Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: A pot culture experiment was conducted using Goliath cultivar of Gerbera as a test crop to study the importance of Iron (Fe) and Magnesium (Mg) in the cultivation of Gerbera. The experiment was laid out with different treatments (factor A) including T1 as control (complete nutrition), T2 (excluding Magnesium) and T3 (excluding Iron), thereby accounting for 16 treatment combinations with five different days of harvesting (factor B). In both the deficiency cases (T2 and T3), there is a significant reduction in nutrient concentration of Mg and Fe in different plant parts such as crown + leaves (0.26% and 167 ppm), roots (0.15% and 145 ppm) and flowers (0.08% and 60 ppm) respectively. The nutrient uptake by gerbera plant also reduced due to the nutrient deficient treatments because of the lower production of the dry matter and also the lower nutrient concentration which causes a great setback in the cultivation of the gerbera due to low quality flowers with lower vase life and less aesthetic value. The experiment will generate information on the importance of Magnesium and Iron in the nutrition of gerbera which has got higher floricultural importance at international trade.
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2625400773