Abstract
Eggplants (Solanum melongena L. cv. Bonica) were grown in a glasshouse during summer under natural light with one unbranched shoot or one shoot with 3 to 4 branches and with or without fruit in quartz sand buffered and not buffered with 0.5% CaCO3 (w : v), respectively. Nutrient solutions supplied contained nitrate or ammonium as the sole nitrogen source.
Compared with nutrient solutions containing nitrate (10 mM), solutions containing ammonium (10 mM) caused a decrease in net photosynthesis of eggplants during early stages of vegetative growth when grown in quartz sand not buffered with CaCO3. The decrease was not observed before leaves showed interveinal chlorosis. In contrast, net photosynthesis after bloom at first increased more rapidly in eggplants supplied with ammonium than with nitrate nitrogen. However, even in this case, net photosynthesis decreased four weeks later when ammonium nutrition was continued. The decrease was accompanied by epinasty and interveinal chlorosis on the lower leaves and later by severe wilting, leaf drop, stem lesions, and hampered growth of stems, roots, and fruits. These symptoms appeared later on plants not bearing fruits than on plants bearing fruits. If nutrient solutions containing increasing concentrations of ammonium (0.5–30 mM) were supplied after the time of first fruit ripening, shoot growth and set of later flowers and fruits were promoted. In contrast, vegetative growth and reproduction was only slightly affected by increasing the concentration of nitrate in the nutrient solutions.
In quartz sand buffered with CaCO3 ammonium nutrition caused deleterious effects only under low light conditions (shade) and on young plants during rapid fruit growth. If eggplants were supplied with ammonium nitrogen before bloom, vegetative growth was promoted, and set of flowers and fruit occurred earlier than on plants supplied with nitrate. Furthermore, the number of flowers and fruit yield increased. These effects of ammonium nutrition were more pronounced when plants were grown with branched shoots than with unbranched shoots.
The results indicate that vegetative and reproductive growth of eggplants may be manipulated without causing injury to the plants by supplying ammonium nitrogen as long as the age of the plants, carbohydrate reserves of the roots, quantity of ammonium nitrogen supplied, and pH of the growth medium are favourable. T W Rufty Section editor
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barker, A V and Mills, H A 1980 Ammonium and nitrate nutrition of horticultural crops. Hort. Rev. 2, 395–423.
Barker, A V, Volk, R J and Jackson, W A 1966 Root environment acidity as a regulatory factor in ammonium assimilation by the bean plant. Plant Physiol. 41, 1193–1199.
Barker, A V, Volk, R J and Jackson, W A 1966 Growth and nitrogen distribution patterns in bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) subjected to ammonium nutrition. Soil Sci. Am. Proc. 30, 228–232.
Block, F R, Lenz, F und Onkels, R 1983 Einrichtungen zur Messung 093 von Photosynthese Respiration und Transpiration. Gartenbauwissenschaft 48, 128–134
Buban, T, Varga, A, Tromp, J, Knegt, E and Brunsma, J 1978 Effects of ammonium and nitrate nutrition on the level of zeatin and amino nitrogen in xylem sap of apple rootstocks. Z. Pflanzenphysiol. 89, 289–295.
Claussen, W 1983 Untersuchungen über den Zusammenhang 093 zwischen der Verteilung der Assimilate und der Saccharose-Synthetase-Aktivität in Solanum melongena L. 2. Assimilatverteilung und Saccharose-Sythetase-Aktivität. Z. Pflanzenphysiol 110, 175–182.
Claussen, W 1986 Influence of fruit load and environmental factors on nitrate reductase activity and on the concentration of nitrate and carbohydrates in leaves of eggplants (Solanum melongena). Physiol. Plant. 67, 73–80.
Claussen, W und Biller, E 1977 Die Bedeutung der Saccharoseund 093 Stärkegehalte der Blätter für die Regulierung der Netto-Photosyntheseraten. Z. Pffanzenphysiol. 81, 189–198.
Daunicht, H-J 1970 Ein Verfahren zur exakten automatischen Photosynthesekompensation. 093 Ber Dtsch. Bot. Ges. 83, 499.
Edwards, J H and Horton, B D 1982 Interaction of peach seedlings to NO3:NH4 ratios in nutrient solutions. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 107, 142–147.
Elamin, O M and Wilcox, G E 1986 Nitrogen form ratio influence on muskmelon growth, composition, and manganese toxicity. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 111, 320–322.
Errebhi, M and Wilcox, G E 1990 Plant species response to ammonium-nitrate concentration ratios. Plant Nutr. 13, 1017–1029.
Givan, C V 1979 Metabolic detoxifcation of ammonia in tissues of higher plants. Phytochemistry 18, 375–382.
Goyal, S S, Huffaker, R C and Lorenz, O A 1982 Inhibitory effects of ammoniacal nitrogen on growth of radish plants. II. Investigations on the possible causes of ammonium toxicity to radish plants and its reversal by nitrate. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 107, 130–135.
Goyal, S S, Loreno, O A and Huffaker, R C 1982 Inhibitory effects of ammoniacail nitrogen on growth of radish plant. I. Characterization of toxic effects of NH4 + on growth and its alleviation by NO3 −. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 107, 125–129.
Grasmanis, V O and Edwards, G R 1974 Promotion of flower initiation in apple trees by short exposure to the ammonium ion. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 1, 99–105.
Greidanus, T, Peterson, L A, Schrader, L E and Dana, M N 1972 Essentiality of ammonium for cranberry nutrition. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 97, 272–277.
Kirkby, E A and Hughes, A D 1970 Some aspects ofammonium and nitrate nutrition in plant metabolism. In Nitrogen Nutrition of the plant. Ed. E A Kirkby. pp 69–77. The University of Leeds, Leeds.
Manolakis, E und Lüdders, P 1977 Die Wirkung gleichmäßiger 093 und jahreszeitlich abwechsender Ammonium—und Nitraternährung auf Apfelbäume. III. Einfluß auf das generative Wachstum. Gartenbauwissenschaft 42, 118–126.
Marques, I A, Oberholzer, N J and Erismann, K H 1983 Effects of different nitrogen sources on photosynthetic carbon metabolism in primaty leaves of non-nodulated Phaseolus vulgaris L. Plant Physiol. 71, 555–561.
Marschner, H 1983 General introduction to the mineral nutrition of plants. In Inorganic Plant Nutrition. Eds. A:äuchli and R L Bielski. pp 3–60. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Maynard, D N and Barker, A V 1969 Studies on the tolerance of plants to ammonium nutrition. J. Am. Soc. Hort, Sci. 94, 235–239.
Merkel, D 1973 Der Einfluß des NO3:NH4-Verhältnisses in der 093 Nährlösung auf Ertrag und Gehalte an organischen und anorganischen lonen von Tomatenpflanzen. Z. Pflanzenernähr. Bodenkd 134, 236–246.
Pierpont, R A and Minotti, P L 1977 Effects of calcium carbonate on ammonium assimilation by tomato seedlings. J. Am. Proc. Hort. Sci. 102, 20–23.
Precheur, R J and Maynard, D N 1983 Growth of asparagus transplants as infuenced by nitrogen form and lime. J. Am. Proc. Hort. Sci. 108, 169–172.
Puritch, G S and Barker, A V 1967 Structure and function of tomato leaf chloroplasts during ammonium toxicity. Plant Physiol. 42, 1229–1238.
Reisenauer, H M 1978 Absorption and utilization of ammonium nitrogen by plants. In Nitrogen in the Environment. Eds. D R Nielsen and J G MacDonald. pp 157–200. Academic Press, New York.
Sattelmacher, B and Marschner, M 1978 Nitrogen nutrition and cytokinin activity in Solanum tuberosum. Physiol. Plant. 42, 185.
Street, H E and Sheat, D E G 1958 The absorption and availability of nitrate and ammonia. In Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology Vol. VIII Nitrogen Metabolism. Ed. W Ruhland. pp 150–165. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Wilcox, G E, Hoff, J E and Jones, C M 1973 Ammonium reduction of calcium and magnesium content of tomato and sweetcorn and influence on incidence of blossum end rot of tomato fruit. J. Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 98, 86–89.
Wilcox, G E, Mitchell, C A and Hoff, J E 1977 Influence of nitrogen form on exudation rate, and ammonium, amide, and cation composition of xylem exudate in tomato. J. Am. Proc. Hort. Sci. 102, 192–196.
Zimmermann B 1994 Stickstoffversorgung von Gemüsepflanzen auf Ammonium-Basis. Dissertation der Universität Bonn.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Claussen, W., Lenz, F. Effect of ammonium and nitrate on net photosynthesis, flower formation, growth and yield of eggplants (Solanum melongena L.). Plant Soil 171, 267–274 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010281
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010281