2018 ASHS Annual Conference

In the U.S. there has been a tremendous amount of effort, resources, investments, and energies spent on the development and trialing of wood substrates and substrate components in the past 15 years. Evaluations have been conducted by academic researchers at numerous universities, substrate manufactures, private entrepreneurs, and by independent growers. Research on wood substrate components has indeed made great strides towards better understanding how, and to what extent, these materials can be used with or without peat, bark, or other traditional materials. A decade ago it was common practice to just “grind up trees” and try to get the resulting wood product to grow plants. Not anymore! Work has now evolved to be very focused to answer very specific questions, solve specific problems, and explore new opportunities relating to the use of wood components. An overview of some of the main topics relative to the commercialization and use of wood substrate materials will be covered including commercial products and their differences, fertility, pH, toxicity, and hydrological properties.