Nitrogen Uptake,Leaf Nitrogen Concentration,and Growth of Saskatoons in Response to Soil Nitrogen Fertility

ABSTRACT

Nutrient requirements of the saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia: Rosaceae), a relatively new horticultural crop on the Canadian prairies, are unknown. In this study, two-year old saskatoon plants of the cultivar ‘Smoky’ were grown in a greenhouse in pots under four different soil nitrogen (N) regimes (20, 40, 60, and 80 mg N L^?1). Half the plants were harvested after one growing season. After a five-month period of dormancy, the remaining plants were grown for a second growing season under the same soil N regimes. At harvest, plant growth, dry weight biomass, and leaf N concentration were measured, and soil N uptake was calculated. In both years, leaf N concentration and plant N uptake were strongly positively correlated (first year r = 0.93; second year r = 0.95) and increased linearly with an increase in soil N. Stem diameter and new shoot growth increased in both years of the study in response to additional N. The soil N treatments had no significant effect on plant biomass during the first growing season. In the second year, stem, root, total shoot and total plant biomass increased with increasing soil N.