Study looks to lower fertilizer runoff of field-grown mums

To reduce the risk of fertilizer runoff into groundwater, researchers at Cornell University’s Long Island Horticulture Research Center in Riverhead, N.Y., compared production of field-grown garden chrysanthemums using a standard liquid fertilizer program and a controlled-release fertilizer. Typically, 250-300 parts per million of nitrogen is applied to mums as a constant liquid feed through bud set. The 2007 study aimed to determine if a marketable plant could be produced using only a controlled-release fertilizer.

Plants grown with a standard liquid feed program produced the largest plants in all treatments. Those grown with only a controlled-release fertilizer were not as large as plants that received liquid fertilizer or a combination of controlled-release and liquid fertilizers.

This year, studies will be done using higher rates of controlled-release fertilizers on mums. Also, different types of controlled-release fertilizers with varying nitrogen release times will be tested. Researchers speculate that higher nitrogen rates provided by controlled-release fertilizers during the first six weeks of production will produce larger plants.

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For more: Mark Bridgen, Cornell University, Long Island Horticulture Research Center, (631) 727-3595; mpb27@cornell.edu.

July 2008