Plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) have gained attention for their potential role in explaining plant growth and invasion. While promising, most PSF research has measured plant monoculture growth on different soils in short-term, greenhouse experiments. Here, five soil types were conditioned by growing one native species, three non-native species, or a mixed plant community in different plots in a com...

Aluminium toxicity is a major crop production constraint, particularly in acid tropical soils. The toxicity is aggravated when pH falls below 5.5 since toxic monomeric Al species get solubilized. The screening of Al tolerance intrinsically depends on culture medium, with a nutrient solution having pH of 4.5 being recommended. Hydroponic experiment was carried out at Jomo Kenyatta University of ...

need to increasing agricultural land in order to improve food resources in the past two centuries recentlead to widespread changes in land use and improper management of these lands. continue thisprocess can lead to land degradation and desertification, and improve such soils is very costly;therefore, prevention of land degradation is more desirable. this function requires to research on theuti...

Commercial hydroponics is a modern technology involving plant growth on inert media in place of the natural soil, in order to uncouple the performance of the crop from problems associated with the ground, such as soil-borne diseases, nonarable soil, poor physical properties, etc. Various non-toxic porous materials are used as plant growth substrates, including rockwool, perlite, pumice, expande...

The study examined the effect of Frankia, macronutrients, micronutrients, mycorrhizal fungi, and plant-growth-promoting fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. on total biomass, nodule weight, and nitrogen fixation of red alder (Alnus rubra) and snowbrush (Ceanothus velutinus) under greenhouse conditions. The soil samples were collected from a 10-year-old clearcut on the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, O...

I close my eyes and think of a future world. A visionary world, thirty, forty years from today. A world not of new humanity but a plethora of old and new humanities. A world where more than one of way of being human is not only the norm but is considered essential for the very survival of our species. This is the world as a garden. Gardens, by the very fact that they are gardens, consist of a m...

Plants grown in lead contaminated soils can accumulate lead from the adherence of dust and translocation into the plant tissue. In order to evaluate the potential health hazard due to the consumption of plants grown in residential gardens contaminated by lead, a survey of the lead concentrations in a typical array of edible vegetables, fruits and herbs was conducted. Samples of garden plants ha...

The effectiveness of fungicides in controlling white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) was evaluated when they were applied through irrigation water directly onto the plants or only to the soil. Two field trials were installed in April 1998 and April 1999 in Viçosa, MG. Trials were conducted as a (2 x 3) + 1 factorial: two fungicides x three application modes + o...

Urban soils provide a number of ecosystem services and health benefits, yet they are understudied compared with agricultural wildland soils. Healthy host diverse microbiota, exposure to which may be critical for immune development protection against chronic disorders, such as allergies asthma. Gardening represents key pathway microbiota exposure, little is known about microbial community struct...

Porous alumosilicate aggregate, namely perlite, was used as an alternative material in wastewater treatments for the selective removal of ionic pollutants such as lead which is present in industrial wastewaters and toxic at relatively low concentrations. Metal retention was investigated by single metals and multispecies equilibrium isotherms (batch system) and by carrying out dynamic (column) e...