Assessing sewage sludge-made biochar and compochar (compost+biochar mix) as horticultural soilless growing media

Fuente: Zenodo
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autore principale: Stavi, Ilan
Natura: Recurso digital
Pubblicazione: Zenodo 2025
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866902011030536192
author Stavi, Ilan
author_facet Stavi, Ilan
contents <p><span>While biochars are extensively used as soil amendments in regenerative agriculture, their use as a soilless growing media is less common. Particularly in horticulture, this use may enable crop production in harsh conditions, such as extreme air temperatures or high soil salinity. A soilless biochar-based growing media can replace conventional growing media, thereby minimizing their extraction and consequent severe damages to natural environments. Combining biochars with other biological or mineral non-charred materials may further improve medium quality. In this study, we assessed the use of biochar and compochar (a mix of biochar + compost) – both produced from human sewage sludge – as an alternative growing media for commercial tuff (tephra). We studied the productivity of lettuce and cherry tomato grown on three growing media, and investigated the chemical and biochemical properties of the media. Overall, both crop productivity and media quality were greater under biochar and compochar than these under the tuff. As such, the importance of this study stems from demonstrating the potential of using domestic sewage sludges to produce growing media that supports agronomic productivity, while decreasing the overall anthropogenic footprint on the environment. </span></p>
format Recurso digital
id zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_15578629
institution Zenodo
language
publishDate 2025
publisher Zenodo
record_format zenodo
spellingShingle Assessing sewage sludge-made biochar and compochar (compost+biochar mix) as horticultural soilless growing media
Stavi, Ilan
<p><span>While biochars are extensively used as soil amendments in regenerative agriculture, their use as a soilless growing media is less common. Particularly in horticulture, this use may enable crop production in harsh conditions, such as extreme air temperatures or high soil salinity. A soilless biochar-based growing media can replace conventional growing media, thereby minimizing their extraction and consequent severe damages to natural environments. Combining biochars with other biological or mineral non-charred materials may further improve medium quality. In this study, we assessed the use of biochar and compochar (a mix of biochar + compost) – both produced from human sewage sludge – as an alternative growing media for commercial tuff (tephra). We studied the productivity of lettuce and cherry tomato grown on three growing media, and investigated the chemical and biochemical properties of the media. Overall, both crop productivity and media quality were greater under biochar and compochar than these under the tuff. As such, the importance of this study stems from demonstrating the potential of using domestic sewage sludges to produce growing media that supports agronomic productivity, while decreasing the overall anthropogenic footprint on the environment. </span></p>
title Assessing sewage sludge-made biochar and compochar (compost+biochar mix) as horticultural soilless growing media
url https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15578629