Hydraulic characteristics of composted pig manure, perlite, and mixtures of them, and their impact on cucumber grown on bags

Abstract Composted pig manure (CPM), unmixed or in mixture with perlite, was evaluated as growing medium based on both physical characteristics and agronomic performance. The physical properties were determined in CPM, perlite (0.5–2.5 mm), and their 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 mixtures by volume. It was found that unmixed CPM has a higher bulk density (BD) than perlite, a slightly lower air space at a suction of 10 cm, and a markedly higher content in easily available water (EAW), although the water content at a suction of 10 cm is the same in the two media. Mixing CPM with perlite by 50:50 seems to increase the actual water content and decrease the actual air content at container capacity, while the BD and the EAW score intermediate to those in the unmixed constituents. Simulation of the relative hydraulic conductivity ( K r ) indicates a sharp decrease in the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity ( K ) of CPM, perlite and their mixtures as the media suction increases. The differences in the decrease rate of K r between the tested substrates are rather small, with the most and least steep decrease being observed in perlite and the mixture by 50:50, respectively. The agronomic performance of CPM was assessed by growing greenhouse cucumber in bags filled with perlite up to 20 cm in height, CPM up to 10 or 20 cm in height, and their mixture by 50:50 up to the same heights as CPM. A media height of 10 cm in the bag resulted in appreciably higher yields than a height of 20 cm, regardless of the type of the substrate, while the latter had no significant effect on yield. This effect of media height was ascribed to the steep decrease in K , which was minimized in all media at higher suction levels than 10 cm, thereby severely restricting water availability in their upper layers (10–20 cm) when their height in the bag was 20 cm.