Effect of Soil Moisture Tension and Soil Water Content on the Growth of Chrysanthemum in 3 Container Media

Abstract

No differences in final height, top fresh weight, top dry weight, or flower number were observed in Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. ‘Spice’ grown in 16.5-cm azalea pots when allowed to dry to soil moisture tensions of 5, 10, 20, or 30 kPa between waterings. Differences did occur in these parameters among the 3 tested media. Differences also occurred across all 3 media based on the volume of water remaining in the pot prior to watering. Plants growing in media containing more than 500 ml water just prior to irrigation had increased growth compared to plants in media containing less than 500 ml water. Cubic regression models were used to describe the percentage of moisture in the pot at soil moisture tensions between 0 and 30 kPa. The model may be used to predict container capacity and air space for most container sizes.