The physiological and quality response of pelargonium graveolens (L.) grown on nitrate and ammonium nutrient solutions

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) on the yield, mineral content and oil quality of rose geranium. Nitrate, at concentrations between eight and 14 meq L-1, and, ammonium at concentrations between 0.0 and 1.5 meq L-1, was applied to rose geranium. Nitrate (10 meq L-1) produced the most significant increase in plant height, foliar fresh mass, foliar dry mass, oil yield and oil content. Ammonium applied at 1.0 meq L-1 had no significant effects on agronomic-related attributes (e.g. plant height, foliar fresh mass, and foliar dry mass, etc.), only folia N (5%), P (10%) and S (22%) levels were increased. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the redundancy of the NO3-and NH4 + data, and the eigenvalue of the correlation matrix. For the NO3-study, PC1 and PC2 accounted for most of the variability, showing a cumulative variability> 55.5%: PC1 accounted for 42.20%, while PC2 accounted for 13.31% of the total variance. For NH4+, PC1 and PC2 accounted for most of the variability, with a cumulative variability> 47.1%: PC1 accounted for 26.54%, while PC2 accounted for 20.56% of the total variance. For successful cultivation of rose geraniums, nutrient solutions should contain optimal concentrations of NO3-and NH4+.