The Effect of Peanut Shells as a Substitute for Peat in Potting Media on Growth and Nutrition of Begonia rex

Due to the environmental problems caused by the accumulation of significant amounts of waste from peanut cultivation, it seems necessary to provide a solution for the reuse of this organic waste. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to investigate the possibility of using compost of peanut shells in potting Begonia rex. The research was based on a randomized complete block design with five treatments, four pots per treatment, and three replications. The plants were grown in peat consisting perlite (2:1 v/v) and composts (25, 50, 75 and 100 v/v %) instead of peat in peat (P): perlite (Pe) (2:1 v/v) growth medium. The control consisted of P: Pe alone without peanut shells compost. The results showed that the application of peanut shells compost improved the growth factors of Begonia. Accordingly, the replacement of 25% of peanut shells compost had a better impact on plant growth by enhancing most growth factors including plant height (20.21 cm), number of leaves (13.13%), leaf fresh weight (48.88 g), leaf dry weight (2.01 g) and root fresh weight (2.37 g). However, 100% increase in peanut shells compost significantly reduced plant growth as compared to the control. It seems that in the treatment with 100% peanut shells compost, salinity increase (1.48%) was effective in reducing plant growth.