Soil Water Content Affects Decomposition of Plantable Biocontainers for Landscape Use

With increasing environmental awareness, the market is moving toward sustainable landscape practices, such as biodegradable containers. The rate and amount of biodegradation of these containers, however, has been reported as incomplete at the end of the growing season, which, depending on the geographic region, may be 3 to 5 months in the case of color rotations. When the next crop rotation is planted, container remnants have been reported to impede rototilling, slowing down planting and dulling blades. This is an impediment to the wider adoption of plantable containers, even though they can increase labor efficiency. Biodegradation largely depends on soil microbial activities, which in turn is impacted by soil type, available nitrogen, moisture, and temperature, among others. This study investigated the decomposition of paper sleeve plantable container (Ellepot®) in sandy clay soil with two moisture contents. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions, using glass containers holding soil with added shredded fabric, which were placed in an incubation chamber and held under constant 26⁰C. Carbon dioxide traps (1N NaOH) were replaced daily and cumulative amount of carbon dioxide released was assessed using standard titration protocols for measuring soil respiration. Microbial activity and degradation of the fabric was assessed by the amount of soil respiration that is carbon dioxide released. After 6 days, moisture content affected soil respiration; under 60% Water Holding Capacity (WHC), the soil with paper fabric had the highest respiration measured in mg of CO₂ released. Under 40%WHC, soil respiration was lower compared to soil with the same moisture content but without fabric.