Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine optimum fertilizer concentrations, identify leaf tissue nutrient sufficiency ranges by chronological age, and establish leaf tissue nutrient standards of containerized Russian sage (Perovskia sp.). Common Russian sage (P. atriplicifolia Benth.) and 'Crazy Blue' Russian sage were greenhouse-grown in a soilless substrate under one of six constant liquid fertilizer concentrations [50, 75, 100, 200, 300, or 400 mg·L-1nitrogen (N)] with a constant level of a water-soluble micronutrient blend. Fertilizer concentrations sufficient for optimal plant growth and development were determined by analyzing plant height, diameter, growth index, primary shoot caliper, axillary shoot number, and total dry mass; they were found to be 100 to 200 mg·L-1N after a 6-week crop cycle. Recently, mature leaf tissue samples were collected from plants fertilized with 100 to 200 mg·L-1N and analyzed for elemental contents of 11 nutrients at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after transplant (WAT). An overall trend of increasing foliar nutrient concentrations over time was observed for all elemental nutrients. For instance, at 2 WAT, the total N concentrations of common Russian sage and 'Crazy Blue' Russian sage ranged between 3.68% and 5.10% and between 3.92% and 5.12%, respectively, and increased to ranges of 5.94% to 5.98% and 5.20% to 5.86% at 6 WAT, respectively. Before this study, no leaf tissue concentration standards have been reported; therefore, this study established leaf tissue concentration sufficiency ranges for the trialed Perovskia selections.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1303-1307 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | HortScience |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 6 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:I gratefully acknowledge Kyle Martin for greenhouse assistance and Dr. James Altland and Erin Lowe for substrate analysis. I thank Walters Gardens, Inc., for plant material; Barson's Greenhouse for substrate; Bordine's Farm for the fertilizers; and the Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation, Inc. and Michigan State University Extension Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute (AABI) Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs (GREEEN) Research for funding support. The use of trade names in this publication does not imply endorsement by the University of Kentucky or University of Kentucky Extension of products named nor criticism of similar ones not mentioned.
Funding Information:
Received for publication 7 May 2020. Accepted for publication 4 June 2020. Published online 6 July 2020. I gratefully acknowledge Kyle Martin for green-house assistance and Dr. James Altland and Erin Lowe for substrate analysis. I thank Walters Gardens, Inc., for plant material; Barson’s Greenhouse for substrate; Bordine’s Farm for the fertilizers; and the Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation, Inc. and Michigan State University Extension Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute (AABI) Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs (GREEEN) Research for funding support. The use of trade names in this publication does not imply endorsement by the University of Kentucky or University of Kentucky Extension of products named nor criticism of similar ones not mentioned. W.G.O. is the corresponding author. E-mail: wgowen@ uky.edu. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Greenhouse production
- Macronutrient
- Micronutrient
- Nitrogen
- Perennial
- Plant nutrition
- Russian sage
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Horticulture
