Open Access140 Influence of Potassium Nutrition on Growth and Sugar Content of Carrot
Author(s) -
Hoon Kang,
Abbas M. Lafta,
Chiwon W. Lee,
Murray E. Duysen,
Larry Cihacek
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
hortscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.518
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2327-9834
pISSN - 0018-5345
DOI - 10.21273/hortsci.34.3.465e
Subject(s) - perlite , daucus carota , potassium , sugar , chemistry , shoot , germination , vermiculite , sucrose , horticulture , nutrient , biomass (ecology) , botany , agronomy , biology , food science , organic chemistry
The influence of potassium (K) nutrition on the growth and sugar contents of carrot ( Daucus carota L.) cv. Navajo was investigated in a greenhouse study. Seeds were germinated in 15-cm plastic pots (volume1.5 L) containing a peatlite mix (2 parts peat:1 part vermiculite:1 part perlite, v/v). Starting at 6 true-leaf stage (5 weeks from germination), plants were watered with nutrient solutions containing 0, 1, 2, 4, or 8 meq K/L for 10 weeks. While plants receiving no potassium had the lowest biomass yield, there was little or no difference in shoot or root biomass yields between different K concentrations. Root glucose and sucrose contents were the highest when plants grown with 8 meq K/L and 4 meq K/L, respectively, from the nutrient solution. The influence of nutrient solution K concentration on tissue content of K and other macronutrient elements was also determined.