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Title:   Author  item
                                            Locke, Jamesitem
                                            Altland, Jamesitem
                                            Bobak, Deanna
  Submitted to: HortScience
                                    Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 10/14/2011
                                    Publication  Date: 12/20/2011
                                    Citation: Locke, J.C., Altland, J.E., Bobak, D.M. 2011. Seedling geranium response to nitrogen deprivation and subsequent recovery in hydroponic culture. HortScience. 46(12):1615-1618.Interpretive Summary: Nitrogen (N) is the most critical element required for plant growth and development and is the basis for fertilizer recommendations.  Since a deficiency in N expresses itself in yellowed leaves and stunted growth, recommendations for plant production of floricultural crops are generally based on N requirements.  Research has shown the critical amount of N required to produce a marketable plant and, based on symptoms, when additional fertilization is required.  What has not been adequately researched is how long a plant can be deprived of sufficient N and still yield a marketable plant.  This research was directed at determining how long N could be withheld from production, its impact on plant size, and if a deprived plant could be rescued for sale.  Plant size was reduced after just four days of N deprivation but marketable geranium plants could be produced if N was restored for at least 8 days following a period of not longer than 12 days of deprivation.  Smaller plants, of similar foliar quality to constantly fed plants, were produced and potentially this manipulation of  N supply can be used to control plant growth for marketing purposes.
                                Technical Abstract: Nitrogen (N) fertilization recommendations to achieve optimum growth are well established for most floricultural crops.  While it has been shown that plant functions can recover from N-deficiency in other crops, little research has investigated the threshold beyond which a bedding plant crop is recoverable.  The objective of this research was to determine the effect of N deficiency on geranium chlorophyll content and growth, then to document the degree of recovery and recovery time from N deprivation.  This was determined in two experiments by monitoring chlorophyll content and growth of seedlings grown in hydroponic culture in which the N source was removed and then restored after differing lengths of time.  Summarizing across both experiments, chlorophyll and foliar N levels were shown to rebound quickly after N depravation; however, growth was reduced after just four days compared to plants fed constantly.  Geraniums grown wiithout N for 4 to 12 days resulted in smaller, more compact plants, with lower shoot to root ratios.


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