Growth media comparison for tomatoes in greenhouses

Abstract

As part of the SiEUGreen project, development of urban farming has become of increasing importance as urban population and urbanization grow worldwide. Moreover, dealing with urban waste, and recycling of resources are critical for sustainability. Soilless plant production systems so far use mainly peat, of which the excavation is destructive to natural environment and a great source of greenhouse gas emission. The performance of two alternative growth media (GM) from different waste stream sources were tested on tomatoes variety ‘Alicante’ (in 2018), ‘Golden Sunrise’ (in 2018 and 2019) and ‘Tastery’ (in 2019). The locally sourced organic GM were kitchen waste based vermicompost, and biogas pig sludge digestate composted with garden waste. Moreover, a self-watering (SW) system was tested against a drip-irrigation (DI) system, for their suitability in the urban environment and for fruit quality parameters. The composts were both as performant as a peat-based media in term of yield production. A reduction of skin cracks in one the variety was found using SW compared to DI. Additionality, the media physico-chemical properties were reviewed.