Abstract

GAYOSSO-RODRIGUEZ, Salomé et al. Substrates for growing flowers. Agrociencia [online]. 2016, vol.50, n.5, pp.617-631. ISSN 2521-9766.

The ornamental activity is an important sector for the Mexican economy. The production of flowers in containers depends partly on the substrate used for its planting. The physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the substrate, the production system, the crop management, and the type of container must be appropriate for each species. In Mexico, it is common to use soil from hillsides to produce ornamental plants, and the extraction of this substrate causes erosion in the sites from which it is obtained. Tezontle, tepojal, perlite, peat, coir, and vermiculite, are also used. The demand for substrates generates investigations that aim at the physical and chemical characterizations in order to evaluate their potential and know the responses of plants to the mixtures of these materials. The aim of this essay was to know the information related to the use of substrates and their characteristics in the production of ornamental plants in Mexico.

Keywords : Production of plants without soil; production in containers; ornamental.