Effects of charcoal with pyroligneous acid and barnyard manure on bedding plants

The usefulness of a mixture of charcoal with pyroligneous acid (MCP) and with barnyard manure (MCB) to improve the medium for bedding plants was evaluated. The basal medium was peat moss, soil, vermiculite, perlite and sand (2:1:1:1:1) (v/v). The MCP or MCB was mixed with the basal medium at 0, 10 or 30% (v/v) and seedlings were transferred to this medium. Both treatments of MCP shortened the number of days to flowering from transplantation of zinnia, melampodium and scarlet sage, increased the survival rate of scarlet sage and zinnia, and raised the quality, such as for melampodium and zinnia. But MCP decreased the quality in a few species because the plant height of French marigold decreased and the plant height and plant spread of scarlet sage decreased with the 30% treatment. MCB increased the survival rate of zinnia with the 10% treatment and tended to improve the quality of all species. We conclude that MCB improves the growth and quality and is effective for the cultivation of bedding plants. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.