●●● what is meant by cultivation without soil?
Cultivation without soil means cultivating, growing, and producing plants in media other than normal soil. These medias include nutritive liquid (Hydroponic cultivation) or sphagnum or sand or perlite or peat moss. It may include a mixture of all these components or some of them.
Uses of Horticulture Expanded perlite:-
1] Grow seeds and nodes.
2] Produce seedlings.
3] Cultivation in green houses.
4] Hydroponic cultivation.
5] Expanded Perlite for turf and landscaping.
6] Horticulture Perlite the natural growing media for indoor and outdoor gardening.
Fine Perlite can be used alone as seed- starting medium or it can be mixed half-and-half with shredded sphagnum moss or shredded peat moss. Many seeds have limited" pushing- up" power. Perlite alone or Perlite mixes are ideal for seed starting because they are light in weight. Moisten the medium thoroughly, then throw the seeds on top. Very fine seeds can be atomized and left to settle into crevices be sure the medium does not dry.
●●● Advantages of using perlite in growing seeds:-
1- To provide the needs of seeds of water and fertilizers.
2- Balances between water and air so it gives a fast and strong growth.
3- It is easy to be penetrated by the roots of the plant when it emerges till it becomes a strong root so as to give strong seedlings that assure obtaining high productivity.
●●● Methods of cultivating seeds:-
Using a mix of horticultural Perlite and peat moss mix:
Equal quantities of smaller grade agricultural perlite & peat moss (%50 perlite + %50 peat moss) beside adding the elements necessary for growing .
2. Fill germination trays with this mixture, press it a little and irrigate these trays then spread seeds on the mixture.
3. Cover seeds with a light layer of peat moss 1.5 millimeter.
B] Production of nodes:-
Horticultural expanded perlite is used in producing nodes in glass-houses under the system of sprinkle irrigation or plastic tunnels either trees or shrubs.
●●● Advantages of using expanded perlite in producing nodes:-
Provides an excellent environment to produce nodes as perlite has a high capability of saving humidity.
●●●The method of cultivating nodes:-
1] Prepare nodes trees, shrubs, plant covers or domestic plants.
2] Fill trays with perlite & irrigate
3] Put nodes in expanded perlite.
4] Rooting of nodes takes 15-20 days according to temperature.
5] Perlite can be reused after sterilization or used with mixture of soil.
