Abstract
To investigate the interacting effects of polymer coated urea (PCU) and polymer coated potassium chloride (PCPC) on cotton growth, an experiment was conducted with containerized plants in 2014 and 2015. There were two kinds of nitrogen fertilizer, PCU and urea, which were combined with PCPC at three application rates (40, 80 and 120 kg ha−1). The kinds of nitrogen fertilizer formed the main plot, while individual rates of PCPC were the subplots. The results suggested N and K release patterns for PCU and PCPC in the soil were closely matched to the N and K requirements by cotton. Soil inorganic nitrogen contents significantly increased by using PCU instead of urea, and the same trend was observed with soil available potassium contents, which also had increased rates. Meanwhile, the number of bolls and lint yields of cotton in the PCU treatments were 4.9–35.3% and 2.9–40.7% higher than from urea treatments. Lint yields also increased by 9.1–12.7% with PCPC80 and PCPC120 treatments compared with PCPC40 treatment at the same nitrogen type. Hence, application of PCU combined with 80 kg ha−1 of PCPC fertilizer on cotton increased the yields and fertilizer use efficiencies in addition to improving fiber quality and delaying leaf senescence.
Highlights
Met the nitrogen requirements and improved apparent nitrogen uptake in wheat in northern China[10]
Release rates for Polymer coated urea (PCU) and polymer coated potassium chloride (PCPC) were slow before the cotton squaring stage, and accelerated from the full-bloom to the full-bolling stages, and decreased during the final stage of cotton maturity
Release rates for the PCUs and PCPCs appeared to correspond with the relative rates of cotton N or K uptake during their developmental stages
Summary
Met the nitrogen requirements and improved apparent nitrogen uptake in wheat in northern China[10]. Application of CRU increased the yields and nitrogen use efficiencies in potatoes[12,13]. CRUs improved yields and increased the protein content and reduced potential nitrogen losses compared with common urea[14]. CRU application increased nitrogen use efficiencies and crop yields and reduced the labor costs and risks to the environment[22]. The objective of this study was to determine cumulative release characteristics of PCU and PCPC in different media and the influence of PCU and PCPC supplies and their interactions on (i) the contents of soil nitrogen resulting from nitrate (NO3−-N) and ammonium (NH4+-N) and the available soil potassium contents; (ii) changes in cotton leaf chlorophyll content using photosynthetic and chlorophyll fluorescence indicators; and (iii) cotton yield, fiber quality and nutrient use efficiency
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