Assessment of Physical and Hydraulic Properties of Three Rockwool Types in Comparison with Wheat Straw and Sawdust as Greenhouse Growth Media

According to the rapid population growth, the challenging issue of production of economic and suitable food sources has led to greater attention to soilless culture greenhouse production systems. Components of growth media in horticulture are usually selected based on physical and chemical properties and their abilities in providing enough water and oxygen for roots. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using some agricultural wastes (i.e., sawdust and wheat straw) and three rockwool types (i.e., raw, ground, ground, and sieved) as substitutes for commercial greenhouse growing media such as cocopeat and perlite. Several hydraulic, aeration, and chemical properties including easily available water (EAW), air after irrigation (AIR), water holding capacity (WHC), water buffering capacity (WBC), saturated water content (θs), bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), water drop penetration time (WDPT), pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured and scored in the growth media. Raw rockwool had larger particles compared to ground rockwool, which resulted in its faster water release. Processing of the rockwool decreased the saturated water content and saturated hydraulic conductivity due to the decrease in particle size. Four growth media were scored as very good and one was scored as good. The highest and lowest scores belonged to sawdust (34) and ground rockwool (30), respectively. The studied growth media with high TP, EAW, and WHC and low BD, EC, and WDPT can be used individually or combined with other commercial substrates for greenhouse growth media.