Physical and Hydraulic Properties of Commercial Pine-bark Substrate Products Used in Production of Containerized Crops

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dc.contributor.authorAltland, James E.en
dc.contributor.authorOwen, James S. Jr.en
dc.contributor.authorJackson, Brian E.en
dc.contributor.authorFields, Jeb S.en
dc.contributor.departmentVirginia Agricultural Experiment Stationen
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-09T14:18:10Zen
dc.date.available2020-03-09T14:18:10Zen
dc.date.issued2018-12en
dc.description.abstractPine bark is the primary constituent of nursery container media (i.e., soilless substrate) in the eastern United States. Pine bark physical and hydraulic properties vary depending on the supplier due to source (e.g., lumber mill type) or methods of additional processing or aging. Pine bark can be processed via hammer milling or grinding before or after being aged from <= 1 month (fresh) to >= 6 month (aged). Additionally, bark is commonly amended with sand to alter physical properties and increase bulk density (D-b). Information is limited on physical or hydraulic differences of bark between varying sources or the effect of sand amendments. Pine bark physical and hydraulic properties from six commercial sources were compared as a function of age and amendment with sand. Aging bark, alone, had little effect on total porosity (TP), which remained at approximate to 80.5% (by volume). However, aging pine bark from <= 1 to >= 6 months shifted particle size from the coarse (>2 mm) to fine fraction (<0.5 mm), which increased container capacity (CC) 21.4% and decreased air space (AS) by 17.2% (by volume) regardless of source. The addition of sand to the substrate had a similar effect on particle size distribution to that of aging, increasing CC and D-b while decreasing AS. Total porosity decreased with the addition of sand. The magnitude of change in TP, AS, CC, and D-b from a nonamended pine bark substrate was greater with fine vs. coarse sand and varied by bark source. When comparing hydrological properties across three pine bark sources, readily available water content was unaffected; however, moisture characteristic curves (MCC) differed due to particle size distribution affecting the residual water content and subsequent shift from gravitational to either capillary or hygroscopic water. Similarly, hydraulic conductivity (i.e., ability to transfer water within the container) decreased with increasing particle size.en
dc.description.adminPublic domain – authored by a U.S. government employeeen
dc.description.notesFunding for this work was provided, in part, by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Stations, Agricultural Research Service, and the Hatch Programs of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.en
dc.description.sponsorshipVirginia Agricultural Experiment Stations, Agricultural Research Service; Hatch Programs of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agricultureen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI13497-18en
dc.identifier.eissn2327-9834en
dc.identifier.issn0018-5345en
dc.identifier.issue12en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/97261en
dc.identifier.volume53en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCC0 1.0 Universalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/en
dc.subjectaged barken
dc.subjectair spaceen
dc.subjectdynamic physical propertiesen
dc.subjectevaporative methoden
dc.subjectfresh barken
dc.subjectparticle sizeen
dc.subjectPinus taedaen
dc.subjectporometeren
dc.subjectsanden
dc.subjectstatic physical propertiesen
dc.subjectwater holding capacityen
dc.titlePhysical and Hydraulic Properties of Commercial Pine-bark Substrate Products Used in Production of Containerized Cropsen
dc.title.serialHortScienceen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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