Abstract

SEOANE, Andrea Paola; VENCE, Lilia Beatriz; SVARTZ, Héctor Alejandro  and  BARBARO, Lorena Alejandra. Puyehue-Cordon caulle volcanic materials and their use for substrates formulations with sphagnum peat. Cienc. suelo [online]. 2018, vol.36, n.1, pp.39-53. ISSN 1850-2067.

In June 2011 the Puyehue volcano erupted. Its ashes affected the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro, and Chubut in Argentina. In order to mitigate economic losses investigations were performed to use the ashes in substrates for plants, which showed good results. However, their potential and limitations are not yet sufficiently evaluated. The objectives were: 1) To determine the physical and chemical parameters of three samples of volcanic materials from the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle; 2) To formulate substrates with these materials and Sphagnum peat from Tierra del Fuego according to the results of objective 1, to determine the mixture properties and to compare then with pure materials and 3) To evaluate the response of Petunia x hybrida 'Ultra White' and Petunia x hybrida 'Madness Plum Crazy' in these mixtures. Bulk density, total porosity, water holding capacity, air-filled porosity, water retention curves, pH, electrical conductivity, nitrates, cations and phytotoxicity were determined. Due to their low water holding capacity and easily available water, the evaluated fine and coarse ashes and pumice could be used as pure materials only for hydroponics with frequent irrigation. This limitation has been modified using different Sphagnum peat formulations, which extends their usage. The best result in plugs was obtained with 20% CF+80% peat, and in potting systems all treatments presented proper results.

Keywords : growing media; ash; petunia; water retention curves.

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