Very little is known about the response of Lachenalia to fertilisation when cultivated in
soil. The objective of this study was therefore to quantify the effect of fertilisation on the
growth, yield and quality of Lachenalia in both the nursery and pot plant phases. In order
to achieve this two pot trials for the nursery phase and one pot trial for the pot plant phase
were conducted in the glasshouse.
For the first trial in the nursery phase the combined effect of nine nitrogen levels and
three application times on the Lachenalia cultivars, Rupert and Ronina, were studied.
The nitrogen was applied at levels equivalent to 0, 30, 70, 120, 180, 250, 330, 420 or 520
kg N ha -1 . Three different nitrogen application times were used namely: one third with
planting and the rest 10 weeks after planting (T1); one third with planting and the other
two thirds after planting (T 2) or one quarter with planting and the other three quarters
after planting (T3). The leaf area of Ronina plants was larger than that of Rupert plants
irrespective of nitrogen levels and application times. However, Ronina bulbs were larger
and softer than Rupert bulbs. The nutrient (N, P, Ca and Mg) and carbohydrate (D-glucose,
sucrose and starch) content of Rupert bulbs were higher than that of Ronina
bulbs. Application of nitrogen had a positive influence on the leaf area, bulb fresh mass
and circumference of both cultivars. Bulb firmness was negatively influenced by
nitrogen application. The best results for most parameters were obtained when nitrogen
was applied in four equal applications.
In the second trial for the nursery phase the response of Rupert and Ronina to five
nitrogen (0, 70, 180, 330 or 520 kg N ha -1 ) and five phosphorus (0, 10, 30, 50 or 80 kg N
ha -1 ) or five potassium (0, 70, 180, 330 or 520 kg N ha -1 ) levels were studied. Neither the
interaction between nitrogen and phosphorus levels nor the interaction between nitrogen
and potassium levels had a large influenced on the growth and development of
Lachenalia. Results obta ined in this trial with respect to the effect of nitrogen levels on
the different parameters mainly confirm with the results obtained with the first trial. In the trial for the pot plant phase the effect of seven nitrogen levels (0, 30, 70, 120, 180,
250, 330, 420 or 520 kg N ha -1 ) on Lachenalia grown from 7-8 cm bulbs, whereof the
fertilisation history in the nursery phase differed, was investigated. The fertilisation
history of the bulbs in the nursery phase consisted of three nitrogen levels (0, 70, 250 or
520 kg N ha -1 ) combined with two nitrogen application times (T1, T2 or T3 as described
earlier). The leaf area of Ronina plants was larger than that of Rupert plants. Nitrogen
applied in the nursery phase promoted the leaf area of both Rupert and Ronina.
Application of nitrogen in the nursery phase and in the pot plant phase increased the
number of inflorescence per plant and the number of florets per inflorescence. The
peduncle length increased with higher nitrogen levels in the nursery phase wherea s the
peduncle diameter increased with higher nitrogen levels in the pot plant phase.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-07052005-135943 |
| Date | 05 July 2005 |
| Creators | Engelbrecht, G M |
| Contributors | Prof CC du Preez, Prof JJ Spies |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-07052005-135943/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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