat performs better in some toxic categories, because of the lower content of heavy metals. Therefore, the comparison of the use of compost against peatmoss in growth media production should also pay attention to our knowledge taking in mind the environmental and/or financial

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

The suitability of biologically prepared compost as growth media Table 1. Some physiochemical, biological and maturity properties of composts.
Piles Properties* Bulk density(kg/m3) WHC (%) pHw EC (dS/m -25
oC)

Pile-1 408.78 1.24 204.43 0.48 7.34 0.001 6.41 0.13 379.47 1.48 13.73 1.48 18.45 0.01 1.22 0.01 1.87 0.49 0.38 0.03 0.83 0.01

Pile-2 366.41 0.76 201.29 0.38 7.22 0.001 5.34 0.18 445.54 1.69 15.02 1.69 20.22 0.02 1.03 0.00 2.59 0.24 0.44 0.03 0.79 0.04

Pile-3 346.67 1.85 205.49 0.78 6.90 0.001 5.58 0.07 412.94 1.29 13.37 1.29 19.70 0.02 1.17 0.01 2.30 0.31 0.34 0.03 0.66 0.04

Pile-4 333.97 1.66 222.39 0.45 6.82 0.00 4.44 0.07 328.55 0.77 13.39 0.77 16.49 0.00 1.29 0.02 0.86 0.20 0.20 0.03 1.82 0.03

Pile-5 360.74 1.15 213.56 0.54 7.05 0.00 4.86 0.11 359.80 0.90 14.60 0.90 17.80 0.01 1.24 0.02 1.47 0.34 0.33 0.02 1.54 0.02

Pile-6 340.58 0.80 217.71 0.57 7.02 0.00 4.47 0.16 343.59 1.84 13.32 1.84 17.12 0.02 1.26 0.01 1.07 0.13 0.35 0.02 1.69 0.03

OM content(g/Kg) Total-N (g/Kg) C/N ratio Total-P (%) SPRI DH-ase Germination index

*WHC = Water holding capacity. EC = Electrical conductivity. SPRI = Static potential respiration index. DH-ase = Dehydrogenases activity.

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab cultural inoculant (LC-Ino.) and/or aerated compost tea (ACT) were used in the current study (El-Tahlawy et al, 2012). Some physiochemical, biological and maturity properties of composts are shown in Table 1. Irish peatmoss, c.v. Shamrock, a coarse-leaved sphagnum mosses and vermiculite were imported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Giza, Cairo. Sandy soils were collected from Ismailia Agriculture Research Station, Ismailia governorate. Seeds of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Castel Rock) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. cv. Eshrak ) were obtained from Dept. of Vegetable Res.; Horticulture Research Institute, ARC, Giza. mergence percentages were calculated until 15 days after sowing. Emergence was delayed in some substrates; therefore, the velocity of emergence calculated as mean days of emergence in each medium at the time period set to 10 day intervals. At the end of seedlings growth period grown in nursery, after 45 days from sowing, some biometric measures were represented by shoot height measured from the media surface to the shoot apex; root length, number of leaves per seedling excluding cotyledons as well as fresh and dry weights. The seedlings leaf area were digitally determined by measuring the pixels of images via adobe Photoshop CS5 extended software in according to Bradshaw et al, (2007). The N-nutrition status of plants were estimated using digital color image analysis which calculate a greenness index (Ipca) using RGB color model, form histogram tool of adobe Photoshop CS5 extended software, of seedling image as documented by Pagola et al, (2009):

Where: Ipca= Greenness index. R, G, B = the average values red, green and blue color calculated for all pixels in each image. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for data of greenhouse experiment using General Linear Model (GLM) approach in the software package IBMSPSS statistics ver. 20. Significant differences between treatments were analyzed using the Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) mean comparison test (=0.05). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Seedling emergence status Emergence status represented by the data of seedling percentage (S%) and seedling percentage in relation to control (SL%) of tomato are presented in Table 2. As compared with the control media, the compost media led to negative effect on the seed emergence especially in the case of pile-1 during the first days. However, the rate of germination increased gradually to attain the maximum values after 35 days. The seedling number due to 50% compost (mix-2) recorded higher values than 100% compost (mix-1). On the other hand, pile-4 explored best seed germination followed by pile-6 and pile-5 as compared with other piles to attain 100, 96.3 and 92.52% of all sown seeds in both S% and SL%, respectively. Concerning the germination status of cucumber seeds, all treatments nearly behaved a similar trend as tomato but with more obvious sensitive to the compost types (Table 3). The mix-2 recorded higher values as S% ranged

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

The suitability of biologically prepared compost as growth media

Table 2. Seedling (S%) and relative seedling (SL%) percentages over transplanting period of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).
Seedling percentage (S%) 15 days 25 days 35 days 45 days 96.30 100 100 100 0.00 11.11 11.11 11.11 3.70 22.22 29.63 29.63 18.52 37.04 55.56 55.56 70.37 81.48 81.48 81.48 22.22 59.26 74.07 74.07 55.56 85.19 88.89 88.89 0.00 33.33 44.44 44.44 18.52 29.63 59.26 59.26 25.93 74.07 77.78 77.78 85.19 92.59 100.00 100.00 55.56 88.89 92.59 92.59 92.59 96.30 96.30 96.30 Relative seedling percentage (SL%) 15 days 25 days 35 days 45 days 100 100 100 100 0.00 11.11 11.11 11.11 3.85 22.22 29.63 29.63 19.23 37.04 55.56 55.56 73.08 81.48 81.48 81.48 23.08 59.26 74.07 74.07 57.69 85.19 88.89 88.89 0.00 33.33 44.44 44.44 19.23 29.63 59.26 59.26 26.92 74.07 77.78 77.78 88.46 92.59 100.00 100.00 57.69 88.89 92.59 92.59 96.15 96.30 96.30 96.30

Control Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 50% compost

100% Compost

Table 3. Seedling (S%) and relative seedling (SL%) percentages over transplanting period of cucumber (Cucumis sativus).
Seedling percentage (S%) 15 days 25 days 35 days 45 days 81.48 96.30 96.30 96.30 11.11 14.81 18.52 18.52 14.81 18.52 22.22 22.22 18.52 18.52 25.93 25.93 48.15 51.85 55.56 55.56 18.52 22.22 25.93 25.93 40.74 48.15 51.85 51.85 14.81 29.63 37.04 37.04 33.33 33.33 40.74 40.74 33.33 59.26 51.85 51.85 74.07 81.48 81.48 81.48 55.56 59.26 59.26 59.26 70.37 77.78 77.78 77.78 Relative seedling percentage (SL%) 15 days 25 days 35 days 45 days 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.0 13.64 15.38 19.23 19.23 18.18 19.23 23.08 23.08 22.73 19.23 26.92 26.92 59.09 53.85 57.69 57.69 22.73 23.08 26.92 26.92 50.00 50.00 53.85 53.85 18.18 30.77 38.46 38.46 40.91 34.62 42.31 42.31 40.91 61.54 53.85 53.85 90.91 84.62 84.62 84.62 68.18 61.54 61.54 61.54 86.36 80.77 80.77 80.77

Control Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6

50% compost

100% Compost

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab 6 from 14.81 to 81.48% against 11.11 to 55.56 for mix-1. The notable sensitivity was reflected by SL% values which ranged from 18.18 to 84.62% and 13.64 to 57.69%, in the same order. Increased pH and EC in 100% compost treatments (mix-1), especially that treated with farmyard manure, prompted a decline in the seedlings establishment rate while higher seedlings emergence percentage was found for control and/or 50% compost, specially those treated with LC-Ino. or ACT, with lower pH and EC values. A low germination rate when the relative proportion of waste is high in the growing media, resulting in higher media EC, was also observed by Snchez-Monedero et al, (2004); Bustamante et al, (2008) in different studies using mixtures of peat and compost as growing media for horticultural and ornamental plants. Seedling growth The growth aspects of tomato and cucumber seedlings are represented in Table 4 and Table 5, respectively. In general, the growth of seedling (fresh and dry weights, shoot height and root length, leaves number, as well as leaf area) was significantly increased where the control was substituted with compost plus vermiculite at the rate of 50% as compared with that of 100% absolute compost. The best growth parameters were mainly given by seedlings grown in rice straw that composted with white root fungi (Bio-Ino.) and/or aerated compost tea (piles 4,5 and 6) to attain heaviest fresh and dry weights, highest shoots and roots, outnumbered leaf, as well as widest leaf area. In contrast the seedlings grown in medium of rice straw composted by farmyard manure and/or presented in ratio of 100%, had lightest in fresh and dry weights, shortest shoots and roots, little leaves as well as narrowest leaf area. Even though the composts had some physical properties that were outside the optimal range, they were nonlimiting to plant growth in comparison to peat (Mazuela et al, 2005). Spiers and Fietje (2000) considered that compost alone is unsuitable as a growing medium due to inadequate air space, high salt content and high pH, which may reflect, in our experimentation, the negative effect of piles that received farmyard manure and/or applied as absolute growth media. Wilson et al, (2002) documented that media with high proportions of compost (50% or greater), having higher nutrient content, higher bulk density, and improved porosity, may have more substrate compaction over time, there by potentially contributing to smaller plants and slower plant development. In this concern, Belal and ElMahrouk (2010) found that bioconversion of rice straw by Ph. Chrysosporium and Trichoderma harzianum into a soil-like substrate (SLS) could be considered as organic material, which improve the growth of hollyhock and scotch marigold seedlings. Also, Allam (2005); Nadia et al, (2007) found significant increases in both fresh and dry weights of tomato seedlings when sown in enriched rice straw compost prepared by microbial inoculation strategy. They attributed those results to the microbial inoculation in addition of the rock phosphate and feldspar of compost. They added, the values of fresh and dry weights of seedlings were significantly higher when mixing component of 50% vermiculite + 50%compost or peat moss

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

The suitability of biologically prepared compost as growth media 7 Table 4. Effect of compost types and/or ratio on some biometric characters of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) seedlings in nurseries.
Fresh weight (g/seedling) Control Pile-1 100% Compost Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 Pile-1 50% compost Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 LSD0.05 0.44 0.02 0.16 0.03 0.32 0.08 0.27 0.06 0.50 0.05 0.32 0.07 0.54 0.04 0.34 0.06 0.41 0.05 0.29 0.11 0.77 0.06 0.81 0.08 0.72 0.06 0.10 Dry weight (mg/seedling) 62.22 8.39 23.33 0.00 66.67 20.00 75.56 11.71 80.00 56.67 66.67 31.80 83.34 51.32 81.11 16.78 127.89 24.88 122.56 33.48 197.44 45.68 134.44 65.05 166.22 33.57 60.07 Shoot height (cm) 7.33 0.29 5.00 0.58 6.16 0.29 6.00 1.00 9.06 0.41 6.83 1.04 7.38 0.20 7.97 0.89 8.17 0.29 9.50 0.76 11.66 0.92 10.16 0.31 10.93 0.63 1.10 Root length (cm) 6.72 0.25 5.20 0.74 5.68 0.29 4.39 0.35 6.27 0.40 5.48 0.85 6.75 0.25 5.50 1.00 5.83 1.15 5.65 1.03 8.20 0.73 7.49 0.51 7.91 0.67 1.67 Leaves No./seedling 2.00 0.00 1.33 0.58 1.67 0.58 2.00 0.00 2.67 0.58 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 1.67 0.58 2.67 0.58 2.33 0.58 3.00 0.00 3.00 0.00 2.67 0.58 0.71 Leaf area (cm2) 2.47 0.40 1.36 0.05 1.76 0.17 1.51 0.20 2.70 0.08 1.81 0.14 1.89 0.11 1.73 0.22 2.50 0.51 2.10 0.05 4.06 0.39 2.90 0.11 3.80 0.19 0.41 Greenness index -0.95 0.25 -0.13 0.01 -0.18 0.03 -0.23 0.07 -0.30 0.04 -0.19 0.02 -0.25 0.01 -0.21 0.03 -0.32 0.18 -0.27 0.03 -1.41 0.57 -0.95 0.23 -1.35 1.37 0.72

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab

Table 5. Effect of compost types and/or ratio on some biometric characters of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedlings in nurseries.
Fresh weight (g/seedling) Control Pile-1 100% Compost Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 Pile-1 50% compost Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 LSD0.05 1.46 0.09 0.54 0.07 0.28 0.10 0.43 0.12 1.30 0.16 0.48 0.18 0.66 0.39 0.19 0.19 0.33 0.16 0.59 0.11 2.03 0.15 1.14 0.21 1.17 0.06 0.29 Dry weight (mg/seedling) 48.44 4.29 76.67 13.33 65.00 28.33 143.33 40.00 260.89 103.97 299.67 16.33 386.67 52.07 126.67 31.72 165.11 20.67 166.56 16.79 300.11 21.72 220.67 14.00 247.89 12.62 64.04 Shoot height (cm) 11.67 0.58 10.50 1.50 7.00 1.00 8.00 1.00 10.33 0.58 8.00 1.00 9.53 0.75 7.33 1.15 7.00 1.00 8.50 1.50 14.00 0.00 11.00 1.00 12.33 0.58 1.64 Root length (cm) 8.17 0.76 5.50 0.50 4.00 0.00 5.50 0.50 5.67 0.58 4.25 1.25 5.93 0.67 4.00 0.87 3.67 1.04 5.00 1.00 6.83 0.29 5.33 1.15 7.17 0.76 1.89 Leaves No./seedling 2.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.73 0.23 1.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.11 Leaf area (cm2) 8.06 0.58 4.77 0.42 5.02 0.76 6.06 0.88 8.96 0.37 7.66 0.94 9.01 0.09 5.70 0.38 6.66 0.77 8.64 0.66 12.98 0.87 9.96 1.47 10.85 2.01 1.55 Greenness index -1.02 0.07 -0.42 0.06 -0.40 0.04 -0.72 0.16 -1.04 0.11 -0.96 0.53 -0.67 0.45 -0.62 0.21 -0.70 0.15 -0.97 0.07 -1.52 0.33 -1.10 0.11 -1.61 0.11 0.40

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

The suitability of biologically prepared compost as growth media

than both (50%sand +50%compost) and 100% compost or peat moss. The seedlings grown in compost were characterized by a predominance in most biometric parameters which obviously realized the suitability of the compost of piles 4,5 or 6 when mixed with 50% vermiculite. The relative increases in growth values of tomato seedlings reached to 183, 317, 159, 121 and 164% in fresh and dry weights, shoot height, root length and leaf area, respectively, against control media. While, the cucumber seedlings recoded 193, 619,5, 120,87, and 134% for the same parameters as compared with peat moss media control. In this concern, Garcia-Gomez (2002) found lower weight of the calendula plants grown on peat compared with two composts might have been due to the lower availability of macronutrients. Glenda et al, (2009) found a significantly higher relative growth rate (RGR) and its components (net assimilation rate, leaf area ratio, relative stem elongation rate, relative leaf expansion rate, root to whole plant dry weight ratio, root to shoot dry weight ratio and leaf dry mass against total plant weight) for cucumber seedlings grown in 50% vermincompost + 50% peat compared to commercial peat, during the nursery stage. Zhang et al, (2012) stated that compared with the peat with perlite (1:1; v:v) used as the control (CK), increased plant height, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight and index of seedling quality were found in the treatments of spent mushroom substrate (SMS): vermiculite (2:1; v:v) and SMS : perlite (4:1; v:v) growing media. They added, SMS should be considered as an

alternative for the widely used but expensive and resource-limited peat in greenhouse cultivation. In a dissenting view, Jahromi et al, (2012) published that the mean comparison between 100% garden compost (mainly shredded fig and grape trees wastes mixed with cow manure in proportion of 8:1) and 100% peat treatments indicated no remarkable differences among them. However, garden compost can be replaced with peat or it can be used in mixtures for seedlings production and transplanting of tomato and cucumber. Greenness index As nitrogen is one of the main structural components of chlorophyll, its nutrition status is highly correlated with the greenness of leaves. Also, most of physiological disorders affect the composition and proportion of pigments on leaf tissue (Bacci et al, 1998). Recently, many studies revealed a new method to calculate a greenness index using RGB components of digital color image analysis, which yields an estimate of the N-nutrition status or amount of N in the plant (Kawashima and Nakatani 1998; Pagola et al, 2009; MercadoLuna et al, 2010). Generally, under the present circumstances of the experiment, the greenness index significantly correlated with other biometric indices (Table 6 ) in both plants in reversible manner. This ensure the possibility of the index to reflect the nutritional and physiological status of the seedlings under influence of different types and/or ration of compost as well as the comparison with control growth media. The greenness index of tomato or cucumbers seedlings as a result

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab Table 6. The overall correlation matrices between growth parameters of tomato or cucumber seedlings.
Shoot Root length height (cm) (cm) Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) 1 .617** .805** .794** Shoot fresh weight (g/seedling) .617** 1 .743** .600** Dry weight (mg/Seedling) .805** .743** 1 .693** Shoot height (cm) .794** .600** .693** 1 Root length (cm) .703** .641** .724** .536** Leaves No./seedling .805** .741** .842** .795** Leaf Area (cm2) -.625** -.579** -.550** -.556** Greenness index Cucumber (Cucumis sativus) 1 .273 .853** .709** Shoot fresh weight (g/seedling) .273 1 .264 .081 Dry weight (mg/Seedling) .853** .264 1 .794** Shoot height (cm) .709** .081 .794** 1 Root length (cm) .830** .396* .781** .694** Leaves No./seedling .791** .609** .699** .496** Leaf Area (cm2) -.712** -.396* -.605** -.483** Greenness index *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). Parameters Shoot fresh weight (g/seedling) Dry weight (mg/Seedling) Leaves No./seedling .703** .641** .724** .536** 1 .684** -.485** .830** .396* .781** .694** 1 .747** -.598** Leaf Area (cm2) .805** .741** .842** .795** .684** 1 -.667** .791** .609** .699** .496** .747** 1 -.785**

10

Greenness index -.625** -.579** -.550** -.556** -.485** -.667** 1 -.712** -.396* -.605** -.483** -.598** -.785** 1

**. Correla on is signicant at the 0.01 level (2tailed).

Research Bulle n, Ain Shams Univ., 2012

The suitability of biologically prepared compost as growth media

11

Table 7. Greenness index of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) seedling in nurseries.
Control Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6 Pile-1 Pile-2 Pile-3 Pile-4 Pile-5 Pile-6
100% Compost

Tomato seedlings -0.95 0.25 -0.13 0.01 -0.18 0.03 -0.23 0.07 -0.30 0.04 -0.19 0.02 -0.25 0.01 -0.21 0.03 -0.32 0.18 -0.27 0.03 -1.41 0.57 -0.95 0.23 -1.35 1.37

Cucumber seedlings -1.02 0.07 -0.42 0.06 -0.40 0.04 -0.72 0.16 -1.04 0.11 -0.96 0.53 -0.67 0.45 -0.62 0.21 -0.70 0.15 -0.97 0.07 -1.52 0.33 -1.10 0.11 -1.61 0.11

50% compost

of certain treatments are showed in Table 7. The results show that more green seedlings recorded lower values in the treatments of 50% compost. However, the compost piles treated with bio-Ino. or aerated compost tea were superior in the greenness levels either in absolute form an/or mixed with vermiculite. Regarding the control media, a remarkable increases in the leaf pigments of green color level due to the application of rice straw absolutely composted with lignocellulosic inoculant or compost tea but where diluted with 50% vermiculite. Those observations obviously noted by tomato plants which had lower values of green color against higher bluish red color. This is in agreement with Wilson et al, (2002) who found the visual color and quality of the plants suffered when plants were grown in 100% compost as compared to peat-based media. However, the excessive concentrations of plant nutrient elements raise the potential for environmental damage and may threaten the safety of those consuming the vegetables (Nancy 2001). The peat media

contain less nutrients which caused a nutrient deficiencies in seedlings as the nursery time increase and led to physiological disorders that affect the composition and proportion of pigments in leaf tissue Bacci et al, (1998). Moreover, highest green pigments due to mature compost of pile-4 or pile-5 reflect the improved nutritional status, specially nitrogen fixation, and consequently chlorophyll content (Vollmann et al, 2011). REFERENCES Abou-Hadid, A.F.; A.S. El-Beltagy; M.A. Medany and M.M. Hafez (1995). Performance of soilless media on greenhouse production of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) in Egypt. Journal of vegetable crop production, 1(1), 93-98. Allam, E.H.A. (2005). Studies of some agricultural environment wastes for organic fertilizers production, pp. 35-95. Ph.D. Thesis, Soils Dept., Fac. Agric., Benha Univ., Egypt. Bacci, L.; M. De Vincenzi; B. Rapi; B. Arca and F. Benincasa (1998). Two

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12 El-Tahlawy, Y.A.; Wedad T. Ewada; M.S. Sharaf and A.F. Abdel-Wahab

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