The Effects of Vermicompost and Urea Fertilizers on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium Uptake in Marshmallow (Altheae officinalis L.) Organs

Subject Areas : Journal of Plant Ecophysiology

A. Sadeghi ¹ , K. Hajmohammadnia ² , S.M. Seiedi ³

1 - گروه زراعت و اصلاح نباتات، دانشکده کشاورزی ، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایران
2 - گروه زراعت و اصلاح نباتات، دانشکده کشاورزی ، دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد، مشهد، ایران
3 - گروه تولیدات گیاهی ،دانشکده کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی ، دانشگاه تربت حیدریه .

Received: 2015-08-22 Accepted : 2016-01-20 Published : 2017-05-22

Keywords: Chemical fertilizer, Organic fertilizer, medicine plant, Nutrient uptake,

Abstract :

In order to investigate the effects of vermicompost and urea chemical fertilizers on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium uptake in marshmallow (Altheae officinalis L.) organs, a field experiment was conducted at Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in years of 2012. Experiment was conducted using a completely randomized block design based on factorial arrangement with three replications. Experimental treatments were three levels of vermicompost (0, 5 and 10 t. ha-1) and five levels of urea fertilizer (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of 200 kg N ha-1). Irrespective of urea fertilizer, vermicompost application had an effective role on increasing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium percentages in seed, leaf and root of marshmallow. By applying 10 t vermicompost ha-1, phosphorus percentage in seed of marshmallow was increased by 29.5 %, as compared to control treatment. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents in seed, leaf and root of marshmallow (g. m-2) were significantly increased by vermicompost application. From the results, urea fertilizer caused a significant increase on nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium percentages in seed, leaf and root of marshmallow. According to the results, there was a positive relationship between nitrogen uptake with phosphorus and potassium uptake.