Published in Scientific Papers. Series B, Horticulture, Volume LXI
Written by Ana Cornelia BUTCARU, Florin STĂNICĂ, Gabi-Mirela MATEI, Sorin MATEI
The paper presents the evolution of the microbial activity analyzed through the evolution of the soil respiration, bacteria and fungi density between March 2015 and November 2016, in an organic edible rose culture under the influence of three ameliorative species and two mulching systems. Beginning with the spring of 2015, with the goal of planting an edible rose culture, in the experimental field of USAMV Bucharest, a special soil preparation was applied using three ameliorative plants, Sinapis alba L., Tagetes patula L. and Phacelia tanacetifolia L. They have a special role to control pathogens in soil and were used in seven different combinations (V1-V7) and a control plot was kept without seeding (V8). After flowering and seed formation, the mature plants were trimmed and incorporated into the soil. They were seeded in the organic roses culture also, same variants between the rose rows in the spring of 2016. In the summer of 2016, two mulching variants were applied for each initial variant (Vn), on the rose’s rows: Vn.1. wood chips and Vn.2. wool, while the control Vn.3. was represented by unmulched soil. Microbial activity was stimulated especially in variants with two plant species. The highest potential of soil respiration was characteristic for combinations including Tagetes but also in the variant with Sinapis alone that stimulated the bacterial activity in microbial communities. Generally, the bacteria and fungi density and species number was higher in V1-V7 variants than in the V8 control variant. Microbial species identified included ubiquitous bacteria and fungi with high metabolic capabilities to degrade various substrates such as cellulose from vegetal wastes or keratine from sheep wool added, due to efficient production of cellulase and keratinolytic protease enzymes (bacteria from genera Bacillus, Xanthomonas, Actinomycetes and fungi from genera Trichoderma, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Paecilomyces, Myrothecium), many of them contributing to biological control of potential plant pathogens and nematodes in rose cultures.
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