Hydrology of Horticultural Substrates: III. Predicting Air and Water Content of Limited-volume Plug Cells

Abstract

Plants grown in small containers often show limited growth due to low levels of aeration and water holding capacity in the medium. These levels can be changed by management practices such as medium compaction, medium wetness at time of container filling, container height and volume, peat : vermiculite ratio, particle size, and the use of a wetting agent. A modified equilibrium capacity variable model was applied to an investigation of media-container interactions for short containers (<5 cm tall). Predicted volume percentages for total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC), air space (AS), unavailable water (UW), and available water (AW) were developed from measured moisture retention data and container geometry. AS increased with: 1) increased particle size, 2) increased media moisture at time of container filling, 3) decreased medium compaction, 4) increased wetting agent concentration, 5) decreased ratio of peat : vermiculite, and 6) increased container height. Increased percent AW resulted from smaller particle size, increased media moisture at time of container filling, decreased container compaction, decreased wetting agent concentration, increased ratio of peat : vermiculite and decreased container height.