Citation
Growth and nitrogen content of tift blue lupine

Material Information

Title:
Growth and nitrogen content of tift blue lupine
Creator:
Gallaher, Raymond N
University of Florida -- Agronomy Dept
Place of Publication:
[Gainesville Fla
Publisher:
Agronomy Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
11 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Lupines -- Florida ( lcsh )
Cover crops -- Florida ( lcsh )
City of Gainesville ( flgeo )
Stems ( jstor )
Plant anatomy ( jstor )
Root nodules ( jstor )
Genre:
bibliography ( marcgt )

Notes

Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (leaf 4).
General Note:
Caption title.
General Note:
Agronomy research report - University of Florida Agronomy Department ; AY 91-06
Statement of Responsibility:
Raymond N. Gallaher.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.
Resource Identifier:
62596896 ( OCLC )

Downloads

This item has the following downloads:


Full Text

6 31 PCentra' e ,ce
P Library
7/-o0 NOV 13 1991
Agronomy Research Report AY-91-06

Growth and Nitrogen Content of Tift Blue lie of Florida

Raymond N. Gallaher
Professor of Agronomy, Agronomy Department, Inst. Food and Agr.
Sci., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611

ABSTRACT

The use of lupine (Lupinus ancustifolius L.) as a cover crop,
in succession double cropping, may be one solution in the quest for
sustainable agricultural production systems. The objective was to
determine distribution of dry matter and N in the life cycle of
'Tift Blue' lupine at 25, 50 and 100 plants m-2. Lupine planted 9
November 1990 at 25, 50 and 100 plants m-2 were grown on an
Arredondo sand (Grossarenic Paleudult). Plants including roots to
0.45 m soil depth were collected eight times from 1 m2 plots from
27 to 171 days after planting (DAP). After washing, the samples
were separated into plant parts, dried, weighed, ground and
analyzed for N. Dry matter and N accumulation patterns were
similar for the 50 and 100 plants m2, and both accumulated about
twice as much dry matter and N as the 25 plants m'2. Highest dry
matter and N content for the 100 plants m'2 were 2134 and
35.96 g m"2, respectively at 147 DAP.

INTRODUCTION

Winter legumes are used for cover crops, protein sources,
mulches for succeeding no-tillage crops, rotations for pest
management and for improving soil fertility. When grown as a cover
crop, lupine (Lupinus anqustifolius L.) can be sacrificed for the
N and conservation benefits of the succeeding double crops such as
corn (Zea mays L.) or grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)
(Gallaher and Eylands, 1985). Such a cover crop can serve as a
mulch to conserve soil moisture if the soil has moisture to
conserve (Gallaher, 1977). A mulch will aid in reducing erosion,
moderate soil temperature, aid in competition against weed growth
and conserve soil moisture from natural rainfall or irrigation. It
may also furnish N and other recycled nutrients (Gallaher, 1986)
and in some rotations may also be useful in controlling pests, such
as breaking the cycle of nematodes, etc. Cover crops can be killed
before or after the succeeding multiple crop is planted using no-
tillage management (Gallaher, 1980). The objective was to
determine distribution of dry matter and N in the life cycle of
'Tift Blue' lupine at 25, 50 and 100 plants m2.









Cumulative dry matter of plant parts shows that at peak
production the stem made up the bulk of the total plant for all
plant populations (Figs. 2-5). Significant leaf loss began earlier
for the 25 plants m2 (after 105 DAP) compared to the other
populations (after 126 DAP). The leaf to stem ratio decreased from
the 27 DAP to about 147 DAP for all plant populations.

Total plant N accumulation (Fig. 5) followed similar patterns
to total dry matter (Fig. 1). Maximum N content at 147 DAP was
approximately 360, 330 and 215 g N m2 for the 100, 50 and 25 plants
m2, respectively.

Cumulative N of plant parts shows that leaves played a larger
role in the content of N than stems during early stages of the
growth cycle (Figs. 6-9). Significant N content losses began in
leaves after about 125 DAP which were associated with leaf loss
from the plant. Stem N content losses began about 3 weeks later
after about 147 DAP. Maximum N content was at 126 DAP in leaves,
roots and nodules but was at 147 DAP for stems. Leaves, stems,
roots and nodules produced about 13, 21, 1.5 and 1.0 g N m2,
respectively for the 100 and 50 plants m2, at maximum dry matter
yield. Leaves, stems, roots and nodules produced about 10, 11,
0.8, and 0.7 g N m2, respectively at maximum dry matter yield for
the 25 plants m2. Since N is a mobile element it is suspected,
from this research, that as old leaves died large quantities of N
was remobilized to the.stem during the latter stages of growth.

Transformed data illustrates the large interaction between dry
matter yield and N content as the plant aged (Figs. 9-14). For the
first 40 to 60 days of growth leaves made up a greater portion of
the plant. After that time, stems progressively made up a greater
percentage of the plant (Figs. 9-11). A larger portion of N was in
the leaves until about 126 DAP when significant leaf drop occurred
(Figs. 12-14). This was due to a higher concentration of N in
leaves. Pod yield was low due to unknown factors in this study.

SUMMARY

1. Maximum dry matter and N content can be achieved with 50 lupine
plants m2.

2. Dry matter and N content yields of 2000 and 350 g m2,
respectively are possible with a good crop of lupine.

3. A greater portion of dry matter is in the stem after about 100
days of growth but a larger percentage of N content is in the
leaves.

4. About 80% of the dry matter and 90% of N content of lupine is
in the leaves and stems, respectively. The remaining dry
matter and N is in the roots and nodules.









LITERATURE CITED


Gallaher, R.N., C.O. Weldon, and J.G. Futral. 1975. An aluminum
block digester for plant and soil analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer.
Proc. 39:803-806.

Gallaher, Raymond N. 1977. Soil moisture conservation and yield of
crops no-till planted in rye. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 41:145-147.

Gallaher, Raymond N. 1980. Value of Residues, mulches or sods in
cropping systems. Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Inst.
Food & Agr. Sci., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Multiple
Cropping Minimum Tillage Special Report MMT-5.

Gallaher, Raymond N, and Val J. Eylands. 1985. Green manure
cropping systems and benefits. Agronomy Department, Inst. Food &
Agr. Sci., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Agronomy
Research Report AY-85-11.

Gallaher, Raymond N. 1986. Studies of chemical combinations and
rates used to convert a living crimson clover cover crop to a mulch
for no-tillage planting of summer crops. Agronomy Department,
Inst. Food & Agr. Sci., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
Agronomy Research Report AY-86-07.

Soil Survey Staff. 19.84. Official series description of the
Arredondo series. United States Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.









Figure 1
Dry Matter Accumulation in Lupine.

Total of Plant Parts


100
Days After Planting


- 0 plants/m square


100 plants/m square


25 plants/m square






Figure 2
Lupine Dry Matter:100 Plants/m Sq

Cumulative of Plant Parts


50 100 150
Days After Planting


--Lea Stem Root Nodule -- Pod


2500

2000

1500

1000


500

0


200


2500

2000

1500

1000

500


-e


I








Figure 3
Lupine Dry Matter:50 Plants/m Sq
Cumulative of Plant Parts


50 100 Iou
Days After Planting
- Leaf Stem # Root Nodule Pod


Lupine


Figure 4
Dry Matter:25 Plants/m Sq


Cumulative of Plant Parts


1200
1000
800
600
400
200


0 50 100 150
Days After Planting
Leaf -- Stem # Root Nodule -- Pod








Figure 5
Nitrogen Accumulation in Lupine
Total of Plant Parts


50 100 150
Days After Planting


- 100 plants/m square
- 25 plants/m square


-- 50 plants/m square


Figure 6
Lupine N Content:100 Plants/m Sq
Cumulative of Plant Parts


0 50 100 150
Days After Planting

Leaf -- Stem O- Root 9 Nodule


-- Pod








Figure 7
Lupine N Content:50 Plants/m Sq
Cumulative of Plant Parts


0 50 100 150
Days After Planting
Leaf --Stem Root Nodule Pod


Figure 8
Lupine N Content:25 Plants/m Sq
Cumulative of Plant Parts


50 100 150
Days After Planting


- Pod


- Leaf Stem # Root -- Nodule










Figure 9
Lupine Dry Matter:100 Plants/m Sq

800


60 -


40


13, --9S----q
0 50 100 150 200
Days After Planting

-Leaf Stem Root --Nodule Pod


Figure 10

Lupine Dry Matter:50 Plants/m Sq

100

80

60

40

20


0 50 100 150 200
Days After Planting

-Leaf Stem A Root Nodule Pod









Figure 11
Lupine Dry Matter:25


Plants/m Sq


0 50 100 150
Days After Planting

Leaf --Stem Root Nodule Pod



Figure 12

Lupine N Content:100 Plants/m Sq

80


70


40
30
20-


0 50 100 150
Days After Planting

Leaf Stem 4 Root Nodule


SPod









Figure 13
Lupine N Content:50 Plants/m Sq


50 100 150
Days After Planting


-Leaf -t Stem -- Root Nodule


Figure


-- Pod


14


Lupine N Content:25 Plants/m Sq


50 100 150
Days After Planting


SLeaf -- Stem -' Root Nodule


SPod