Pear and apple pomace compost in the production of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedlings

Abstract

Alternative substrates replacing non-renewable resources like pet, for growing media in horticulture, have gained importance. This work aimed to evaluate if pear and apple pomace compost could constitute an alternative to a commercial substrate for tomato seedlings production. Two experiments were carried out on trays with 100 cm 3 alveoli (experiment 1) and 30 cm 3 alveoli (experiment 2). In experiment 1, three substrates were used: commercial substrate (CS), mixture of CS and pomace compost (CS+C) and pure compost (C). In experiment 2 a fourth treatment with a mixture of compost and perlite (C+P) was incorporated. The obtained results indicated that seedling devlopment using CS+C and CS as substrates, was similar in cells of 100 cm3 and higher in cells of 30 cm3 . In addition, seedling growth on C+P in relation to CS, showed similar or higher values for some variables. These results indicate that replacing non-renewable resources such as peat in tomato seedling production, with a product obtained from a residue, would be feasible.