LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Kristie, David

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Vermicomposting is the process of adding worms to aerate a system of decomposing organic waste. The goal of this project was to assess the feasibility of using vermicompost as a natural enrichment source of CO2 that could potentially increase plant growth inside a closed environment. Lactuca sativa (lettuce) cultivars Parris Island Cos and Outredgeous were grown during the experiments along with Ocimum basilicum (basil) cultivar Compatto. There was no significant difference in growth or leaf surface area for any of the plant cultivars when grown in the presence of vermicompost versus the control environments. During the day, the mean temperature within the two growth frames containing plants was between 6–9°C higher than the open phytotron, but there was no difference at night. The relative humidity of the growth frame with vermicompost and plants was between 6–10% higher than the frame with plants and the open phytotron at night, but showed no difference during the day. There was no significant difference between CO2 levels within the closed growth frame with plants, the outdoor air reference and the open phytotron that were used as controls. There was a significant difference in CO2 concentration between the controls and the growth frames that contained vermicompost, with mean differences that ranged from 7–57 parts per million (ppm). Two vermicompost bins did not produce higher CO2 concentrations than observed in the frames with only one bin. These results indicated that a substantially greater amount of vermicompost or a redesign of the growth frames would be required to enrich the CO2 concentration to a level that might consistently increase plant growth. Based on these results, the predictions that vermicompost could create a CO2 enriched environment that would be sufficient to increase plant growth was not supported.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1008