AOBPreview originally published online on August 21, 2003
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Annals of Botany 92: 565-570, 2003
© 2003 Annals of Botany Company
Effects of Boron Foliar Applications on Vegetative and Reproductive Growth of Sunflower
1 School of Land and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
* For correspondence. E-mail david.edwards{at}uq.edu.au
Received: 3 March 2003;; Returned for revision: 13 May 2003. Accepted: 8 July 2003; Published electronically: 21 August 2003
Foliar application may be used to supply boron (B) to a crop when B demands are higher than can be supplied via the soil. While B foliar sprays have been used to correct B deficiency in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in the field, no studies have determined the amount of B taken up by sunflower plant parts via foliar application. A study was conducted in which sunflower plants were grown at constant B concentration in nutrient solution with adequate B (46 µM) or with limited B supply (0·24, 0·40 and 1·72 µM) using Amberlite IRA-743 resin to control B supply. At the late vegetative stage of growth (25 and 35 d after transplanting), two foliar sprays were applied of soluble sodium tetraborate (20·8 % B) each at 0, 28, 65, 120 and 1200 mM (each spray equivalent to 0, 0·03, 0·07, 0·13 and 1·3 kg B ha–1 in 100 L water ha–1). The highest rate of B foliar fertilization resulted in leaf burn but had no other evident detrimental effect on plant growth. Under B-deficient conditions, B foliar application increased the vegetative and reproductive dry mass of plants. Foliar application of 28–1200 mM B increased the total dry mass of the most B-deficient plants by more than three-fold and that of plants grown initially with 1·72 µM B in solution by 37–49 %. In this latter treatment, the dry mass of the capitulum was similar to that achieved under control conditions, but in no instance was total plant dry mass similar to that of the control. All B foliar spray rates increased the B concentration in various parts of the plant tops, including those that developed after the sprays were applied, but the B concentration in the roots was not increased by B foliar application. The B concentration in the capitulum of the plants sprayed at the highest rate was between 37 and 93 % of that in the control plants. This study showed that B foliar application was of benefit to B-deficient sunflower plants, increasing the B status of plant tops, including that of the capitulum which developed after the B sprays were applied.
Key words: Amberlite IRA-743 resin, boron, foliar fertilizer, sunflower, Helianthus annuus L., deficiency, solution culture.