Right time of phosphorus and zinc application to maize depends on nutrient–nutrient and nutrient–inoculum interactions

Figures & data

Table 1. Effect of fertilization (Zn and P) time and rhizobacteria inoculation on lengths and dry biomasses of maize root and shoot.

		Length (cm)		Dry biomass (g pot^–1)
Inoculation	Fertilizer treatments	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot
Without inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	28.1 cd	78.6 e	11.3 de	17.9 f
	Late P and basal Zn	29.2 bcd	82.2 cde	12.3 bcd	19.0 def
	Basal P and late Zn	28.5 bcd	85.5 bcd	11.7 cde	20.2 cde
	Late P and late Zn	26.9 d	81.9 de	10.3 e	18.1 ef
With inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	32.7 a	86.6 abc	15.2 a	21.1 bcd
	Late P and basal Zn	30.4 abc	90.1 a	12.7 bcd	24.1 a
	Basal P and late Zn	31.9 a	88.2 ab	14.1 ab	22.2 abc
	Late P and late Zn	30.8 ab	89.0 ab	13.2 bc	23.2 ab

Means followed by different letters are significantly different from each based on Tukey’s HSD at P ≤ 0.05.

Table 2. Effect of fertilization (P and Zn) time and rhizobacteria inoculation on concentration and contents of phosphorus in maize root and shoot.

		Phosphorus concentration (mg g^–1)		Phosphorus content (mg pot^–1)
Inoculation	Fertilizer treatments	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot
Without inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	0.81 bc	1.2 d	9.1 b	20.8 e
	Late P and basal Zn	0.74 c	1.3 cd	9.1 b	24.2 de
	Basal P and late Zn	0.80 bc	1.4 bc	9.4 b	28.4 cd
	Late P and late Zn	0.88 ab	1.3 cd	9.1 b	23.8 de
With inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	0.93 a	1.5 abc	14.1 a	31.4 bc
	Late P and basal Zn	0.71 c	1.7 a	9.0 b	41.6 a
	Basal P and late Zn	0.87 ab	1.6 ab	12.2 a	34.8 b
	Late P and late Zn	0.96 a	1.5 abc	12.7 a	34.5 b

Means followed by different letters are significantly different from each based on Tukey’s HSD at P ≤ 0.05.

Table 3. Effect of fertilization (P and Zn) time and rhizobacteria inoculation on concentration and contents of zinc in maize root and shoot.

Inoculation	Fertilizer treatments	Zinc concentration (mg kg^−1)		Zinc content (μg pot^−1)
		Shoot	Root	Root	Shoot
Without inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	12.8^NS	13.7^NS	155 cd	230 d
	Late P and basal Zn	13.1	14.6	180 bcd	248 cd
	Basal P and late Zn	13.0	14.6	171 cd	266 bcd
	Late P and late Zn	13.2	14.9	153 d	240 d
With inoculation	Basal P and basal Zn	13.5	15.0	227 a	285 abc
	Late P and basal Zn	13.1	15.1	190 abc	317 a
	Basal P and late Zn	13.0	15.0	211 ab	288 ab
	Late P and late Zn	12.9	13.7	180 bcd	296 ab

NS: non-significant at P ≤ 0.05; means followed by different letters are significantly different from each based on Tukey’s HSD at P ≤ 0.05.

Figure 1. (A, B) Effects of fertilization time and rhizobacteria inoculation on plant-available fractions of phosphorus and zinc in maize rhizosphere. Different letters over the bars show significant difference based on Tukey’s HSD at P ≤ 0.05.