| In Switzerland, transplants for organic vegetable growing have been fertilised traditionally with slaughterhouse by-products. In autumn 2000, the Swiss government restricted the use of such products because of the BSE crisis. To maintain the production of organic transplants, alternative fertilisers needed to be tested. Eleven alternatives to horn powder (standard fertiliser) were selected based on the organic standards of the European Union, including feather powder (as an animal based product without BSE risk). The products were mixed with a standard growing media for organic transplants in a concentration of 300 mg nitrogen L-1 growing media. Different experiments where set up with head lettuce (Lactuca sativa), Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa var.... |
