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Research article2024Peer reviewedOpen access

Pre-vegetated green roof sedum mats: Mineral nutrient status and apparent fertiliser recovery during production

Oskarsson, Camilla; Pettersson, Lina; Jonsson, Helene Larsson; Caspersen, Siri

Abstract

Increased urbanisation and requests for more sustainable urban environments create a strong demand for sedum mats used for green roof establishment. However, little information is available on mineral nutrient status and nutrient requirements in pre-vegetated sedum mat production. In this study we present tissue mineral nutrient concentrations in Sedum album L. as affected by production site, sampling date and pre-winter treatment at a commercial pre-vegetated green roof mat producer. In 2018, seasonal variation in shoot nutrient concentrations were examined at three sites (Elnaryd, Lagan, Tutaryd). In 2019, pre-winter application of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) combined with winter coverage with polyethylene shade net (PKS) was compared with pre-winter PK fertilisation alone (PK) at the Elnaryd site. Plant sap analyses were performed at several sampling occasions both years. We observed a large variation in nutrient concentrations between sites, years and sampling occasions, which is consistent with earlier findings of large variation in nutrient concentrations for Crassulaceae spp. The nitrogen (N), P and K shoot concentration ranges were 0.85-3.7 %, 0.18-0.44 % and 1.1-2.7 %, respectively. In 2019, biomass was significantly higher for PKS than for PK. The apparent nutrient recovery efficiency of P and K were doubled at PKS in comparison with PK, increasing from 11 to 20 % for P and from 20 to 40 % for K. Even if the effects of winter coverage could not be separated from extra N fertiliser added to PKS, our results indicate that shade net coverage during winter could be a strategy in the production of green roof mats, promoting early deliveries. Plant sap concentrations of NO3- and K+ were correlated with N and K concentrations in the dry shoot tissue, suggesting that plant sap analysis with hand-held instruments could be used by pre-vegetated mat producers to develop a more requirement-oriented fertilisation strategy.

Keywords

Apparent nutrient recovery efficiency; Plant sap analysis; Pre-grown green roof mats; Sedum album; Winter coverage

Published in

Scientia Horticulturae
2024, volume: 336, article number: 113428

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Horticulture

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2024.113428

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/140860