Coal Cinders with Pine Bark as Azalea Growing Media
in Journal of the American Society for Horticultural ScienceAbstract
Coal cinders with pine bark were evaluated as containerized plant growing medium. Rhododendron obtusum Lindl. ‘Hinodegiri’ liners were grown in several combinations of media composed of pine bark mixed with an aged and a recently combusted source of cinders. Measurements of media pH, soluble salts, NO3− –N, NH4+ –N, and 19 extractable nutrient and metallic ions were obtained. Leaf tissue samples were analyzed for 19 elements. Top dry weight, visual growth and chlorosis ratings, and root visual ratings constituted the plant growth parameters measured. Satisfactory growth was generated in pine bark amended with up to 50% cinders from either source.
Contributor Notes
Received for publication 27 Apr. 1984. Published with the approval of the Director of the Clemson Univ. Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical Contribution No. 2185. The cost of publishing this paper was defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. Under postal regulations, this paper therefore must be hereby marked advertisement solely to indicate this fact.
Associate Professor of Horticulture.
Former Graduate Research Assistant. Present address: Dept. of Horticultural Science, N.C. State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7609.
