Effects of Steel Slag Used as Substrate on the Growth of <i>Hydrangea macrophylla</i> Cuttings
Jundan Mao,
Huijie Chen,
Huimin Zhou,
Xiangyu Qi,
Shuangshuang Chen,
Jing Feng,
Yuyan Jin,
Chang Li,
Yanming Deng,
Hao Zhang
Affiliations
Jundan Mao
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Huijie Chen
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Huimin Zhou
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Xiangyu Qi
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Shuangshuang Chen
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Jing Feng
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Yuyan Jin
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Chang Li
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Yanming Deng
Provincial Key Laboratory for Horticultural Crops Genetics and Improvement, Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Hao Zhang
School of Architecture and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan 243032, China
Steel slag is an industrial solid waste produced during the steelmaking process. To explore the application of steel slag in the agricultural field, the present experiment was carried out to study the effect of substrates with different contents of steel slag on the growth of Hydrangea macrophylla cuttings. The conventional substrate (perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:1:1) was used as the control (CK), and the treatments were designed as T1 (steel slag: perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:3:3:3, v/v/v/v), T2 (steel slag: perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:2:2:2, v/v/v/v), T3 (steel slag: perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:1:1:1, v/v/v/v), and T4 (steel slag: perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:0:0:0, v/v/v/v). The results showed that the addition of steel slag significantly increased the substrate’s bulk density, EC, and pH and improved its water retention capacity to a certain extent. There were significant differences among different treatments in morphological indicators, root growth and development, and physiological and biochemical characteristics of cutting seedlings. All traits, including plant height, fresh weight, dry weight, root length, root surface area, root volume, the number of root tips, root activity, and soluble protein content of seedlings grown in T3 were significantly higher than those in other substrates. The results indicated that the appropriate addition of steel slag is helpful to hydrangea cuttings’ growth, and the optimal mixing ratio is steel slag: perlite: vermiculite: peat = 1:1:1:1 (v/v/v/v). This is a significant innovation in applying steel slag in agricultural production.
