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- Author or Editor: Ronald L. Shumack x
Abstract
Boston fern [Nephrolepsis exaltata (L.) Schott ‘Compacta’] was grown with 3 rates of 2 slow-release fertilizers and with one rate of liquid fertilization. Greatest fern dry weight occurred with ferns grown with liquid fertilization (20N–0.8P–16.6K) or Osmocote (19N–2.5P–8.3K) at the 1.8 kg N/m3 rate. After 16 weeks of simulated commercial production, one-third of the ferns were moved to a low-light interior environment, while one-third were held in the greenhouse. Six weeks later, ferns moved to the interior environment were greener in color, had greater nutrient content, and exhibited less growth than did ferns held in the greenhouse.
Abstract
Nephrolepsis exaltata (L.) Schott cv. Rooseveltii was grown with 3 fertilizer rates (50, 150, and 300 ppm N) applied as 20N-8.7P-16.7K fertilizer at 3 frequencies (1, 2, and 3 times weekly). Plant dry weight and frond number were similar for ferns receiving 150 ppm N, 2 or 3 times weekly, and 300 ppm N, 3 times weekly. Ferns treated with 300 ppm N, 2 or 3 times a week, had a greater concentration of tissue N and were greener than ferns treated with 150 ppm N, 2 or 3 times weekly, or ferns treated with 300 ppm N, once weekly. P and K tissue concentrations were similar for all treatments with the exception of ferns treated with 50 ppm N.
Commercial snap bean (Phaseolus vulguris L.) yields in spring were similar when comparing a commercial fertilizer standard based on soil test recommendations to three application rates of broiler litter. Snap bean yields in the fall were higher on plots that received spring-applied broiler litter than on those receiving the commercial fertilizer standard in the fall. Increasing the application rate of broiler litter generally resulted in a linear yield response during both seasons.
Pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch `Melrose'] and pear (Pyrus calleryana Decne. `Bradford') trees in the nursery grew more in containers designed to hold water in the lower portion. The water-holding reservoir was obtained either by placing 76-liter containers in a frame holding water to a depth of 6 cm or by using containers with drainage holes 6 cm from the bottom. Continuous waterlogging at the bottom of containers resulted in root pruning and root death in the lower portion of the containers, but roots grew well above the constantly wet zone. Fresh weight of plant tops and trunk diameters were greater after two growing seasons in the containers with water reservoirs compared to those grown in similar containers with no water reservoirs. Total root dry weight was unaffected.
In sweet corn field plots in Alabama, urea-ammonia nitrogen was applied to the soil through underground and aboveground drip fertigation systems. Dry nitrogen in the form of ammonium nitrate was surface band-applied as a control. Nitrogen rates of 67 kg/ha and 135 kg/ha were applied in either 2 or 4 applications by each of the 3 methods. P and K fertilizers were applied to all treatments in a dry form according to soil test recommendations. The underground drip pipe was placed 23 cm beneath the soil surface in each row. Nitrogen (wet or dry) rate of 135 kg/ha produced greater sweet corn yield than the 67 kg/ha rate with no effect of application number on yield in 1988, when rainfall was less than adequate. In 1987 and 1989, when rainfall was adequate, no differences occurred in yields regardless of number, rate, or method of application of nitrogen.