Loading...
Effect of Peat Grade, Irrigation System and Nutrition on the Production of Nursery Stock in Closed Systems
Maher, M.J. Kirkland, C.
Maher, M.J.
Kirkland, C.
Citations
Altmetric:
Date
1998-09-01
Collections
Files
Loading...
eopr-4077.pdf
Adobe PDF, 23.44 KB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Maher, M.J., Kirkland, C., Effect of Peat Grade, Irrigation System and Nutrition on the Production of Nursery Stock in Closed Systems, End of Project Reports, Teagasc, 1998.
Abstract
Containerised nursery stock plants in Ireland are almost exclusively produced in peat
growing media using controlled release fertilisers and are irrigated by means of overhead
spraylines with the drainage water going to waste. Concern about nutrient pollution and the
need to use water and nutrients more efficiently may lead in the future to regulations about
capturing and re-cycling drainage water. This would particularly apply where nutrients are
incorporated in the irrigation as in liquid feeding or where hard water is being acidified to
neutralise bicarbonate.
These experiments were started to study the performance of nursery stock plants in closed
systems and to compare ebb and flood and capillary irrigation with overhead spraylines. A
comparison of a liquid feeding regime as against the use of controlled release fertilisers was
also included.
The use of fractionated peat allows peat substrates with a wide range of physical
properties to be prepared by using graded fractions or blends. It was thought desirable to
include these in the experiments as there may well be interactions between irrigation systems
and substrate properties