A Comparison of WholeTree and Chipped Pine Log Substrate Components in the Production of Greenhouse Grown Annuals

• Published in: Journal of environmental horticulture 2010-09, Vol.28 (3), p.173-178
• Main Authors: Gaches, Whitney G., Fain, Glenn B., Eakes, Donald J., Gilliam, Charles H., Sibley, Jeff L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0738-2898; 2573-5586
• DOI: 10.24266/0738-2898-28.3.173

WholeTree (WT) and chipped pine logs (CPL) are potential new sustainable greenhouse substrate components made by milling chipped pine trees and/or pine logs (Pinus taeda L.). Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the growth of Catharanthus roseus L. ‘Grape Cooler’ and Impatiens walleriana Hook.f. ‘Dazzler Apricot’ in 1:1 (v:v) WT:peat (WTP) and 1:1 (v:v) CPL:peat (CPLP), and to compare physical properties of those substrates. In Experiment 1 WTP had 76.8% container capacity (CC) and 96.4% total porosity (TP) while CPLP had 72.4% CC and 90% TP; air space (AS) and bulk density (BD) were similar. In Experiment 2 there were no differences in physical properties. In Experiment 1 EC peaked at 14 days after potting (DAP) and decreased through the remainder of the study. At 0 DAP pH ranged from 4.2–4.3 and increased to a range of 6.4 to 6.8 at 42 DAP. This trend was similar in Experiment 2, except that EC peaked at 7 DAP. In impatiens, plants were similar in Experiment 1 but those grown in WTP in Experiment 2 had bloom counts of 37.3 compared to 27.9 for plants grown in CPLP. With vinca, in Experiment 1 plants grown in CPLP had a dry weight of 7.3 g as compared to 6.9 g for plants grown in WTP, but there were no differences in Experiment 2. Results indicate that growers could use CPL and/or WT interchangeably, depending on available resources.