Demonstration gardens with EDTA-washed soil. Part III, Plant growth, soil physical properties and production of safe vegetables

Gluhar, Simon (author), Kaurin, Anela (author), Vodnik, Dominik (author), Kastelec, Damijana (author), Zupanc, Vesna (author), Leštan, Domen (author)

In previous reports large-scale EDTA-based soil washing using ReSoil® technology was demonstrated. In the current study, we established a vegetable garden with nine raised beds (4 × 1 × 0.5 m), three with original (contaminated) soil, three with remediated soil, and three with remediated soil vitalized by addition of vermicompost, earthworms, and rhizosphere inoculum. The garden was managed in 6 rotations between July 2018 and November 2019. Buckwheat was sown first as a green manure followed by spinach, lamb's lettuce, chicory, garlic, onion, leek, lettuce, carrot, kohlrabi and spinach again. Buckwheat growth on the remediated soil was reduced by half. Throughout the gardening process there were no remarkable differences in bulk density, hydraulic conductivity, available water capacity, and aggregate stability of the original and remediated soil. Biomass yield and plant performance, as measured by NDVI, also remained similar regardless of soil treatment. Remediation reduced Pb concentration in edible parts of vegetables from 76 (garlic) to 95% (kohlrabi), Zn concentration from 14 (lettuce) to 76% (first cutting of chicory), and Cd concentration from 33% (carrot) to 91% (leek and second cutting of chicory). The transfer of metals from soil to root and from root to shoot occurred in the order: Pb < Zn < Cd. The bioconcentration of toxic metals in edible plant parts was generally lower in the remediated soils. Application of ReSoil® technology and growing vegetables that exclude metals, especially Cd, has potential for safe food production on remediated soils. Vitalization had little effect on the properties of the remediated soil.

• Language: English
• Keywords: remediated soil, vegetable garden, plant performance, soil physical properties, plant metal uptake, safe food
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2021
• Number of pages: 14 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 792, art. 148521
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-133181
• UDC: 631.4
• ISSN on article: 0048-9697
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148521
• COBISS.SI-ID: 68308739
• Publication date in RUL: 16.11.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Science of the total environment
• Shortened title: Sci. total environ.
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0048-9697
• COBISS.SI-ID: 26369024

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: čiščenje tal, pranje tal, EDTA, vrtnine, remediacija, očiščena tla, fizikalne lastnosti tal, elementi v sledovih, težke kovine, svinec, cink, kadmij, kemična sestava, varna hrana

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: J4-8219
• Name: Vrtovi z remediiranimi tlemi: zmanjševanje tveganja in pridelava varne hrane

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0085
• Name: Agroekosistemi