Physico-chemical properties of peat-reduced press-pot substrates

The data was processed in the manuscript "Reducing peat in substrate mixture formulations for press pots using the Taguchi method". Here, the Taguchi design was assessed as an alternative to classical experimental design for identifying optimal peat-reduced substrate mixtures for press-pots. The substrates mixtures were composed by 50 % v/v of a professional press-pot substrate (100 % peat) with varying shares of green compost, bark compost, wood fibre and rice husks ("Composition of the press-pot substrates.xlsx"). After mixing, press pots were formed from each substrate and received an initial fertilization of 50 mg N (142.85 mg NH4NO3). The press pots were stored (randomized) in a climate cabinet at 20°C and 80 % air humidity. The following parameters were assessed: density, pH-value, salt content, maximum water holding capacity (WHCmax), stability and mineral N (nitrate and ammonium). Methods and units are described in the table "Measured parameters.xlsx". The mineral N content was measured at three dates: one day after the initial fertilization, seven and 14 days after the first measurement of mineral N. An overview on the dates of the measurements is given in the table "Dates of the measurments.xlsx". The data ("Properties of the press-pot substrates.xlsx") lists the results for the selected physical and chemical properties of the press-pot substrate mixtures for each parameter and each repetition (five repetitions for all parameters but WHCmax). The aims of the research were to assess (a) if the combinations of the selected raw materials are suitable as press pot substrates in vegetable production and (b) if the Taguchi design is appropriate for the quality assessment of substrate blends and for the creation of algorithms to predict major characteristics of substrate mixtures.本数据集的处理基于论文《采用田口方法（Taguchi method）降低压块培养基配方中的泥炭占比》。本研究将田口设计作为经典实验设计的替代方案，用于筛选适配压块培养基的低泥炭基质混合配方。基质混合物由体积占比50%的专业压块专用纯泥炭基质，与不同比例的绿色堆肥、树皮堆肥、木质纤维及稻壳复配而成（详见Composition of the press-pot substrates.xlsx）。混合完成后，利用各基质制备压块培养基，并施加初始氮肥50 mg（以硝酸铵计，即142.85 mg NH4NO3）。压块培养基被随机放置于气候箱中，于20℃、空气相对湿度80%的条件下储存。 本研究测定的参数包括：密度、pH值、盐含量、最大持水量（WHCmax）、稳定性及矿质氮（硝态氮与铵态氮）。测定方法与单位详见Measured parameters.xlsx。矿质氮含量分别在三个时间点测定：初始施肥后1天、首次矿质氮测定后第7天及第14天。测定时间安排详见Dates of the measurements.xlsx（原文存在拼写失误“measurments”，标准拼写为“measurements”）。数据集Properties of the press-pot substrates.xlsx列出了各基质混合配方的各项物理与化学属性的测定结果，包含所有参数的5次重复测定（最大持水量除外）。 本研究的目标为：(a) 评估所选原料的复配组合是否可作为蔬菜生产中使用的压块培养基质；(b) 验证田口设计是否适用于基质混合物的质量评估，以及是否可用于构建预测基质混合物主要特性的算法。