The effect of thermovermiculite on the early stages of vegetable growth and development

Laboratory experiments on the use of expanded vermiculite for seed germination of five vegetable plant species promising for cultivation in the Kola Subarctic (Beta vulgarisL.,Brassica oleraceaL.,Brassica oleraceaL. var.botrytisL.,Brassica rapaL. Chinese Cabbage Group,Lactuca sativaL.) were carried out. The research used two types of substrates from Kovdor vermiculite differing in firing conditions; agricultural soil was used as acontrol. Plant growth and development at the juvenile stage of ontogenesis differed significantly (p0.005) for three variants of the experiment. The best results were obtained in the variants with the use of vermiculite substrates, which promoted more intensive seed germination, growth of shoots and roots in seedlings of all five vegetable crops, compared to the control (soil). Significant differences in accumulation of green biomass by seedlings were observed only in the experiment with beetroot. In the other four species, the difference in seedling weight was insignificant. New type of thermovermiculite(TV2-H), obtained by firing in an innovative furnace of A.I. Nizhegorodovs design, had amore pronounced positive effect on seed germination, seedling growth and root length of the studied species of vegetable crops, compared with Vipon-2 thermovermiculite. TV2-H thermovermiculite can be recommended for the use in crop production for germination of vegetable seeds.