Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) require high amounts of nitrogen to maximize fruit production. The type of nitrogen and timing of fertilizer applications are important in tomato production systems to reduce nitrogen losses while optimizing yields. A two-year greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of organic and inorganic fertilization treatments on nitrogen and carbon isotopic compositions of tomato plant leaves and fruit at immature and mature stages of plant growth. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios together will also help to better depict trends that develop from conventional versus organically grown tomatoes and their resulting water use efficiency (WUE). ‘Better Bush’ tomatoes were grown in 8 L plastic pots filled with 1:1:1 steamed-sterilized sand:silt loam soil:peat mix. Eight fertility treatments were evaluated: no fertility, synthetic Miracle Grow® (MG), organic bonemeal and bloodmeal (BB), BB with liquid Earthjuice (BBL), BB with 25% vermicompost (VC), BBL with 25% VC, MG with 25% VC, and no fertility with 25% VC. The results indicated that for both growth stages, δ15NAir differed (P ≤ 0.05) between fertility treatments, while no major differences were observed for δ13CVPDB (P > 0.05), although conventionally fertilized tomatoes with MG and MG with 25% VC tended to have lower δ13CVPDB values suggesting a greater transpirational water loss through open stomata. The organic treatments with VC had higher δ15NAir values than the conventional or no added fertility treatments for all five leaflets from three different branches, fruit skins from the first two fruit clusters, fruit juices from the first two clusters and soil samples. Generally, the 15N/14N stable isotope values of tomato foliage and fruit are distinctly different between organic and conventional fertilizers, which could provide a powerful forensic tool in fingerprinting tomatoes grown by organic farming methods. Therefore, nitrogen isotopes can distinguish among different fertility treatments and also help to label the VC applications, which are thought to provide better fertility management due to less soil leaching and volatilization.

For sustained production, organic agriculture depends on plant needs being synchronized with the release of nutrients from organic amendments during decomposition within the soil. Because decomposition is strongly dependent on soil moisture and temperature, nutrient needs may not always be met as planned or synchronous with plant need. Unlike conventional agriculture, fast acting amendments are not readily available. Much of the evidence that vermicompost benefits crop production comes from studies on seed germination and production of starts in greenhouses. Yet, there is a dearth of information derived from field studies. Soil, soil and water nitrogen, plant development, and marketable yield were investigated by implementing field plot trials with both starts grown in greenhouses (Experiment 1) and directly seeded (Experiment 2) crops to test hypotheses on fertility, economics and environmental impacts. Results from Experiment 1 showed that plant production was dramatically increased both in the greenhouse as well as subsequently in the field for vermicompost treatments and directly correlates to economic differences. Results from Experiment 2 show that plant production differences between compost treatments vary by site. There was no significant difference in soil and soil water NO3-N, NH4-N and Total Inorganic Nitrogen (TIN) among treatments, site or experiment. The timely rate of plant development in greenhouse started VC treatments shows great potential to be the first to market with fresh produce when other treatments are still waiting to transplant.

As atividades industriais e de mineração, juntamente com o uso inadequado de fertilizantes e pesticidas, tem contribuído para o aumento da contaminação do solo, cursos d\'água e lençol freático por elementos tóxicos. A procura pelo desenvolvimento de soluções tecnológicas tem aumentado para atender à legislação ambiental. Segundo a ABETRE, no Brasil, apenas 22% dos 2,9 milhões de toneladas de resíduos industriais perigosos produzidos nas últimas décadas recebem tratamento adequado, sendo os 78% restantes colocados indevidamente em lixões sem tratamento prévio. Vários métodos de remediação de solos contaminados são conhecidos, entre eles estão o isolamento, imobilização, redução da toxicidade, separação física e extração. Neste contexto, destaca-se a vermicompostagem que utiliza as minhocas para degradar a matéria orgânica recente, tonando-a um material quimicamente mais estabilizado, além de remover os elementos tóxicos do solo acumulando-os em seu organismo. Dentre outros benefícios dessa técnica, destacam-se a manutenção da fertilidade do solo e a grande aceitação pública por ser uma tecnologia verde. Este trabalho tem como objetivo determinar a relação entre as concentrações de elementos tóxicos (Cr, Cu e Pb) com o vermicomposto. É avaliada a adição do material adsorvente aos solos com o intuito de conhecer a capacidade de retenção deste material para posterior descontaminação de solos contaminados. Propriedades químicas, como: pH, teor de matéria orgânica, capacidade de troca catiônica, carbono orgânico total, e físicas: umidade e granulometria são estudadas. Conclui-se com este trabalho que o vermicomposto mostrou-se um excelente material adsorvente para as espécies metálicas estudadas, sendo a ordem de adsorção Pb2+ < Cu2+ < Cr3+. / Industrial and mining activities, as well as the inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides, have been contributing to the increase of the contamination of soils, watercourses and water tables by toxic elements. The search for the development of technological solutions has grown to comply with the environment legislation. According to ABETRE, only 22% of 2.9 million of tones of dangerous industrial residues, produced in Brazil, received an appropriate treatment in recent decades. The remaining 78% are thrown in dumps without previous treatment. Many methods of contaminated soil remediation are known, among them isolation, immobilization, toxicity reduction, physical separation and extraction. In this context, it stands out vermicomposting that uses worms to degrade the recent organic matter, which becomes a more chemically stabilized material, and this practice also removes accumulated toxic elements from soil. Among others benefits of this practice there are soil fertility maintenance and the acceptance of people as it is a green technology. This work aims at determining the relation between the concentration of toxic elements (Cr, Cu e Pb) and the vermicompost. The addition of the adsorptive material to soil is assessed by determining the retention capacity of this material for a later decontamination of soils. Both chemical (pH, organic matter content, cationic change capacity and total organic carbon) and physical properties (humidity and granulometry) have been studied. In this study, it was concluded that vermicompost proved to be an excellent adsorbent material to the studied metallic species, and the adsorption order was Pb2+ < Cu2+ < Cr3+.

As atividades industriais e de mineração, juntamente com o uso inadequado de fertilizantes e pesticidas, tem contribuído para o aumento da contaminação do solo, cursos d\'água e lençol freático por elementos tóxicos. A procura pelo desenvolvimento de soluções tecnológicas tem aumentado para atender à legislação ambiental. Segundo a ABETRE, no Brasil, apenas 22% dos 2,9 milhões de toneladas de resíduos industriais perigosos produzidos nas últimas décadas recebem tratamento adequado, sendo os 78% restantes colocados indevidamente em lixões sem tratamento prévio. Vários métodos de remediação de solos contaminados são conhecidos, entre eles estão o isolamento, imobilização, redução da toxicidade, separação física e extração. Neste contexto, destaca-se a vermicompostagem que utiliza as minhocas para degradar a matéria orgânica recente, tonando-a um material quimicamente mais estabilizado, além de remover os elementos tóxicos do solo acumulando-os em seu organismo. Dentre outros benefícios dessa técnica, destacam-se a manutenção da fertilidade do solo e a grande aceitação pública por ser uma tecnologia verde. Este trabalho tem como objetivo determinar a relação entre as concentrações de elementos tóxicos (Cr, Cu e Pb) com o vermicomposto. É avaliada a adição do material adsorvente aos solos com o intuito de conhecer a capacidade de retenção deste material para posterior descontaminação de solos contaminados. Propriedades químicas, como: pH, teor de matéria orgânica, capacidade de troca catiônica, carbono orgânico total, e físicas: umidade e granulometria são estudadas. Conclui-se com este trabalho que o vermicomposto mostrou-se um excelente material adsorvente para as espécies metálicas estudadas, sendo a ordem de adsorção Pb2+ < Cu2+ < Cr3+. / Industrial and mining activities, as well as the inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides, have been contributing to the increase of the contamination of soils, watercourses and water tables by toxic elements. The search for the development of technological solutions has grown to comply with the environment legislation. According to ABETRE, only 22% of 2.9 million of tones of dangerous industrial residues, produced in Brazil, received an appropriate treatment in recent decades. The remaining 78% are thrown in dumps without previous treatment. Many methods of contaminated soil remediation are known, among them isolation, immobilization, toxicity reduction, physical separation and extraction. In this context, it stands out vermicomposting that uses worms to degrade the recent organic matter, which becomes a more chemically stabilized material, and this practice also removes accumulated toxic elements from soil. Among others benefits of this practice there are soil fertility maintenance and the acceptance of people as it is a green technology. This work aims at determining the relation between the concentration of toxic elements (Cr, Cu e Pb) and the vermicompost. The addition of the adsorptive material to soil is assessed by determining the retention capacity of this material for a later decontamination of soils. Both chemical (pH, organic matter content, cationic change capacity and total organic carbon) and physical properties (humidity and granulometry) have been studied. In this study, it was concluded that vermicompost proved to be an excellent adsorbent material to the studied metallic species, and the adsorption order was Pb2+ < Cu2+ < Cr3+.

The vermicomposting of coffee grounds shows great promise for urban areas and university campuses. Several studies have examined using coffee grounds as a substrate for vermicomposting, however, little is known about its effect on plant growth, yield and quality. Therefore, two studies were conducted to assess these effects on greenhouse spinach and field grown bell peppers. Coffee vermicompost (VC) was utilized in a greenhouse spinach study over two spring growing seasons (2011 and 2012). Coffee VC was added to a 1:1:1 (peat, soil, sand) medium by volume (0, 25, 50 and 75%) in 4.5 L clay pots and seeded with `Bloomsdale Longstanding' spinach (Spinacia oleracea). Growth parameters evaluated were fresh leaf weight (FLW), leaf area (LA), spinach plant height, number of leaves, fresh leaf ascorbic acid (AA) and dry leaf nitrate (DLN). In 2011, the highest FLW, LA, number of leaves, AA and nitrate content were seen at the 75% VC application rate. Many parameters were correlated: The FLW and the VC application rate (r=0.41, P<0.0001); the AA content in leaves and the VC application rate (r=0.60, P<0.0001); and the AA and nitrate content in leaves (r=0.45, P=0.011). In 2012, the greatest FLW, height and number of leaves were observed at the 50% VC application rate; the highest nitrate content at 75% VC application rate, with no difference in AA content. A field study was conducted over three seasons (2009–-2011) to compare four treatments (coffee VC, dairy compost, standard fertility (SFT) and no treatment) for their effects on growth, yield, and AA content of bell peppers. Coffee VC and dairy compost were applied to beds at the rate of 22 t/ha and SFT was applied as 212 kg/ha 12:12:12 (N:P:K). Parameters evaluated were total number and weight of marketable and cull (unmarketable) pepper fruits, plant height, leaf chlorophyll index, and fresh fruit AA content. There were no differences detected for pepper fruit yields or AA content, however, plant height and chlorophyll index were greater for the VC and SFT treatments than for the compost and control treatments. These results indicated that coffee VC can improve the yield of greenhouse spinach and that the AA content does not decrease with higher VC application rates, even as nitrate content increases. Results of the bell pepper field study indicated that the coffee VC treatment produces similar growth, yield and AA content as SFT.

Extensive urban development has led to the resurgence of green roofs. These vegetated roofs provide significant ecological and economic benefits including mitigation of the urban heat island effect, reduced storm-water runoff, lower energy costs, increased biodiversity, and improved aesthetics, as well as food production and security. Urban agriculture and food security are becoming increasingly important factors of the green roof renaissance. Due to weight load limitations of potential buildings, the ability to produce quality food in shallow media, less than 6.75 cm, could encourage green roof food production. The effectiveness of a commercially available green roof media and a vermicompost custom blended green roof media was evaluated in two experiments on the roof of the Agriculture building at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. In a randomized complete block design, twelve green roof modular trays (six 61 cm x 61 cm and six 46 cm x 56 cm) were filled to the depth of 5.72 cm with each media type. Each block consisted of four treatments with three replications in two locations on the roof. One location received full sun and the other only partial shade. Two commercially-grown annual herbs, sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) and Thai basil (Albahaca tailandesa) and parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. neapolitanum; Petroselinum crispum `Krausa'; and Petroselinum crispum crispum) were evaluated during the two experiments. The first experiment ran from mid-May to mid-July, 2011, and the second experiment ran from mid-August to late September, 2011. Media content, mineral analysis, and biomass were recorded for each treatment. Hand irrigation was utilized as needed. In the first experiment, media, and an interaction of sunlight and media produced significant (P< 0.05) results for parameters of shoot height, shoot width and shoot weight. Sunlight, specifically partial shade, produced significant (P< 0.05) for shoot to root ratio. The commercially available green roof media produced more significant results for the parameters measured than the vermicompost-blend. In the second experiment, an interaction was detected for basil shoot width; otherwise all other variables evaluated for basil were insignificant. Media, specifically the commercial green roof media, was significant (p< 0.05) for parsley shoot height, with an interaction of sunlight and media; shoot weight and dry shoot weight, and with an interaction of sunlight and media for shoot width. No significant results were observed with the other parameters measured. The experiments indicated that the production of annual herbs on a green roof environment is possible. Further, the experiments found that the commercially available green roof media performed better than the custom vermicompost blend. Modular tray type had limited effect on results, but the advantage of pre-planting the trays before placement onto a green roof environment is an incentive for its use.

Effect of Organic Amendments on Phosphorus Fractionation in a Lead-Contaminated Urban Soil Abstract: A sequential phosphorus extraction scheme was applied to a lead-(Pb) contaminated soil in Herculaneum, MO for both a field and incubation study. The objectives of this project were; (1) lower soil P fixation and retention through the addition of organically amended P sources; (2) identify the distribution of P among five operationally defined pools of extractable phosphate following treatment incorporation; (3) determine portion of labile P derived from vermicompost (VC); and (4) identify treatments that could potentially lower bioaccessible Pb over an eight-week period. Sequential fractionation identified the Aluminum-associated P (Al-P) fraction as the fraction responding the most to treatment addition. Retention as Al-P could be effectively reduced using the organic amendments evaluated in this study in combination with VC. Amended triple super phosphate (TSP) and VC lowered bioaccessible Pb concentration compared to a non-amended plot. This finding may provide some experimental justification for the application of VC in combination with TSP to Pb-contaminated soil. Further research focusing on a combination of these P sources applied to Pb-contaminated soil could elucidate the conclusion postulated by this research.

Thesis ((MSc. Agriculture (Agronomy)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of vermicompost on cabbage growth and yield. Vermicompost (VC) was applied at 2500 kg/ha and was compared to one organic {vita grow (VG) [N:P:K 2:3:2 (16)] and one chemical fertiliser (CF) (N:P:K 2:3:2(22)]} which were both applied at 1500 kg/ha. The other treatments were prepared as mixtures of the three fertilisers (i.e. vermicompost and vita grow; vita grow and chemical fertiliser as well as vermicompost and chemical fertiliser) at 50% recommended rate, with no fertiliser treatment as a control. The trial was laid out in a randomised complete block design with three replicates. Chemical fertiliser achieved the highest chlorophyll content (80.6 nmol/mg) which was significantly higher than the other treatments. Vermicompost and the control had the least chlorophyll content at 58.6 and 55.8 nmol/mg, respectively. VC+VG, CF and CF+VC achieved the highest numbers of marketable heads while the control had the least. VC+VG, CF and CF+VC had more than 60% of the plants producing marketable heads whilst VC and VG had less than 40% of the plants producing marketable heads. The control only had 19.93% of the plants producing marketable heads. Range of marketable heads ranged from 2.82 t/ha for the control to 12.7 t/ha for CF. VC+VG, CF and CF+VC achieved marketable yields above 10.0 t/ha.VC and VG achieved 5.45 and 8.28 t/ha. The results thus show that use of chemical fertiliser or the combinations of VC and VG and that of CF and VC are the ones that can be recommended for cabbage production. Key words: vermicompost, growth, yield, cabbage, fertiliser

Magistro baigiamąjame darbe tiriamas biohumuso poveikis paprastųjų eglių (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) sėjinukų augimui atvirame grunte. Tyrimo objektas - vienerių metų paprastosios eglės sėjinukai. Tyrimų tikslas: nustatyti ekologiškos organinės trąšos - biohumuso įtaką paprastosios eglės sėjinukų augimui, vystymuisi, išlikimui, išeigai iš ploto vieneto, ekonominiam efektyvumui. Tyrimo metodai. Loginė mokslinės literatūros apžvalga, apskaitos aikštelių ir duomenų statistinio apdorojimo metodai. Darbo uždaviniai. Nustatyti biohumuso įtaką paprastosios eglės vienmečių sėjinukų augimui ir vystymuisi. Įvertinti vermikomposto įtaką sėjinukų išlikimui ir išeigai iš ploto vieneto. Atlikti biohumuso panaudojimo ekonominį įvertinimą. Darbo rezultatai. Paprastosios eglės vienamečių sėjinukų antžeminės dalies augimą, iš šešių tirtų biohumuso normų, labiausiai įtakojo 20 t/ha norma. Ji esmingai padidino sėjinukų aukštį, spyglių skaičių ir jų ilgį, o jos poveikis sėjinukų skersmeniui, šoninių ūglių skaičiui bei jų ilgiui, šoninių pumpurų skaičiui buvo analogiškas kaip ir mineralinių trąšų. Lyginant sėjinukų šaknų sistemas, biohumuso 10, 20 ir 30 t/ha normos patikimai padidino eglaičių pagrindinės šaknies ilgį (labiausiai – 20 t/ha), o pirmos eilės šoninių šaknų skaičių teigiamai įtakojo tik biohumuso 20 t/ha norma, palyginti su mineralinėmis trąšomis. Efektyviausiai sėjinukų bendrąją, antžeminės dalies ir šaknų masę padidino biohumuso 20 t/ha norma. Be to, biohumusas labiau skatino... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The effect of biohumus on the growth of the seedling of Norway spruce in the open soil is researched in this master thesis. The object of the research – the one year old seedling of Norway spruce. Research aim is to test the influence of biohumus on the growth, development, survival, amount of the seedling of Norway spruce from 1 hectare and its economikcal effect. Research methods. The review of logical scientific literature, the methods of statistic analysis of the data of the examined areas. Research objectives. To define the influence of biohumus on the growth and development of one year old seedling. To assess the influence of vermicompost on the seedling survival and harvest from one hectare. To perform the economical evaluation of the use of biohumus. Research results. The growth of a year old seedling from the six tested norms with biohumus was mostly influenced by 20 t/ha norm. It eesentially encreased the height of the seedling, the number and length of the needles. Its effect on the widh of the seedling, the number of the side branches, their length and the amount of the side buds was equivalent to the mineral fertilizers. By comparising the systems of the roots, the norms of biohumus 10, 20 and 30, evidentally encreased the length of the main roots of the Norway spruce (mostly 20 t/ha). However, the number of the side roots of the first row was positively effected only by the 20 t/ha norm if compared to the mineral fertilizers. The whole weight of the... [to full text]

Compost can suppress soilborne plant pathogens that cause significant damage on globally important food crops. However, reports of plant pathogen suppression are inconsistent likely because there are no established standards for feedstock material, application rate, and maturity age upon application. Excellent results can be achieved in greenhouse trials, but field applications are much less reliable. Disease suppression occurs through the activity of biocontrol organisms (direct antagonism), and general microbial competition. Biocontrol species are hypothesized to colonize the pile during the curing phase, but single species may not be as important as microbial consortia. Substrate composition during maturation may give rise to a suppressive microbial community. More research is needed to understand the relationships between feedstock, maturity, and production process on compost microbial ecology. The thesis had two main objectives: 1) identify biological indicators in compost that could (a) characterize maturity, process, and feedstock, and (b) predict disease suppression against R. solani, and 2) identify bacterial and fungal community composition and/or structure that is associated with suppression of soilborne disease. Rhizoctonia solani is a facultative saprophytic fungus and soilborne plant pathogen that attacks many globally important food crops and turfgrass. Prior research suggests that managing carbon quality and compost maturity will alter relative competition between biological control microbes and the R. solani pathogen. The pathogen is responsible for economic losses to organic vegetable production in Vermont and there are no available methods to manage the disease that meet organic certification. R. solani on radish was chosen as a model system given its global importance, competitiveness affected by carbon quality, and lack of disease management options for organic production. Compost samples were most abundant in the bacterial phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, and known biocontrol species were not detected in abundance. Compost samples did not differ significantly in fungal community composition, suggesting a dominance effect from the native soil fungal community. Overall, anaerobic digestate and vermicompost were most suppressive against R. solani. Thermophilic composts were not very suppressive overall, though a specially made hardwood bark compost was comparable to the suppressiveness of vermicompost application. Ecoenzyme analysis was able to integrate information on environmental substrate composition, microbial nutrient acquisition, and microbial community metabolism, offering the best view of current ecological conditions in compost. Ecoenzyme analysis showed that the most suppressive composts, anaerobic digestate and vermicompost, were most nutrient limited. All compost samples were severely nitrogen (N) limited, and anaerobic digestate and vermicompost were severely limited in both N and phosphorus (P). The additional P limitation may support non-pathogenic species to outcompete R. solani. The key to disease suppression may lie in matching up the ecology of the plant pathogen with the ecology of biocontrol, which may be engineered in compost.