Institut für Pflanzenschutz in Gartenbau und urbanem Grün
The joint project "Development and evaluation of peat-reduced production systems in horticulture", ToPGa for short, the predecessor project to ToSuGa, successfully tackled the challenges of researching and evaluating peat-reduced growing media and production systems in professional horticulture. The focus was on a holistic investigation and evaluation of peat-reduced growing media in the field of professional horticulture. The aim of the joint project "Peat reduction with safe substrates for professional horticulture" ToSuGa is now to further substantiate these findings and develop practical recommendations for safe substrates for the various branches of professional horticulture. This will make a relevant contribution to the sustainability of horticulture. Institute G is responsible for topic 1 with project management and project coordination, as well as the sub-projects "Mycology" and "Entomology" in topic 3 "Cultivation substrate safety". Topic 3 "Cultivation substrate safety": Based on current scientific studies, the influence of peat substitutes such as wood fiber, green waste compost and fermentation residues on the composition of bacterial and fungal communities in growing media was demonstrated. The results showed that these microbial communities are influenced by the specific physico-chemical properties of the substrate constituents used. Due to the high variability of factors that are decisive for the composition of the microbial communities, the challenge is to ensure the consistent quality of peat-reduced and peat-free growing media through the targeted use of functional microorganisms. In the sub-projects, various aspects of ensuring the safety of growing media are to be researched in more detail together with the joint project partners. The aim of the "Mycology" sub-project is to investigate and determine pathogenic and beneficial fungi and oomycetes in growing medium constituents and in plant cultivation with growing medium mixtures and their effects on fungus gnat populations and other harmful organisms. The aim of the "Entomology" sub-project is to investigate the interaction of substrate constituents and the microbial community, including natural antagonists, with fungus gnats. The focus is on the harmful effects of fungus gnat larvae during the cultivation phase of horticultural crops.
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity
