Impact of peanut shell mixed with peat moss as an improved medium and its effect on growth characters of Petunia

摘要

A pot experiment on Petunia spp. was carried out at the nursery of the Ornamental Horticultural Department, Agricultural Faculty, Cairo University, Egypt, throughout two successive seasons, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. Peanut shell mixed with peat moss was used as a growth medium at different concentrations: 0, 30, 50 and 70%. The results showed that increasing the percentage of peanut shell in the pot medium above 50% had a noticeable effect on most of the studied properties. The highest values of pH and electrical conductivity in the pot medium were obtained with 70% peanut shell. Increased peanut shell was associated with progressive increasing in available water. Shoot fresh and dry weights of petunia plants reached their maximum values with peanutshell addition at 50%. There were highly significant positive correlations between N, P and K contents in plants, and the easily available water and water retained capacity. The greatest number of flowers was recorded at 50% peanut shell in both seasons.These numbers exceeded those of peat moss by 44%. The application of peanut shell in association with peat moss rather than their individual use was found to be a viable option for providing better aeration and water availability to plants as well as water buffering capacity of the medium, which has long been a challenge for pot culture.