Leaf mold compost reduces waste, improves soil and microbial properties, and increases tomato productivity

Abstract

Soils in urban settings are often degraded, which can prevent growers from optimizing the health and productivity of their crops. In this study, we investigated whether amending soil with a locally made leaf-mold compost could (a) improve soil chemical and biological properties, (b) increase survival of a microbial inoculant with plant growth promoting and disease suppressive capabilities, and (c) enhance the yield and quality of a tomato crop. Results were promising, with dramatically greater concentrations of active soil organic matter (SOM) and marketable fruit in plots receiving the amendment in both years of the study. Foliar disease severity was also lower in compost-amended plots in the second year of the trial. Inoculating tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) transplants with Trichoderma harzianum T-22 reduced deaths that are due to transplant stress in one of the cultivars evaluated, and the compost supported greater populations of this microbe in soil demonstrating that it is possible to enhance the efficacy of beneficial microbial inoculants in field settings using targeted practices. These results indicate that urban farmers can improve the productivity of their farms by amending soils with leaf mold compost, which will help ensure the long-term sustainability of urban farming initiatives. However, all composts should be tested to ensure they do not contain toxic levels of heavy metals or pathogens, and farmers should avoid overapplication since this can reduce crop health and lead to environmental challenges.

Diversity and functional traits of indigenous soil microbial flora associated with salinity and heavy metal concentrations in agricultural fields within the Indus Basin region, Pakistan

“…( Liu et al, 2019 ; Sun et al, 2021 ), and Chaetomiaceae ( Castelan-Sanchez et al, 2019 ), have all been reported to tolerate salinity stress and have potential PGP activities. Since Sistotrema and Trichosporon were also positively correlated with SOM in the present study, future studies should consider investigating whether methods that can increase SOM, such as growing cover crops or amending soils with composts ( Hoagland et al, 2008 ; Rudisill et al, 2015 ; Reeve et al, 2016 ; Richardville et al, 2022 ), can enhance their populations in these soils.…”

High-value crops’ embedded groundnut-based production systems vis-à-vis system-mode integrated nutrient management: long-term impacts on system productivity, system profitability, and soil bio-fertility indicators in semi-arid climate

“…Leaf compost and mixed compost contain lower nutrients but have sufficient soil organic matter (SOM), hence improving soil health ( Choudhary et al., 2020 ). Further, the SOM increases the water-holding capacity of the soils and also makes more nutrients available to the plants ( Richardville et al., 2022 ). It can be inferred from the results that as LC acts as more of a soil conditioner, soil retains externally applied inorganic nutrients more efficiently and improves nutrient availability to plants ( Bhupenchandra et al., 2022b ; Gupta et al., 2022 ).…”