In the eastern United States, pine bark is the predominate substrate component in outdoor nursery container plant production. Pine bark is a byproduct of the timber industry and is stripped off logs following harvest. Once the removed pine bark is
Pine bark is the primary component in container nursery substrates, comprising 60% to 80% by volume of most substrate blends. Pine bark is a commodity used by other industries including fuel generation, fiber ( Lu et al., 2006 ), charcoal, landscape
In the eastern United States, nurseries use either loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) or longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris Mill.) bark as the primary organic component in soilless substrates. Pine bark was initially used as a growing substrate in the
’ hakonechloa [ Hakonechloa macra (Makino) Honda] grew best in a 3 pine bark: 2 sphagnum peat: 1 sand (by volume) substrate with no DL amendment (pH 4.5). They speculated this favorable response was due to the plant’s adaptation to the low pH soil found in the
. (2001) and Michalak et al. (2015) concluded that P runoff from agricultural operations is a primary contributor to eutrophication in the United States. Substrates used in containerized nursery crop production predominantly comprise pine bark ( Pinus
in bark and peat-based substrates ( Handreck and Black, 2002 ; Reed, 1996 ). Empirically, Warren and Bilderback (1992) compared rates (0, 27, 54, 67, and 81 kg·m −3 ) of arcillite in a pine bark substrate and reported arcillite increased available
-rich by-product of pyrolysis, can reduce substrate pore size by nesting between larger particles of pine bark and providing greater water-holding capacity. This reduction in substrate pore size has been demonstrated to increase the amount of available
evaluate the effect of storage duration, storage temperature, and filtration before storage on pH, EC, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), and nutrient ion concentrations of PT samples of pine bark– and peat-based substrates
). Of these, research and development of new substrates to replace conventionally used peatmoss and pine bark (PB) substrates have increased in recent years. In addition to developing and using new substrates, much work has focused on managing fertility
substrates ( Aaron, 1982 ; Hoitink and Poole, 1979 ). Recently, supplies of pine bark (PB) in many areas across the southeastern states have been erratic. Reduced availability and higher costs have been driven by the reduced supply resulting from decreased