Ion exchange BIONA substrates with new anion exchange components

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the possibility of using new industrial ion exchangers such as TOKEM and AN-31 as carriers of anions of nutritional elements for plants. Their working exchange capacity for anions of the main nutrients (NО₃^–, SО₄^2–, Н₂PО₄^–/НPО₄^2–) and water-holding capacity were determined. Using anion exchangers AN-31, TOKEM-320, TOKEM-400 and cation exchanger TOKEM-100, three variants of ion-exchange substrates were obtained. The quality of the obtained substrates was assessed in preliminary laboratory experiments on growing leaf lettuce Lactuca sativa L., perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne L., capsicum Capsicum annuum L., wild strawberry Fragaria vesca L., cherry tomatoes Lycopersicon cerasus L. and marigold Tagetes patula L. on 100 % substrates and their mixtures with infertile sand or soil for growing vegetable and flower crops. The fertility of substrates was assessed by the amount of fresh and dry biomass per gram of substrate. It has been established that all the studied anion exchangers are useful for producing ion-exchange substrates with fertility at the level of the previously developed BIONA-111^® substrate.