The Peculiar Physicochemical and Agrochemical Properties of Vermiculture-Processed Poplar Leaf Litter

In the vermicompost obtained from horse manure the concentration of K+ and NO3- was, on average, 112.2 and 82.9 milliequivalents/kg of dry weight, respectively. It was significantly higher than in the vermicompost obtained from poplar leaf litter (73 and 5.6 milliequivalents/kg of dry weight, respectively). The pH-values and concentration of calcium ions in the vermicompost from poplar leaf litter were significantly higher than in the vermicompost from horse manure (7.6 vs 6.9 and 112.3 vs 83 milliequivalents/kg of dry weight, respectively). The sprouting of wheat seeds and isolated potato shoots of Nevsky breed using poplar leaf litter vermicompost extractions resulted in a significant increase in the weight of the roots compared to the seeds and shoots grown on tap water. We did not observe the effect in the case with horse manure vermicompost extracts