Browsing by Author "Remes, Lassi"

Growing medium and its properties are an important factor affecting plant growth. One can improve the properties of growing medium with different amendments such as lime, nutrients and wetting agents depending on the requirements of the plant. The objective of this study was to examine a soil amendment called BRT EverGreen powder and its effect on white sphagnum peat and on plant growth. The powder has been created by a Finnish company Biomass Refine Technologies BRT ltd Oy. The powder is synthetically made of ureaformaldehyderesin and phosphoric acid includes added water retention lowering surfactants. In cultivation the goal by using BRT powder is to improve water retention and wetting of the growing medium and increase plant available nutrients. This study consisted of three experiments with three different plants or plant mixtures: Lactuca sativa L. ‘Grand Rapids’, Ligularia × hessei and a mixture of lawn (Festuca rubra L., Poa pratensis L. and Agrostis capillaris L.). These plants were expected to benefit from improved water retention of the growing medium. During the experiments the effect of BRT powder on the properties of white sphagnum peat and the speed, amount and quality of plant growth was measured. All plants got the same amount of water by irrigation. Mild nutrient solution was given to Lactuca and Ligularia with irrigation water three times during the experiments and no fertilizers were applied to the grass. The water retention ability of white sphagnum peat was not improved in plantless short term experiments by adding BRT powder. However the results given by direct moisture measurements from the growing medium implied that the BRT powder increased slightly the moisture content of the medium compared to pure peat. From the three different plant types tested only grass grew faster with BRT though the quality wasn’t as good as in pure peat. The improvement in growth was probably due to nutrients in BRT powder because no nutrients were applied to the grass unlike to Lactuca and Ligularia. There were no differences in the growth or quality of Lactuca. Ligularia did not grow as well with powder as in pure peat. Adding lime decreased the negative effect of BRT powder so the very low pH of the powder presumably hampered growth of Ligularia. BRT powder affects the growth of different plants in different ways. This makes its use in cultivation difficult because one does not know what the effect will be. The use of BRT is not recommendable in container cultivation with Lactuca or Ligularia when using peat. BRT powder can increase the growth of grass if additional fertilization is not applied.