Lettuce

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Frass:

• Improved growth parameters (number of leaves, plant height, crown diameter, leaf area).

• Exhibited increases in soil organic matter, residual nutrient content, and enzymatic activity, leading to enhanced soil health and function.

• Reduced plant death due to Fusarium wilt disease.

• Produced the highest fresh weight and dry weight.

• Primary macronutrients (N, P, K) and Mg were highest.

• Peat mixtures with 10% frass adequately replaced a 100% peat based medium.

• Achieved significantly greater wet and dry weights than plants grown on undigested coffee husks.

• Increased plant size.

• BSF frass produced similar yields to mineral fertilizers.

• Increased microbial enzymatic activity in the soil.

• Increased plant tolerance to drought and promotion of plant photosynthetic activity.

• BSF frass application can manage Fusarium wilt in lettuce.

Mealworm Frass:

• Higher biomass, chlorophyll, and photosynthetic efficiency.

• Enhanced nitrogen uptake and assimilation, with improved foliar concentrations of nitrate, soluble protein, and total chlorophylls.

• Frass can serve as an alternative to NPK fertilization to avoid nitrate accumulation in leaves.

• Suitable for the production of leafy vegetables.

• Significantly higher lettuce aerial biomass was obtained after 1% mealworm frass application, due to an improvement in plant N uptake and assimilation.

• Mealworm frass (TMF) mixed with soil at varying concentrations improved growth parameters of Canasta lettuce.

Insect Frass (General):

• Improved plant growth at least as well as synthetic fertiliser.

• Rhizosphere bacterial community differed between amended and unamended soil, with plant growth-promoting species more abundant.

• Increased chlorophyll content in treated plants compared to those receiving vermicompost.

• Merchantable BSF frass fertilizer revealed relative superiority to poultry manure and compost by the significantly strongest positive yield response.