GROWTH RESPONSE AND NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY OF TWO DIEFFENBACHIA CULTIVARS GROWN IN SOILLESS CULTURE

The objective of this study was to assess the growth response and nitrogen use efficiency of two Dieffenbachia cultivars ‘Camilla’ and ‘Compacta’ irrigated with an overhead system and grown in soilless system.
Single plants were grown on 13 October 2002 in pots of 12 cm diameter containing a mixture of peat and cocofiber in a 1:1 volume ratio at a plant density of 24 plants m^-2. At the end of the experiment (13 June 2003), the plant height was around 27 cm for both cultivars.
The number of leaves per plant was very low during the first 150 days (8 leaves per plant) and increased linearly after that to reach a mean value of 30 in both cultivars.
Biomass production of both cultivars was similar in the first 150 days after transplanting, after that a linear increasing was observed until the harvest time.
In both cultivars, the nitrogen concentration in leaves was similar during the growing cycle and ranged between 32 and 42 g kg^-1 of dry weight.
The nitrogen uptake was low in the first 120 days and increase linearly from 150 days after transplanting until harvest and ranged between 50 and 175 mg plant^-1. Moreover, the nitrogen use efficiency was low during the whole growing cycle.

International Symposium on High Technology for Greenhouse System Management: Greensys2007

G. Colla, Y. Rouphael, M. Cardarelli

Dieffenbachia, growth response, nitrogen use efficiency, ornamental quality

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.801.132