Abstract:
In this study we selected Lilium ‘Sorbonne’ as a test species to investigate the possibility of using agricultural and forestry waste to replace peat as the growth medium. We used the mixture of V(peat)︰V(perlite)=7︰3 as a control, which is now commonly used for the production of lily cut flowers in China. The results showed that physical and chemical characteristics of the medium 3(V(peat)∶V(vermiculite)∶V(perlite)∶V(wheat straw)=5∶1∶2∶2), medium 4(V(peat)∶V(sand)∶V(perlite)∶V(corn straw)=4∶1∶2∶3) and medium 5(V(coir)∶V(vermiculite)∶V(sand)∶V(perlite)=3∶2∶3∶2) met the general requirements for soilless culture. The integrated performance, including plant height, number of leaves, size of flower buds, development of root systems, biomass accumulation and postharvest quality of the plants grown in the three media (3, 4 and 5) was significantly higher than that of the control. Plants grown in the medium 3 performed the best. Therefore, the three growth media can be used to reduce peat consumption and decrease the substrate cost by 13%-47%.