Summary
Three slow-release nitrogen fertilizers — medium- and coarse-sized granules of IBDU (isobutylidene diurea) and formalized casein — were applied before sowing or transplanting to Sitka sprucePicea sitchensis, and their effects on growth compared with that on plots not given N or given four topdressings of ‘Nitro-Chalk’ (the source of N used in practice). The comparisons were made at two sites: a very sandy podsol and a sandy loam with better nutrient retention. The experiments with seedlings were continued for four years, those with transplants for three, and the same treatments were applied to the same plots each year.
Responses to ‘Nitro-Chalk’ were large, especially during wet seasons. Formalized casein was always as effective as ‘Nitro-Chalk’ for transplants. IBDU (especially the coarse fraction) was almost as good as formalized casein for transplants at both sites and equalled it for seedlings on the sandy loam. For seedlings on the sandy podsol, both particle sizes of IBDU became steadily less effective in succeeding years, and no satisfactory reason can be offered for this decline.
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Benzian, B., Freeman, S.C.R. & Mitchell, J.D.D. Isobutylidene diurea and other nitrogen fertilizers for seedlings and transplants ofPicea sitchensis in two English forest nurseries. Plant Soil 35, 517–532 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01372684
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01372684