The role of zeolite in greenhouse soil improvement

Greenhouse cultivation as a major industry in modern rural areas, greenhouse soil degradation problems also seriously plague local farmers growing vegetables. Vegetable production in many areas of China over the years has caused soil tightening phenomena, some of which have become salinized, and vegetable yields have been declining year by year. 

Although various soil improvement experiments have been carried out, such as soil exchange method, deep tilling method, additional application of chemical fertilizers and other pesticides, etc. However, there are also drawbacks such as high labor intensity, short prescription, poor product quality and high cost, leading some vegetable farmers to abandon greenhouse vegetables. Therefore, how to improve the degraded greenhouse soil has become a very urgent problem. Natural zeolite plays an obvious role in greenhouse soil improvement, which can improve degraded soil conditions and increase vegetable yield.

As a whole, zeolite is gaining more and more attention in agriculture because of its good ion exchange, adsorption, water absorption, fertilizer retention, special crystal structure and chemical composition. In foreign countries, zeolites are used as soil conditioners for field and vegetable production. 

For example, in Japan, 20% of natural zeolite is used to improve soil. In some domestic places and research institutes, field soil trials and indoor pot trials of natural zeolite have been conducted, and obvious results have been achieved. After more than two years of field trials, the results show that the use of natural zeolite to transform greenhouse soil has the advantages of good effect, low cost, simple operation, good quality of vegetables, significant economic and social benefits, etc., and is worth promoting and applying in the country.

It can be seen that the conversion of effective phosphorus in the soil still showed an increasing trend with repeated application of equal amount of zeolite. the decrease of K2O, on the other hand, indicates that the rate of zeolite influence on its pH value in the soil is higher with the increase of fertilizer supply capacity. The analytical data showed that the water retention capacity of the soil was increasing with the addition of zeolite. 

Villagers reported that the plots without zeolite application had to be watered once a week, while the test area with zeolite application was watered once in 10d, which fully proved the water retention and drought resistance of zeolite application. The pH analysis showed that the acidity and alkalinity of the soil transformed toward the pH range of 6.0 to 6.8, which is most suitable for vegetable growth.

According to the farmers who used it, the pepper fields with zeolite application did not have a single pesticide application, and grew vigorously with loose soil, thick stems and high fruit set rate. The root system is well developed. Even in winter, it still grows well. So his pepper field increased yield by more than 26%. 

In contrast, the plot without zeolite had 5 times of pesticides and still had diseased strains, the soil was caked, the fruit set rate was poor, and the growth stopped in severe winter. The reason for this is that zeolite has open pores, which can easily absorb and emit heat. When the daytime temperature is high and sunny, the zeolite absorbs the heat, and when the evening temperature is low, the heat is released. So it enables the soil to maintain a high temperature, which is very suitable for the growth of vegetables in winter greenhouses. Zeolite plays the role of a thermostat. In addition, because zeolite contains a variety of trace elements, it provides a variety of nutrients for plant growth, making the vegetables more resistant to disease.