Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences organises international symposium on horticultural sciences

The symposium focussed on the reduction of peat in growing media and the subsequent effects on crop management and crop safety. In addition to new peat substitutes, the sustainability assessment of substrate constituents and growing media was discussed in depth. The extensive supporting programme also offered the opportunity to network with experts from various sectors and regions around the world. The event was organised by a dedicated team from the Institute of Horticulture at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences (HSWT) under the leadership of Dr Dieter Lohr.

Opening Session

The symposium was opened by Prof. Dr Christoph Moning, who emphasised the relevance of the symposium's main topics in his speech. According to him, the symposium offered the opportunity to strengthen international cooperation in this field, which is of great scientific and social importance.

In his welcoming address, Dr Thomas Schmidt from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Home Affairs (BMLEH) emphasised the importance of substrates as the foundation for sustainable and economically successful horticulture.

The Lord Mayor of Freising, Tobias Eschenbacher, thanked all participants for seeking answers to global questions and helping to shape social issues in a sustainable way.

Graeme Smith, representative of the ISHS, introduced the organisation and its sphere of activity and emphasised what the challenges in nutrition and food production will be in the future and how the symposium can find solutions to them.

Workshop and poster presentations on Monday

In groups, the participants discussed the main challenges and greatest weaknesses in reducing the peat content and identified the areas in which the effort required for a transformation is lower or higher. The findings were presented in plenary sessions and discussed further.

In the afternoon, around 70 participating scientists presented their scientific findings on new substrate raw materials, the characterisation of the chemical, biological and physical properties of growing media, peat-reduced production systems and the optimisation of nutrient and water management in two parallel poster sessions.

Keynote sessions

The three keynote sessions on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday dealt with topics relating to growing media, such as microbiology, sustainability and the evaluation and challenges associated with soilless cultivation systems. There were also lecture sessions on topics such as new starting materials and adapting cultivation methods. In addition to the international speakers, these sessions included Michael Muser from the Institute of Horticulture, who spoke about the suitability of composted paludiculture biomass as a peat substitute.

Specialist accompanying programme

Three campus tours were on the programme on Tuesday afternoon. Prof Dr Michael Beck, Head of the Institute of Horticulture, welcomed the guests to the institute. The tours covered the topics of aquaponic cut flower cultivation, vertical indoor farming, green roofs, peat reduction in growing media and paludiculture on renaturalised moorland.

On Wednesday, there were full-day excursions focussing on vegetables and logistics, the production of growing media, urban greenery and pot plant production.

Closing and conclusion

During the closing session, the best presentation and the best poster by a young scientist (ISHS Young Minds Awards) were honoured. The best poster was presented by HSWT scientist Eleonora Itri and focussed on alginate-based hydrogels as growing media in indoor farming systems. Camille Vögeli was honoured for the best presentation. She presented her work on the detection of peat using shell amoebae.

The symposium was characterised by an intensive exchange on future developments in the field of growing media and the shift in horticulture towards a circular economy. The participants particularly emphasised the constructive and collaborative work of representatives from science, industry and politics on future-oriented solutions.

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