Abstract
Leaf area development at early stages of plant growth affects dry matter production because the former is the determinant for the amount of light intercepted, which then is used for photosynthesis. A pot experiment was conducted in a glasshouse to investigate the interacting effect of soil types and nutrient levels on leaf area and leaf dry weight at early development stages of maize, bean, and sunflower. The experiment was laid down in a randomized complete block design with three factors including plant species, nutrient levels and soil types. The latter two showed an interacting effect both on leaf area per pot and leaf dry weight, but the three way interactions were not significant. Leaf area and leaf dry weight per pot were high in pot soils and at 50% nutrient level for all the plant types. All plant types showed higher difference in leaf area and leaf dry weight per pot in pot soil than in quartz sand and sandy soils. Leaf area per pot and leaf dry weight per pot was high in pot soils. Maize and bean, and maize and sunflower interactions showed significantly higher difference in leaf area and leaf dry weight in pot soil than in quartz sand and sandy soils. Key words: Pot soil, quartz sand and sandy soils, plant types.
Highlights
Maize, common bean and sunflower have long history of association with people
The three soil types were quartz sand, sandy soil and pot soil which differed in important chemical characteristics (Table 1)
The interactions among soil types, nutrient levels and plant types were significant to very significant (p < 0.05) in both experiments
Summary
Common bean and sunflower have long history of association with people. Leaf area development at early growth stages of a plant affects dry matter production because leaf area determined the amount of dry matter production (Gomez-del-Compo and Lisserague 2002).Effects of nutrient limitations on plant growth are mainly due to its effects on leaf area and to a lesser extend to its effects on photosynthesis (Marcelis, 2001).Nutrients are available to plants as soil composition or supplemented to soil. Common bean and sunflower have long history of association with people. Leaf area development at early growth stages of a plant affects dry matter production because leaf area determined the amount of dry matter production (Gomez-del-Compo and Lisserague 2002). Effects of nutrient limitations on plant growth are mainly due to its effects on leaf area and to a lesser extend to its effects on photosynthesis (Marcelis, 2001). Nutrients are available to plants as soil composition or supplemented to soil. Nutrient content of the soil is an important soil chemical property and different soil has different properties (Brye et al, 2004). Nitrogen deprivation reduces the leaf production, individual leaf area and total leaf area (Vos et al, 2005).
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