RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SWEETPOTATO FIBROUS ROOT GROWTH AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE IN FRITTED CLAY MEDIA.

Abstract

A greenhouse study was conducted to investigate the ability of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas), cv. `Centennial', `Rojo Blanco', `Georgia Jet' and `TI-82-155', fibrous roots to accumulate N, P, K, Ca and Mg. Sweetpotato plants were grown in a fritted clay medium and harvested 42 and 82 days after planting. Fibrous roots comprised 22 to 28.1% and 3.9 to 11.1% of the plant dry weight at 42 and 82 days after planting, respectively. There was no difference in the average root length/cm depth of soil among the four sweetpotato cultivars at day 42. While there was no difference in average root length among `Centennial', `Rojo Blanco' and `TI-82-155', these cultivars were significantly different from `Georgia Jet' at day 82. For the four cultivars, there were no significant differences in N, P, K, Mg and Ca Uptake at day 42, but each cultivar absorbed significantly more of each element 82 days after planting. `Georgia Jet' absorbed significantly more of the nutrients measured than the other cultivars, resulting in the highest dry matter yield. The data show that the efficient uptake and utilization of nutrients by sweetpotato are related to the amount of fibrous roots present.