| Some technical and economic problems currently limit the use of substrates. The main problems include the lack of reciprocal adaptation of the cultivation technics and the substrate, the possible presence of pathogens, and the cost involved. To these we must add the ecological problems of the extraction areas, since there are no short-term renewable resources, especially in the case of peat, the classic substrate. This has motivated the search for substitutes, especially amongst indigenous materials and those easily obtained locally, such as cereals straw, rice husk and cork residues. The use of these substrates should be evaluated agronomically for: physical (total porosity, available water, air content, distribution of particles size, apparent density),... |
