Preemrgent Herbicide Field Trial on Recycled Potting Soil

I have been working on a field trial with preemergent herbicides at a grower's field and thought I would share the results from what we have seen.  This is reused recycled soil that has had various preemergent herbicides applied as soon as pots were filled. We did two plots for each herbicide and we only did one plot of non-treated control.  We took pictures at two and four weeks after treatment (WAT).  This soil suffers from an abundance of nutsedge which is not normally an issue in potting soils due to its propagation from tubers and not from seeds.  This happens to be prevalent due to the process of reusing the old soil.

Preemrgent Herbicide Field Trial on Recycled Potting Soil

I have been working on a field trial with preemergent herbicides at a grower's field and thought I would share the results from what we have seen.  This is reused recycled soil that has had various preemergent herbicides applied as soon as pots were filled. We did two plots for each herbicide and we only did one plot of non-treated control.  We took pictures at two and four weeks after treatment (WAT).  This soil suffers from an abundance of nutsedge which is not normally an issue in potting soils due to its propagation from tubers and not from seeds.  This happens to be prevalent due to the process of reusing the old soil.

Potting Soil Recycling Workshop Feb 26

We will be having a workshop that will look at two methods of turning your waste into an input and save you money in the long run.  I will be reporting the findings of the Southern Agriculture Research and Education On-Farm Grant that was awarded to myself and John Pearson at Stardust Farms.  The project was using a large scale method of solarization to recycle used potting soil.  It has proven to be a great, inexpensive way to treat soil to use it back in production.  We will also have Dr. Monica Ozorez-Hampton teaching about composting dumped soil and plants for safe reuse.  A free lunch from Diamond R Fertilizer will be available.  I would also like to mention our sponsors of Southern SARE and Hillsborough County Soil and Water Conservation District in helping out with this project.  This is a workshop you will not want to miss!  Register at the link below.

What: Recycling Used Potting Soil Workshop
When:  Feb. 26, 2015
Where:  Hillsborough County Extension Office
Time: 09:30 - 14:00
Lunch:  Will be served
Cost:   Free
Register at www.soilreuse.eventbrite.com 

Sustainable Substrates for Nursery Production

Here is a video you may want to watch about sustainable substrates for nursery production.  This is one video in a series of videos from a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant to help nursery producers move towards sustainable systems for plant production.  This particular video is 4.5 minutes long and discusses options to formulations of peat and pine bark substrates that are most prominently used in current potting soils.  Click here for the link to the video.  Sustainable Substrates

Rice is Nice

According to the University of Arkansas parboiled rice hulls can be used effectively as a pine bark substrate.  They looked at spirea growing for one and two seasons long and measured the growth.  Their research proved that up to 40% of the pine bark can be substituted without having decomposition.  Growth was not reduced and irrigation remained the same.  For more information visit Nursery Management June 16, 2011.  http://www.nurserymanagementonline.com/researchers-study-parboiled-rice-hulls.aspx?