The effect of salinity and porosity of sewage sludge compost on the growth of vegetable seedlings

Salinity and porosity of composted sewage sludge (CSS) were studied to evaluate their effect on vegetable seedlings, specifically on vegetable seedling performance and toxicity threshold of soluble salts. For the evaluation, CSS was mixed with different proportions of leached CSS to control the salinity. Soluble salt content of 1.45% or higher in growth media inhibited the growth of cucumber, tomato, and pepper seedlings, while that of 1.1% was relatively safe. Different porosities of CSS media were prepared by mixing CSS (<10 mm) with ground CSS (<1 mm) in different proportions (CSS and ground CSS were leached beforehand to prevent salt stress). The vegetable seedlings grew well in CSS media without showing symptoms of growth inhibition if the total porosity ranged from 66% to 81% and the water holding porosity ranged from 48% to 59%. However, the best seedling performances were achieved with the coarser media with high total porosities. The study indicated that when salt content was appropriate, CSS can be used alone as a vegetable seedling growth medium without the need for grinding or blending with other materials. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.