1Abstract. Coffee grounds (CG) improved some soil physical properties (dry density, γ d ; porosity, n; aggregation; hydraulic conductivity, K s ; and infiltration rate, IR). Effects on other properties were inconsistent (e.g., sorptivity, S), or unfavorable (e.g., available water, AW). γ d decreased and n increased with CG. CG decreased K s in sand. In calcareous soil, maximum increase was associated with 10% and 15% CG before and after wetting-and-drying cycles (WDC), respectively. K s increased with CG in clay, with greatest increase attained at 10% CG. IR decreased with CG in sand. In calcareous and clayey soils, IR decreased with CG before WDC but increased after WDC where maximum increase in clay was linked to 10% CG. No solid trends of soil sorptivity (S) were identified. Before WDC, S had the order: sand > calcareous > clay. For most cases, adding CG increased total water holding capacity (WHC). However, after WDC, the increase in water content at field capacity (FC) with CG was accompanied by a greater increase in wilting point (WP) and therefore a decrease in AW. CG improved soil structure and aggregation and increased non-water-stable aggregates in calcareous and clayey soils. Mean weight diameter (MWD) indicated an increase in water-stable aggregates in sand at 5% and 10% CG. In clay, MWD increased only at 5% CG. Although results did not show coherent responses with some tested properties, they, mostly, indicate some beneficial effects of CG, particularly in relation to improving aggregation and water flow.

<p>Applying coffee grounds (CG) to sandy, calcareous, and clayey soils resulted in notable effects on soil expansion, cracking, cohesion, internal friction, initial stress and resistance to penetration. In sand, expansion upon saturation was greater after wetting-and-drying cycles. Highest increases were 15.71%, 16.14% and 31.86% for sandy, calcareous and clayey soils, respectively. Effect of CG on cracking was negligible in sand and very slight (&lt;1.0%) in the calcareous soil but marked in clay (14.18% at 10% CG). In sand, cohesion (c) increased significantly with CG up to the 10% content. Cohesion increased by 2.5-folds and 4.5-folds at 5% and 10% CG, respectively. The presence of fine CG grains among larger sand particles, boosted microbial activities, and the resulting cementing and binding effects resulted in increased cohesion. For calcareous soil, cohesion rose from 0.04 kg∙cm-2 to 0.13 kg∙cm-2 as CG increased from 0% to 15%. In clay, maximum cohesion (0.20 kg∙cm-2) was associated with the 10% CG and was highest of all soils. In sand, the angle of internal friction (φ) decreased notably as CG increased from 5% to 10% but there was no consistent pattern in any of the soils. An increase in initial stress (pi) was observed between 0% and 10% CG in sand and between 0% and 15% in calcareous soil while clay showed no particular trend. Patterns of pi were, thus, consistent with those of cohesion for all soils. Resistance to penetration increased substantially with CG in sand. The effect in calcareous and clayey soils took an opposite trend to that of sand and resistance was generally higher in calcareous soil. Overall effects of CG on resistance were desirable in all soils as far as agriculture (seedling emergence, crop growth, irrigation, etc.) is concerned.</p>

The seedlings growth media plays a very important role in factory seedling cultivation. High quality growth media could provide healthy and high-quality seedlings for high yield of vegetable crops. This study has attempted to use some agricultural organic wastes and mineral substrates, with differ rent ratios, as growth media mixtures. to select the best growth media, which are suitable for the growth of tomato seedlings (Solanum lycopersicum). Eighteen different (growth media) mixtures were prepared from mineral fraction (sand and vermiculite) and agricultural organic wastes Palme seeds, rice straw and coffee grounds) then compared. Seven growth media mixtures were selected based on the best growth performance of tomato seedlings. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with 7 treatments and 3 replications with 5 observations per treatment. After the seedlings growth period, seedlings were harvested to determine the effect of the growth media mixtures on the different growth parameters (plant dry matter and leaf area) and (percentage of seedlings, fresh weight and chlorophyll content). The Highest seed emergency rate was achieved with T 13, T14 and T 15 mixtures and the next ones were obtained with T2 mixture. The emergency rates of all treatments were higher than control, and the lowest one was control., The results showed that SPAD value (leaf chlorophyll content) of T2 and 15 mixture was biggest for 47.18 and 46.2 followed insignificantly by T 5, T13 and T4, Which were 45.2, 43.55 and 41.96 and value for control was smallest which was 38.33 without significant difference than T 13, T14 and T4. It could be generally noticed that for fresh weight and leaf area characters, mixture of T15 (the commercial media with an addition 15% of date palm seed ground) had the highest values of plant growth and exceed the rest of the formulas followed by a mixture of T13 with a significant difference. Concerning, dry matter content the results indicated that T4, T5 and T2 of growth media mixtures achieved the highest values 11.78, 11.53 and 11.32 % for dry matter without significant difference. On the other hand, the control media mixture gave the lowest value of dry matter of the tomato transplants.