Soil Chemical Properties and Bush Growth of Two Blueberry Cultivars as Affected by Soil Media Mixed with Peatmoss and Cocopeat
Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: This experiment was conducted to evaluate the usefullness of cocopeat as a soil medium in blueberry cultivation.Two-year-old northern highbush blueberry 'Duke' and southern highbush blueberry 'Spring High' were planted in soil medium mixed with peatmoss (soil:peatmoss (v/v), 1:1) or cocopeat (soil:cocopeat (v/v), 1:1) in open fields in 2019.Soil pH measured in 2020 and 2021 ranged from 4.2 to 5.0 in peatmoss and 5.2 to 5.8 in cocopeat medium, indicating peatmoss has more suitable pH for blueberry growth.Two years soil analyses indicated that peatmoss medium tended to contain a higher available P 2 O 5 content and lower exchangeable cations compared with those of cocopeat.In 2021, peatmoss medium significantly increased the number of shoots per bush, by 16% for 'Duke' and 92% for 'Spring High' compared with the cocopeat.Bushes from peatmoss medium produced yield 1.9-to 2.7-fold higher for two years in 'Duke' and 1.4-to 1.8-fold higher in 'Spring High' compared with respective yields from cocopeat.Fruit characteristics for two years were not consistently affected by different soil media, except that the acidity was slightly higher in peatmoss.The results suggested that since the better bush growth from peatmoss medium resulted mainly from lower soil pH, the use of cocopeat as a soil medium should be followed by pH adjustment.
Source: 한국토양비료학회지
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Zero hunger, Life on land
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3197582612