Chemistry: fertilizers – Processes and products – Organic material-containing
Patent
1996-11-05
1999-05-04
Straub, Gary P.
Chemistry: fertilizers
Processes and products
Organic material-containing
71903, 71904, 47 101, C01F 500, C01F 1100
Patent
active
059000384
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a cultivation substrate and to a method of preparing the same.
Peat is predominantly used as a cultivation substrate in the horticultural sector. Biologically speaking, peat is the humus form of bogs, especially of upland moors which belong to the particularly endangered habitats. Numerous plants and animals that are living there are found on the Red List which names the species that are in danger of becoming extinct. Nevertheless, in the Federal Republic of Germany alone, about 1000 ha of moor area are drained every year due to peat cutting, and more than 8 million cubic meters of peat are used in private and commercial gardens every year. Bogs need up to 10,000 years for their development and they will be destroyed in only a few decades if peat cutting is not stopped. Managing without peat or, what is even better, a substitute for peat in private and commercial gardens will help to save the bogs.
The positve effects of peat, such as the improvement of the soil structure, are counteracted by a plethora of disadvantages: it is virtually without any plant nutrients. acidification leads to nutrient deficiency and, in turn, requires additional and expensive fertilization that is harmful to the environment. very rapidly, thus supplying only very small amounts of humus as compared with other organic materials (compost, bark mulch). rapidly while carbonization may be observed in heavy loamy soil due to an inadequate supply of air. as it is especially on the surface that peat dries out very easily. The positive effect created by soil covering cannot be achieved with peat.
Up to the present day several "peat substitutes" have already been developed that are capable of replacing part of the peat used for gardening: sand and gravel, pumice, lavalite, perlite, vermiculite, etc.
Some negative characteristics of these products often rule out the use of higher mixing amounts in cultivation substrates. Attention must be paid to the following criteria when such products are used: plastic bristles, harmful organic substances)
Peat substitutes of a mineral or synthetic kind have, most of the time, an excessively high content of salt and an inadequate structural stability; when they are used, a strong nitrogen bond and poor air management in the soil will be observed Moreover, synthetic substitutes are detrimental to health most of the time. Disposal and biological recycling also pose problems in the case of mineral and synthetic peat substitutes
Organic peat substitutes that have so far been used are also disadvantageous For instance, compost from garden or kitchen waste, garbage or sludge mostly contains residues of pesticides, heavy metals, carcinogenic hydrocarbons, antibiotics or other foreign matter. Composting is often accompanied by a foul odor, and the above-mentioned foreign substances may also adversely affect the quality of the ground water through seeping water.
To sum up, there is no generally usable substitute on the market whose properties would even come close to those of younger peat. The air pore portion which is of importance to an optimum plant growth, as well as a high water retaining capacity could not be achieved with formerly known substitutes
It has therefore been the object of the present invention to provide a material which has the essential chemical and physical properties of younger peat and has been improved such that, in comparison with younger peat, it has a more favorable pH, a higher amount of air pores and a higher fertilizer content Furthermore, the production of the material should be pro-environmental, inexpensive and standardizable.
The present invention provides for a cultivation substrate that is excellently suited as a peat substitute. The cultivation substrate of the invention contains comminuted plants selected from among knot grass, C.sub.4 plants and plants of the cannabis and Dicksonia genuses.
The cultivation substrate preferably contains comminuted polyploid knot-grass plants
The knot grass (Polygonum sachalinense, Reynoutria sachalinense or
REFERENCES:
patent: 2498480 (1950-02-01), Bierlich et al.
patent: 2547730 (1951-04-01), Arnold et al.
patent: 3252785 (1966-05-01), Hoblit
Rogmans Maria
Wilhelm Hermann-Josef
Allplant Entwicklungs- Und Marketing GmbH
Straub Gary P.
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