Growth and symptoms of deficiency of micronutrients in young plants of jute

Abstract

The knowledge of micronutrients for Jute (Corchorus capsularis L.) plants might be a valuable tool to the subsidize taking of decisions to the management of such species. The objective of this study was to describe the symptoms of micronutrient deficiencies in jute plants and to analyze micronutrient contents in leaves, stems, and roots. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse, with six treatments and four replications in a randomized block design. The treatments were, as follows: Complete solution (C) and solution with the omission of the following nutrients: B, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn. Except for Cu deficiency, the morphological alterations were easily characterized for all nutrients evaluated, in which Fe and Zn were the first and the last to cause symptoms in plants, respectively. In general, the nutrients that were most limiting to the growth of Jute plant and for dry mass were Fe and B. The omission of B, Mn and Fe limited root growth while the Zn and Cu deficiencies limited the growth of the aerial part. The nutrient contents were ordered as it follows: Fe> Mn> Zn> B> Cu in the leaves, Fe> Mn> B> Zn> Cu in the stem and Fe> Zn> Mn> B> Cu in the roots. For seedings of Jute, the deficiency of Fe and B are the most limiting and the suitable nutritional contents for those seedlings are 11.37; 8.99; 346.14; 248.88 and 77,28 mg.kg^-1 for B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in the leaves, respectively.