INFLUENCE OF CACO₃ ADDED TO THE SUBSTRATE ON THE NITROGEN NUTRITION OF PELARGONIUM HORTORUM MOTHER PLANTS

With the conditions of growing on artificial substrates, the nitrogen nutrition of the Pelargonium hortorum mother plants can be obtained by nutrient solutions including either nitric or ammonium form ; in the latter case, the non organic and organic plant contents are changed and symptoms of toxicity can occur.
Former works of GOUNY (1955) have shown that the presence of CaCO₃ in the nutrient medium was a factor of reducing the ammonium toxicity in annual plant cultures.

In this paper, the authors study the influence of increasing rates of CaCO₃ (0 to 12 kg/m³) added to a substrate (sand + sphagnum peat 1/1) on the production and the chemical content of cuttings yielded on Pelargonium mother plants grown with feeding solutions of different nitric nitrogen/ammonium nitrogen ratio (12/2 and 4/10).

International Symposium on Substrates in Horticulture other than Soils In Situ

F. LEMAIRE, A. DARTIGUES

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1984.150.22