Some problems in the study of simultaneous multiple nutrient deficiencies in plants

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine some of the problems associated with study of multiple nutrient deficiencies in plants. In the first experiment in which bush beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv. Improved Tendergreen) were grown in solution with no added Fe, no added Mn, or with both omitted simultaneously, vegetative yields of trifoliate leaves were depressed by 25% for no Fe, 77% for no Mn, but only 58% for both no Fe and Mn. There was a clear interaction then, that resulted in better growth for no Mn and no Fe than for no Mn with Fe. In the second experiment in which bush beans were grown in solution culture with low P and K (10^‐5M each singly and together), the multiple deficiency resulted in trifoliate leaf yields about the same of those of the individual nutrients alone indicative of the operation of the law of the minimum.

Key words:

• Multiple deficiencies
• iron
• manganese
• phosphorus
• Dotassium