Effect of brown coal-based composts produced with the use of white rot fungi on the growth and yield of strawberry plants

摘要

Composts were produced using brown coal from the Brown Coal Mine in Belchatow (Poland), with the following additions: a) an inoculum of either Pleurotus ostreatus or Lentinus edodes - white rot fungi (1% of the total weight of the compost matrix); b)Vinassa - a by-product of the production of bakery yeasts (10% of the total weight of the compost matrix); c) whey - a dairy by-product (10% of the total volume of the compost matrix). The composts were analyzed for nitrogen and carbon content, organic carbon fractions (TEC, HA and FA), and humification indices were calculated. The composts were used in a trial where strawberry plants were grown under field conditions, but in mesocosms made of terracotta pots (about 0.12 m3) buried in soil. The two species of fungi and the two by-products affected differently the decomposition of the organic matrix during the composting process, resulting in composts with different characteristics of the organic matter and different content of mineral elements. Those obtained with Vinassa had the highest N content and the highest amount of soluble organic C forms. The use of the different composts as soil fertilizers induced a similar overall growth of strawberry plants cv. ‘Elsanta’. However, fruit yield was differently affected by the applied treatment. Considering all the parameters measured, the compost obtained with the use of vinassa and Pleurotus ostreatus were the most promising among the different composts ' used.