Abstract

Geranium `Yours Truly' in 15-cm diameter plastic pots were greenhouse-grown as single pinched plants in a completely randomized design. Plants were irrigated with 300 mg/liter N from 20N-4.4P-16.6K with leaching fractions (LF) of 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4. There were 24 irrigations during the 8-week study. Plants with LF of 0.2 and 0.4 had 46% greater leaf area, 40% greater top fresh weight, and 37% greater top dry weight than plants with LF of 0 and 0.1. By week 5 the leachate electrical conductivity (EC) for LF of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 had increased from about 3 dS/m initially to 12, 8, and 4 dS/m, respectively. At harvest, medium ECe was 7, 4, 3, and 2 dS/m for LF of 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4, respectively. At harvest, medium pH was the same in the top, middle, and bottom thirds of the pot. At harvest medium ECe with LF of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 was 47, 68, and 60% lower in the bottom two-thirds of the pot than in the top third. With a LF of 0 the medium ECe was not lower in the bottom of the pot. Minimizing the LF for potted geraniums substantially reduced plant growth.

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