Report on the cultivation of plants in a nursery site using substrates with co-composted materials: Deliverable Action C2

After the co-composting phase of the materials examined was accomplished, a cultivation phase was planned, with the aim to evaluate the effect of different substrates assembled with these waste materials on the growth of two ornamental container-grown species. Following the experimental layout described in B3, we will discuss in this document the results obtained from the Photinia and Viburnum plants cultivated in Trial 1 (Czech Republic and Italy) and in Trial 2 (Italy). More in detail, Trial 1 was carried out either at a commercial nursery company (Gorini Piante) in Pistoia, or at EPS Biotechnology in Kunovice (Czech Republic), a company providing services in the field of environmental biotechnologies. The second research (Trial 2) was planned six months later, in March 2021 only at Gorini Piante, in Italy. The growth of Photinia and Viburnum plants didn't show significant differences among the various substrates; this fact clearly shows a considerable potential of these alternative substrates to be used in the normal production cycle of ornamental shrubs.