Evaluating the Fertilising Potential of Blended Recovered Nutrients in Horticultural Growing Medium on Viola x wittrockiana L.

Viola x wittrockiana L. is an ornamental plant in high demand in horticulture. It is becoming more critical for greenhouse growers to focus on sustainable production to enhance plant quality while reducing negative environmental impacts. Therefore, assessing the effect of recycled phosphorous (P) and nitrogen (N) sources on the growth of viola could become very useful for producers in terms of sustainability. This experiment analysed the optimal fertiliser composition to grow viola using recovered fertilisers in a greenhouse trial under controlled conditions. Well-rooted viola plugs were grown in a standard peat-based growing medium. Using recycled sources of P and N as struvite and potassium struvite, ammonium sulphate, and ammonium nitrate, 14 fertiliser blends were prepared, tested, and compared with the slow-release commercial fertiliser Osmocote. Plants treated with ammonium nitrate showed healthy growth and optimal plant N concentrations. In contrast, most blends using the recovered ammonium sulphate resulted in an unacceptable increase of ammonium concentrations in the growing medium. The combination of ammonium sulphate and potassium sulphate caused an increase in the electrical conductivity in the growing medium, negatively affecting plant growth. However, blend 13 containing struvite, ammonium sulphate and potassium struvite expressed the best chemical composition with non-significant differences in the biomass from the positive controls, as it reduced the amount of potassium sulphate needed. Our results indicate that fertiliser blends containing P as struvite, N as ammonium nitrate or reduced amount of ammonium sulphate, and K as potassium struvite can substitute the use of mineral fertiliser blends to grow ornamental plant species as viola.

The effect of two different fertilisers on the quality of Viola x wittrockiana Gams. seedlings

This research was carried out to analyse the effect of diverse types of fertilisers on the morphological features of pansy seedlings (Viola x wittrockiana Gams.), as well as to decide on the most appropriate concentration of fertiliser in order to obtain the highest seedlings quality. Two different types of liquid fertilisers were used in this experiment - Magnicvet and Magnihortal with six treatments. Each treatment comprised 30 plants or a total of 180 plants in the experiment were used. 30 plants per treatment were measured, 50 days after planting into plastic containers. The following biometric parameters were analysed: plant height (mm), stem thickness (mm), number of branches and number of flower buds. Measurements of biometric parameters showed that the liquid mineral fertiliser Magnihortal with NPK 10-5-5 + micro elements is more appropriate as compared with the liquid mineral fertiliser Magnicvet with NPK 7-1-5 + micro elements concerning the reinforced nutrition and eventually the enhanced quality of Viola x wittrockiana Gams. seedlings. Treatment V (Magnihortal 0.3 %) showed the highest average height of seedlings, average stem thickness and average number of branches, while the treatment VI (Magnihortal 0.4 %) showed the highest average number of flower buds.

Effect of foliar or soil application of selenium on some morphological and physiological traits of garden pansy (Viola x wittrockiana Gams) grown under salinity stress

<p>Salinity stress is one of the most important plant stresses in Iran. In this regard, a factorial experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of salinity stress on the garden pansy. The investigated factors were containing sodium selenate (0, 2, 4 and 8 mg l^-1), its method of application (foliar and soil applications) and salinity stress (0, 3 and 6 dS m^-1). The obtained results indicated that salinity leads to the significant reduction in morphological traits, chlorophyll a and b contents. Under the salinity of 6 dS m^-1, when sodium selenate was used in the soil, the fresh and dry mass of flower increased by 11.34 and 10.39 %, respectively, compared to the control. However, the use of sodium selenate by foliar application led to the increasing fresh and dry mass of garden pansy’s flower by 25.10 and 25.41 %, respectively. Also, the content of chlorophyll a increased by 12.93 % under the salinity of 6 dS m-1 with applying 8 mg l^-1sodium selenate compared to the case of non-application. The superoxide dismutase activity decreased by 26.13 % compared to the non-sodium selenate usage treatment. In conclusion the foliar application of sodium selenate at the concentraion of 8 mg l^-1 resulted in the garden pansy’s growth improvement.</p>

Effect of silicon on protein and lignin contents of two annual flower species

The beneficial effect of silicon on plants is known, but there are no studies demonstrating the effect of this element on protein and lignin production in ornamental plants. This study aimed to assess the effects of monosilicic acid fertigation at 0, 2, 4, and 8 mmol L-1 of Si on protein and lignin production of two ornamental species: Viola x wittrockiana Gams ex Nauenb. & Buttler ‘Majestic Giants II Fire’ e Tagetes erecta L. ‘Hero’ (color mix). The experiment was installed in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement using a completely randomized design with five replications. After 90 days of the sowing, we assessed N and Si contents in shoot system, Si accumulation in shoot system, root, and total, and lignin and protein production. An increase in lignin followed by its reduction was observed from the concentration of 2.0 (4.29) and 4.3 (5.72) mmol L-1 of Si for Viola and Tagetes species, respectively. Silicon application promoted higher lignin content in T. erecta and V. x wittrockiana.

Influence of salinity on the growth and development of pansies (Viola x wittrockiana Gams.)

The purpose of this paper is to determinate the influence of salinity on the growth and development of pansies (Viola x wittrockiana Gams.). The objective of the present study was to examine the cultivation area selection and use of pansies related to the autumn and winter flowering aspects. A total of 40 pansy seedlings were included in the study and allocated to four groups of ten each. The experiment conducted four involved treatments: control (K), treatment with 3g/l NaCl (T1), treatment with 5g/l NaCl (T2), and treatment with 7 g/l NaCl (T3). Concentrated water was used for watering the seedlings observed during growth. Over the course of the eight-week experiment, the following quantitative and qualitative properties of the pansy seedlings were measured: height, number of leaves, number of flowers, diameter of flowers, length of leaves, width of leaves, as well as the vitality and decorativeness of the pansy seedlings. The results obtained show that pansies can tolerate increased amounts of salt (5 g/l and 7 g/l NaCl) with adverse effects on the growth, development, vitality and decorativeness of the plant.