Nutrient Leaching When Compost Is Part of Plant Growth Media

ABSTRACT

Engineered plant growth media must support plant growth while minimizing environmental impact. The objective of this research was to determine how different growth media influence nutrient leaching. Plant growth media contained varied amounts of soil, sand, compost that did or did not contain manure, and possible sorbents for phosphorus. If the plant growth media included compost derived partly from manure, leaching losses of nutrients were excessive due to the high nutrient load in the compost. Layering compost over the plant media mix resulted in lower nitrate concentrations in effluent (87 mg L⁻¹) compared with mixing compost into the media (343 mg L⁻¹); however, growth of prairie grasses was reduced because of dense media below the compost blanket (0.09 versus 0.31 g). Using lower amounts of compost that did not contain manure resulted in lower mean nitrate concentrations in effluent (101 versus 468 mg L⁻¹). Media that had no soil (13.3 mg L⁻¹) had greater loss of phosphorus after harvest for unsaturated drainage than media with soil (1.8 mg L⁻¹). To reduce nitrate leaching, only small amounts of low-nutrient compost (higher C:N ratio) should be incorporated into the media. If compost is applied as a surface blanket without incorporation, then soil should be added to the sand to reduce density of the media and increase plant growth.

Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank to Gavin Simmons for conducting the column studies.

Funding

The study was funded by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, State Soil Conservation Commission.