Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers on growth, physiology and plant color of Thuidium kanedae

Abstract

Thuidium kanedae is a kind of moss with wide distribution and high landscape value. However, we lack information about the cultivation of T. kanedae. To investigate an appropriate scheme of fertilization for the growth and development of T. kanedae, pot culture experiments were conducted with no fertilization (CK) as control, using urea (N fertilizer), calcium superphosphate (P fertilizer) and potassium sulfate (K fertilizer) combination treatments, set three levels (1-3) fertilization schemes. We investigated the growth length, coverage and color ratio of T. kanedae in various treatments, and we confirmed the fertilization scheme conducive to its growth. At the same time, the changes of related physiological indexes of plants in the optimal fertilization scheme were measured to explore the effects of fertilizer on the growth and physiological characteristics of T. kanedae. The results were as follows: (1) The coverages of T. kanedae under N1 and N2P2K2 treatments were the highest and significantly higher than that of CK. The plant length under N1 and N2K2 treatments were the highest and larger than that of CK. The plants treated with N3P3K3 and N2P2K2 had the best green degree maintenance. (2) N fertilizer and combined application of NK and NPK had the best promotion effects on the growth of T. kanedae. Overall, the contents of chlorophyll, carotenoid and soluble sugar under these treatments were higher than that of CK, while the content of soluble protein was lower than that of CK. (3) The correlation analysis showed that the green proportion was highly significantly and positively correlated with the coverage, the growth length was highly significantly and negatively correlated with the chlorophyll content of the plant. The results of this study illustrate that different treatments of fertilizer have different effects on the growth and color of T. kanedae. N fertilizer should be the main fertilizer for T. kanedae, and P and K combined application should be supplemented. N2P2K2 (N, P, K fertilization rates are 26, 14, 28 kg·hm-2·a-1 respectively) treatment has the best effects on the growth status and green degree of T. kanedae.

Keywords

• thuidium kanedae
• fertilization schedule
• growth condition
• physiological response
• plant color