Nitrogen Fertilizer-use Efficiency in Two Woody Ornamentals

High levels of N are often used to produce a vigorous plant that is also aesthetically pleasing to the purchaser. Environmental concerns with the overuse of N raise the need to find the minimum N requirements necessary to produce a salable plant. Ilex opaca and Lagerstroemia indica plants growing in 1.5-gal containers were irrigated with nutrient solutions containing N concentrations of: 15, 30, 60, 120, 210, and 300 mg N/liter. After 4 months, data indicate that using solutions >60 mg N/liter for both plant species results in leachates with N concentrations higher than those in the applied solutions. Nitrogen leaching losses increased with applied N, ranging from ≈15% to 50% for the low and high treatments, respectively. Chlorophyll readings of leaf tissue were not significantly different for plants of both species receiving N solutions higher than 60 mg·liter–1. These results indicate that N levels lower than those typically used for production of these woody ornamentals will still produce salable plants while increasing N fertilizer-use efficiency.

166 NITROGEN UPTAKE BY ROSES IS ENHANCED BY INTERMITTENT N DEPRIVATION.

N deprivation is known to increase the rate of N uptake by graminaceous plants, but such response has not been reported for mature woody plants. A recirculating nutrient solution system was utilized to study the effect of intermittent N-deprivation on N uptake by mature `Royalty' rose plants. Plants received a nutrient solution lacking N for 4, 8 or 16 days, after which one containing N was supplied for 4 days. N-deprivation resulted in a 2-3 fold increase in N uptake rate compared to control plants supplied continuously with N (e.g., 143 vs 62 mg N plant-1 day-t). The magnitude of this deprivation-enhanced N uptake was not affected by either the duration of N-deprivation or the plant developmental stage. A characteristic diurnal pattern of N uptake was observed in both N-starved and control plants. Uptake oscillated between minimum rates in the morning and maximum rates in the evening, the latter occurring 4-6 hr after the maximum transpiration rates. The ability to increase the rate of N uptake in roses by depriving them of N for several days may be of practical importance for increasing N fertilizer use efficiency and decreasing N losses to leaching.