DEFINING NEW AERATION AND CAPILLARY RISE CRITERIA TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF GROWING MEDIA

摘要

Recent research results have pointed out the need to focus on exchange properties when characterizing growing media. For aeration, gas diffusion should be characterized while for adequate water transfers, unsaturated hydraulic conductivity measurements should be performed. While there is a consensus that such parameters should be used, little information exists on norms and methodologies to guide the substrate manufacturing process. Also, the methodology is still in development for some of those parameters. This paper will present an overview of the recent development in this field, give some guide values identified for gas diffusion and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and describe the different methodologies that may be used for such characterization.