This paper deals with the suitability of agricultural and municipal organic wastes as
growing media components for ornamental plants. Nine growing media prepared by mixing the main
components of peat (P), hazelnut husk (H) and maize straw (M) with the fertilizer sources of municipal
solid waste compost (C), bio-solid (B) and poultry manure (Pm) were compared against soil-based
(C1) and peat-based (C2) controls. The suitability of such mixtures for use in soilless media was
evaluated using their physico-chemical characteristics. To investigate the impact of mixtures on
plant growth, two different pot experiments, including the plants of ligustrum (
Ligustrum lucidum
)
and cypress (
Cupressus macrocarpa
), were conducted for two years. Physical and physico-chemical
properties of mixture indicated that peat and soil were successfully replaced with hazelnut husk,
maize straw, MSW-compost, bio-solid and poultry manure. The effect of fertilizer additives on plant
growth was more pronounced than that of the main components. Therefore, among the present
mixtures, the most suitable one for ligustrum was the mixture containing poultry manure, whereas for
cypress was bio-solid, regardless of the main components.
