Abstract

Scarcity and the rising cost of peat moss as an organic amendment in potting mixes, initiated a research for its less expensive and more available substitutes. There are about 30 million palm trees in Iran. These lead to a great amount of celluloid wastes. Investigation of peat moss to be substituted with palm wastes (palm peat) was the purpose in this study. The research was conducted in a completely randomized design with 6 replicates. During the experiment the effects of four organic media, including peat moss, cocopeat, palm peat, and baggasse with two levels of perlite (0, 50%) on Aglaonema growth were investigated. Chemical and physical properties of media were evaluated. During and at the end of the experiment, the following vegetative indices were evaluated: leaf number, leaf area, offset number, top and root dry weight as well as plant height. Media significantly affected most vegetative indices. The highest values of leaf area, leaf number, offset number, top and root dry weight were observed in cocopeat, and the lowest in baggasse. Peat moss and palm peat exhibited no significant differences in most growing indices. Cocopeat and palm peat were similar in some characteristics such as CEC, pH, EC and organic carbon but different in water holding capacity which was higher in cocopeat than in palm peat. If this characteristic of palm peat is improved, it would be a proper substitute for peat moss in the future. The results indicated that raw baggasse was not a proper organic media.