Growth and Uptake in Maize as Influenced by NPK Fertilizer in Green House Experiment

Abstract

It is important to explore varying supply of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) for sustainable production of maize in green house environment. This necessitated the study to determine the effect of these nutrients on growth and nutrient uptake in maize. In this study, three separated pot experiments were conducted in a complete randomized block design with three replications. Treatments consisted of N,P, K as 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 kg N ha-1, 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 kg P ha-1 and 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 kg K ha-1 for the first, second and third experiment, respectively. Maize seeds of variety Swam 1 were sown in pots and N, P and K fertilizer treatments were applied two weeks after planting (WAP). Data of growth parameters of maize were collected fortnightly on plant height, stem girth, number of leaves, leaf length, width and area for 8 weeks; dry matter yield and uptake were determined at the end of the experiments. The result showed that application of N at 120 kg ha-1 significantly increased plant height (66%), leaf number (96%) and dry matter accumulation in maize, whereas leaf area and P concentration (157%) significantly increased with  150 kg N ha-1. Significant increases in plant height (26%), girth, leaf area, leaf number (54%), shoot dry weight and N concentration were recorded with 60 kg P ha-1. However, the application of K at 180 kg ha-1 increased the plant height (16%), girth (61%), leaf number, leaf area (24%), leaf length (10%), leaf width (10%), concentration and uptake of N and K. It was concluded that maize growth and uptake was greatly influenced by N, P, K applications at 120 to 150 kg N ha-1, 60 kg P ha-1 and 180 kg K ha-1.