Effect of Growing Media on Plant Performance

Dear Colleagues,

Reduced arable land, increased urbanization, water shortages, and climate change all put a strain on agricultural producers. Of all organic materials, peat is the most used substrate constituent in horticulture. It is a material that is generally devoid of any significant amount of plant nutrients, has low pH, and can be screened to any particle size and mixed in different proportions to obtain the required physical properties, e.g., air space. The extraction of peat, a non-renewable resource, has prompted several environmental concerns. The use of peat urgently needs to be reduced and alternative components for the partial peat substitute are under evaluation. The closest of these to peat is coir, but there are also environmental concerns regarding coir, for example, regarding its transport from far-off places, generating carbon miles, as well as the fact that it often contains salts in exchangeable forms. Other alternative growing media or growing media components include bark, wood fibre, composted green waste, biochar, etc., which can vary a great deal depending on the source of the feedstock and processing conditions.

Growing media are a fundamental part of growing plants in greenhouses, nurseries and in urban farming structures, including green roofs, since they provide water, nutrients, and support to plants. Indeed, the properties and applications of growing media must be harmonized with the response in terms of plant performance. When selecting a growing medium, understanding its features (physical, chemical, and biological) is critical since they influence plant responses and production costs. The absence of pests and pathogens is critical; however, biostability and biological inertia are also important criteria to consider, especially when extended crop growing cycles are utilized or the growing medium is reused between growing cycles. Understanding the adaptation mechanisms and performance of the plants involved when growing media are used is important to increasing yields and producing high-quality and safe produce, which are reflected in sustainable agronomic and environmental pathways to crop production.

We invite papers which show how alternative growing media and growing media components affect the morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties of crops.

Dr. Munoo Prasad
Dr. Nikos Tzortzakis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• growing media
• peat alternatives
• organic bioresources
• biochar
• compost
• bark
• plant abiotic stress
• antioxidants