Foliar application of potassium silicate, potassium fulvate and betaine improve summer-time tomato yield by promoting plant nitrogen and potassium uptake

Xiangnan Xu; Xihong Lei; Shangqiang Liao; Yanmei Li; Yanxin Sun

doi:10.2478/fhort-2022-0010

Figures & Tables

Principle components analysis of plant macronutrients accumulation, fruit macronutrients partitioning, FrTSS content and FrVc concentration. The green, blue and red circles represent the confidential eclipses of the treatments having water (control), BSFA and GB as the source of nitrogen, respectively. The square, round and triangle dots represent the treatments having water (control), ISi and OSi as the form of silicon, respectively. The green, blue and purple vectors show the N, P, K accumulation in different plant organs, and the orange, dark yellow and red vectors show the fruit nutrients partitioning, DM of different plant organs and FrQ, respectively. *FrN%, the percentage of TN partitioned to fruit, similar for FrP% and FrK%, which indicate the percentage of total phosphorus and potassium accumulation partitioned to fruit, respectively. Br, branch; BSFA, potassium fulvate; DM, dry mass; Fr, fruit; FrN, fruit nitrogen concentration; FrQ, fruit quality; FrTSS, fruit total soluble solids; GB, betaine; ISi, potassium silicate; OSi, organic silicon; TK, total potassium accumulation; TN, total nitrogen accumulation; TP, total phosphorus accumulation; TSS, total soluble solids; Vc, vitamin C.

Correlation matrix of macronutrients concentration and accumulation in different plant organs, as well as the fruit DM, FrTSS content and the macronutrients partition to fruit. *FrN%, the percentage of TN partitioned to fruit, similar for FrP% and FrK%, which indicate the percentage of total phosphorus and potassium accumulation partitioned to fruit, respectively; Br, branch; DM, dry mass; Fr, fruit; FrN, fruit nitrogen concentration; FrTSS, fruit total soluble solids; TK, total potassium accumulation; TN, total nitrogen accumulation; TP, total phosphorus accumulation; TSS, total soluble solids; Vc, vitamin C.

The mean (n ≥ 4) of stem, branch, leaf, fruit and total DM, as well as the percentage of DM partitioning to stem, branch, leaf and fruit (Stem%, Br%, Leaf%, Fr%, respectively) of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Treatments	Stem DM (g)	Branch DM (g)	Leaf DM (g)	Fruit DM (g)	Total DM (g)	Stem%	Branch%	Leaf%	Fruit%
CK	1511 ab	667 ab	1064 ab	3018 d	6260 c	24.2	10.7 a	17.0	48.3 b
ISi	1566 ab	742 a	1233 a	3570 a	7137 a	21.8	10.6 a	17.6	50.0 ab
OSi	1397 b	585 abc	1065 ab	3163 bcd	6168 c	22.2	9.5 ab	16.9	51.4 ab
BSFA	1353 b	541 bc	1136 ab	3303 abcd	6240 c	21.3	8.4 ab	17.5	52.9 ab
BSFA + ISi	1572 ab	599 abc	1127 ab	3465 ab	6923 ab	23.4	9.4 ab	17.0	50.1 ab
BSFA + OSi	1360 b	588 abc	935 ab	3115 cd	6145 c	24.0	9.7 ab	15.6	50.7 ab
GB	1848 a	730 a	1127 ab	3407 abc	6902 ab	25.4	9.2 ab	15.9	49.6 ab
GB + ISi	1549 ab	588 abc	1040 ab	3206 bcd	6402 bc	24.3	9.7 ab	16.0	50.1 ab
GB + OSi	1425 b	427 c	842 b	3213 bcd	5974 c	24.6	7.5 b	14.0	53.9 a
NSource
H₂O	1481	669	1120	3250	6522	22.7	10.2	17.2	49.9
BSFA	1473	590	1078	3294	6435	22.9	9.2	16.7	51.2
GB	1588	570	990	3275	6426	24.7	8.8	15.3	51.3
SiForm
H₂O	1528	609 AB	1087 AB	3243 AB	6466 AB	23.6	9.4	16.8	50.2
K₂SO₃	1578	677 A	1152 A	3414 A	6821 A	23.2	9.9	16.9	50.1
OSi	1437	545 B	950 B	3164 B	6096 B	23.6	8.9	15.5	52.0

Principle components analysis comprehensive scores of the growth, nutrients and fruiting traits_

	CK	ISi	OSi	BSFA	BSFA + ISi	BSFA + OSi	GB	GB + ISi	GB + OSi
General growth	−1.68	3.03	−0.74	0.12	1.46	−0.99	1.19	−0.04	−2.35
Fruiting performance	−0.73	1.62	−0.37	0.28	1.15	−0.51	0.20	−0.24	−1.41
Vegetative organs performance	−0.33	2.15	−0.97	−0.84	0.60	−0.66	2.07	−0.25	−1.77

The mean (n ≥ 3) of potassium concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Treatment	Potassium concentration (g · kg⁻¹)				Translocation factor			Potassium accumulation (g)

	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Total
CK	24.4 d	31.7 d	27.4 ab	25.4 bcd	1.05 a	0.80 b	0.93 bcd	36.9 g	21.2 b	29.2 bc	76.8 f	164.2 c
ISi	26.1 cd	25.8 e	26.1 b	25.8 bc	0.99 ab	1.00 a	0.99 ab	40.9 de	19.2 d	32.2 a	92.1 a	184.4 a
OSi	31.4 a	34.1 c	28.4 a	25.4 bcd	0.81 cd	0.75 bcd	0.90 cd	44.0 cd	20.0 cd	30.3 bc	80.6 def	174.8 b
BSFA	28.4 bc	36.7 a	27.0 ab	26.0 b	0.92 bc	0.71 de	0.96 bc	38.5 ef	19.9 cd	30.8 ab	86.1 bc	175.3 b
BSFA + ISi	30.4 ab	35.1 bc	26.8 ab	26.4 b	0.86 cd	0.75 bcd	0.99 ab	48.0 b	21.1 b	30.2 bc	91.5 a	190.8 a
BSFA + OSi	25.4 d	36.1 ab	28.1 a	26.7 ab	1.05 a	0.74 cd	0.95 bc	34.6 g	21.3 b	26.3 d	83.5 cd	165.7 c
GB	29.80 ab	35.7 ab	22.7 c	24.1 d	0.81 cd	0.67 e	1.06 a	55.1 a	26.2 a	25.7 d	82.2 cde	189.1 a
GB + ISi	31.4 a	35.1 bc	27.7 ab	27.9 a	0.88 bc	0.79 bc	1.01 ab	48.8 b	20.7 bc	28.9 c	89.6 ab	187.9 a
GB + OSi	31.8 a	36.1 ab	28.4 a	24.4 cd	0.77 d	0.68 e	0.86 d	45.3 bc	15.4 e	23.9 e	78.5 ef	163.2 c
NSource
H₂O	27.4 B	30.6 B	27.3	25.6	0.95 A	0.85 A	0.94	40.6 B	20.1	30.6 A	83.2	174.5
BSFA	28.1 B	36.0 A	27.3	26.4	0.95 A	0.73 B	0.97	40.4 B	20.8	29.1 A	87.0	177.2
GB	31.1 A	35.7 A	26.0	25.5	0.82 B	0.71 B	0.98	49.8 A	20.8	26.2 B	83.4	180.1
SiForm
H₂O	27.6	34.8 B	25.8 B	25.2 B	0.93	0.73 B	0.98 A	43.5	22.4 A	28.6 AB	81.7 B	176.2 B
K₂SO₃	29.4	32.0 AB	26.9 AB	26.7 A	0.91	0.85 A	0.99 A	45.9	20.3 AB	30.4 A	91.1 A	187.7 A
OSi	29.6	35.5 A	28.3 A	25.6 B	0.88	0.72 B	0.90 B	41.3	18.9 B	26.8 B	80.8 B	167.9 C

The mean (n ≥ 3) of the partitioning of total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Treatment	Total nitrogen partitioning to				Total phosphorus partitioning to				Total potassium partitioning to

	Stem (%)	Branch (%)	Leaf (%)	Fruit (%)	Stem (%)	Branch (%)	Leaf (%)	Fruit (%)	Stem (%)	Branch (%)	Leaf (%)	Fruit (%)
CK	20.3 b	9.9 a	28.4 b	41.4 d	26.8 e	8.4 b	17.6 a	47.1 d	22.5 c	12.9 b	17.8 a	46.8 cd
ISi	18.5 bc	8.6 b	29.1 ab	43.8 bc	30.0 c	7.1 d	14.4 bc	48.5 cd	25.2 b	11.4 c	17.3 a	46.1 d
OSi	17.1 c	8.5 b	29.5 ab	45.0 b	29.1 cd	9.1 a	14.0 c	47.8 cd	22.2 c	10.4 d	17.5 a	49.9 a
BSFA	18.9 bc	8.0 c	29.2 ab	43.8 bc	27.1 e	6.5 e	15.2 b	51.2 a	21.9 c	11.4 c	17.6 a	49.1 ab
BSFA + ISi	20.0 b	8.9 b	27.2 c	44.0 bc	30.4 c	8.2 b	12.5 d	48.9 bc	20.9 c	12.9 b	15.9 b	50.4 a
BSFA + OSi	17.1 c	7.6 c	29.9 a	45.4 b	27.6 de	7.1 d	14.7 bc	50.6 ab	25.1 b	11.0 cd	15.9 b	48.0 bc
GB	23.1 a	8.7 b	28.8 ab	39.3 e	36.2 a	7.7 c	15.0 b	41.1 e	29.1 a	13.8 a	13.6 d	43.5 e
GB + ISi	19.2 bc	7.2 c	26.1 c	47.6 a	33.6 b	5.3 e	11.9 d	49.2 bc	27.8 a	9.5 e	14.7 c	48.1 bc
GB + OSi	19.5 b	8.5 b	29.4 ab	42.7 c	29.3 cd	7.1 d	14.4 bc	49.2 bc	26.0 b	11.0 cd	15.4 bc	47.7 bcd
Nsource
H₂O	18.6 B	9.0 A	29.0	43.4	28.7 B	8.2 A	15.33	47.8 AB	23.3 A	11.6	17.5 A	47.6 AB
BSFA	18.7 B	8.2 B	28.8	44.4	28.4 B	7.3 B	14.13	50.3 A	22.7 A	11.8	16.4 B	49.2 A
GB	20.6 A	8.1 B	28.1	43.2	33.0 A	6.7 B	13.77	46.5 B	27.6 B	11.4	14.5 C	46.4 B
SiForm
H₂O	20.8 A	8.9	28.8 A	41.5 B	30.0	7.5	15.95 A	46.5	24.5	12.7 A	16.3	46.5
K₂SO₃	19.2 AB	8.2	27.5 B	45.1 A	28.7	6.9	12.93 C	48.9	24.6	11.3 B	16.0	48.2
OSi	17.9 B	8.2	29.6 A	44.3 A	31.3	7. 8	14.34 B	49.2	24.4	10.8 B	16.2	48.5

The mean (n = 4) of FrY, FrTSS, FrVc and FrNitrate of the tomato plants sprayed with nine different recipes_

Treatment	FrY (kg · m⁻²)	FrTSS (%)	FrVc (mg · 100 g⁻¹)	FrNitrate (mg · kg⁻¹)
CK	3.67 c	8.2 ab	32.6 b	259.9
ISi	4.14 ab	7.8 c	29.8 cd	209.8
OSi	3.66 c	7.7 c	28.8 de	171.6
BSFA	3.71 c	8.3 ab	34.2 a	310.3
BSFA + ISi	4.29 a	8.0 bc	27.8 ef	219.0
BSFA + OSi	3.91 bc	8.4 a	30.6 c	233.7
GB	4.02 abc	8.2 ab	33.1 ab	256.4
GB + ISi	3.81 bc	8.0 abc	25.5 g	228.9
GB + OSi	3.74 c	8.4 a	26.8 fg	413.0
NSource
H₂O	3.82	7.9 B	30.8	213.8
BSFA	3.97	8.3 A	31.1	254.3
GB	3.86	8.2 A	28.8	299.4
SiForm
H₂O	3.80	8.3 A	33.7 A	275.5
K₂SO₃	4.08	7.9 B	27.9 B	219.2
OSi	3.77	8.2 A	29.1 B	272.8

The mean (n ≥ 3) of phosphorus concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Treatment	Phosphorus concentration (g · kg⁻¹)				Translocation factor			Phosphorus accumulation (g)

	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Total
CK	2.57 d	1.83 d	2.40 b	2.26 c	0.88 a	1.24 a	0.94 c	3.90 e	1.22 cd	2.56 b	6.85 f	14.5 f
ISi	3.43 b	2.27 a	2.09 cd	2.47 a	0.72 cd	1.09 b	1.18 a	5.38 b	1.69 a	2.58 b	8.84 a	18.5 b
OSi	3.32 b	1.86 d	2.08 cd	2.37 abc	0.71 cd	1.27 a	1.14 ab	4.65 vd	1.09 f	2.22 d	7.51 de	15.5 de
BSFA	3.07 c	1.83 d	2.05 d	2.38 ab	0.77 bc	1.30 a	1.16 a	4.16 e	0.99 g	2.34 d	7.86 c	15.3 e
BSFA + ISi	2.91 c	1.95 cd	2.15 cd	2.42 a	0.83 ab	1.24 a	1.12 ab	4.59 d	1.18 de	2.43 c	8.40 b	16.6 c
BSFA + OSi	3.42 b	2.14 b	2.04 d	2.40 a	0.70 cd	1.12 b	1.18 a	4.66 cd	1.26 c	1.91 e	7.49 de	15.3 e
GB	3.72 a	2.01 c	2.53 a	2.29 bc	0.61 e	1.14 b	0.91 c	6.89 a	1.47 b	2.85 a	7.82 cd	19.0 a
GB + ISi	2.99 c	1.91 cd	2.18 c	2.42 a	0.81 ab	1.27 a	1.11 ab	4.63 d	1.13 ef	2.27 d	7.78 cd	15.8 d
GB + OSi	3.50 b	1.84 d	2.11 cd	2.27 bc	0.65 de	1.23 a	1.08 b	4.99 c	0.79 h	1.78 f	7.32 e	14.9 f
NSource
H₂O	3.11	1.99	2.19 AB	2.37	0.77 A	1.20 A	1.09 B	4.64 B	1.33	2.46	7.73	16.2
BSFA	3.14	1.98	2.09 B	2.41	0.77 A	1.21 A	1.15 A	4.47 B	1.14	2.23	7.92	15.8
GB	3.41	1.93	2.27 A	2.33	0.69 B	1.22 A	1.03 C	5.50 A	1.13	2.30	7.64	16.6
SiForm
H₂O	3.13	1.89 B	2.33 A	2.32 B	0.76 A	1.23 A	1.00 B	4.98	1.23 AB	2.58 A	7.51 B	16.3 AB
K₂SO₃	3.11	2.05 A	2.14 B	2.44 A	0.79 A	1.20 A	1.14 A	4.86	1.33 A	2.43 A	8.34 A	17.0 A
OSi	3.42	1.95 AB	2.08 B	2.35 B	0.69 B	1.21 A	1.13 A	4.77	1.05 B	1.97 B	7.44 B	15.2 B

Experimental design_

NSource	SiForm	Leaf spray content	Treatment	Concentration (g · dm⁻³)
H₂O	H₂O	H₂O	CK	None
	K₂SiO₃	Solely inorganic silicon	ISi	0.5
	C₈H₂₀O₄Si	Solely OSi	OSi	0.5

BSFA	H₂O	Solely BSFA	BSFA	None
	K₂SiO₃	BSFA and inorganic silicon	BSFA + ISi	0.5 + 0.5
	C₈H₂₀O₄Si	BSFA and OSi	BSFA + OSi	0.5 + 0.5

GB	H₂O	Solely GB	GB	None
	K₂SiO₃	GB and inorganic silicon	GB + ISi	0.5 + 0.5
	C₈H₂₀O₄Si	GB and OSi	GB + OSi	0.5 + 0.5

The mean (n ≥ 3) of nitrogen concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Treatments	Nitrogen concentration (g· kg⁻¹)				Translocation factor			Nitrogen accumulation (g)

	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Stem	Branch	Leaf	Fruit	Total
CK	20.0 bcd	22.1 abc	39.8 d	20.5 bc	1.02 bcd	0.93 bc	0.51 ab	30.2 b	14.7 a	42.4 d	61.8 c	149.1 c
ISi	19.3 bcd	20.3 bc	42.2 ab	22.3 a	1.15 ab	1.10 a	0.53 a	30.3 b	15.1 a	52.2 a	79.7 a	177.1 a
OSi	19.7 bcd	21.8 abc	40.8 cd	20.7 bc	1.04 bcd	0.95 bc	0.51 abc	27.7 bc	12.8 c	43.6 c	65.5 c	149.6 c
BSFA	22.7 a	24.1 a	41.8 abc	21.5 ab	0.96 cd	0.90 c	0.52 ab	30.8 b	13.0 bc	47.5 b	71.2 b	162.5 b
BSFA + ISi	17.5 d	20.4 bc	42.7 a	21.1 abc	1.20 a	1.04 ab	0.49 bcd	27.6 bc	12.3 c	48.3 b	73.2 b	161.3 b
BSFA + OSi	21.1 ab	21.6 abc	41.6 abc	20.2 bcd	0.96 cd	0.94 bc	0.49 bcd	28.8 bc	12.7 c	38.9 e	63.1 c	143.5 c
GB	20.4 abc	19.5 c	41.8 abc	18.83 d	0.92 d	0.97 bc	0.45 d	37.9 a	14.3 ab	47.2 b	64.4 c	163.7 b
GB + ISi	18.6 bcd	21.3 bc	41.9 abc	19.70 cd	1.06 abcd	0.93 bc	0.47 cd	28.9 bc	12.6 c	43.7 c	63.4 c	148.6 c
GB + OSi	17.9 cd	22.5 ab	41.3 bc	19.7 cd	1.10 abc	0.88 c	0.48 bcd	25.6 c	9.6 d	34.8 f	63.5 c	133.6 d
NSource
H₂O	19.7	21.39	41.01 B	21.17 A	1.08	0.99 A	0.52 A	29.4	14.2 A	46.0	69.0	158.6
BSFA	20.5	22.05	42.07 A	20.98 A	1.03	0.86 AB	0.50 A	29.0	12.7 B	44.9	69.2	155.8
GB	19.0	21.15	41.72 AB	19.48 B	1.04	0.93 B	0.47 B	30.8	12.2 B	41.9	63.8	148.6
SiForm
H₂O	21.1 A	21.9	41.2 B	20.3	0.97 B	0.92 B	0.49	32.9 A	14.0 A	45.7 A	65.8 B	158.4 A
K₂SO₃	18.5 B	20.7	42.3 A	21.1	1.14 A	1.02 A	0.50	28.9 B	13.3 A	48.0 A	72.1 A	162.3 A
OSi	19.6 AB	22.0	41.3 B	20.2	1.04 B	0.93 B	0.49	27.3 B	11.7 B	39.1 B	64.0 B	142.2 B

Foliar application of potassium silicate, potassium fulvate and betaine improve summer-time tomato yield by promoting plant nitrogen and potassium uptake

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Figure 2

The mean (n ≥ 4) of stem, branch, leaf, fruit and total DM, as well as the percentage of DM partitioning to stem, branch, leaf and fruit (Stem%, Br%, Leaf%, Fr%, respectively) of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Principle components analysis comprehensive scores of the growth, nutrients and fruiting traits_

The mean (n ≥ 3) of potassium concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

The mean (n ≥ 3) of the partitioning of total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to the different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

The mean (n = 4) of FrY, FrTSS, FrVc and FrNitrate of the tomato plants sprayed with nine different recipes_

The mean (n ≥ 3) of phosphorus concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Experimental design_

The mean (n ≥ 3) of nitrogen concentration, translocation factor and accumulation of different organs of the tomato plants sprayed with different recipes_

Paradigm

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