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Annals of Botany 73: 169-173, 1994
© 1994 Annals of Botany Company

Uptake and Redistribution of 15N Within an Established Asparagus Crop after Application of 15N-labelled Nitrogen Fertilizer

S. F. Ledgard, J. A. Douglas, M. S. Sprosen and J. M. Follett

AgRsearch, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 3123 and Crop and Food Research, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand

The uptake and redistribution of 15N within a 6-year-old asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) crop were examined for applications of 15N-enriched ammonium sulphate (5 g N m-2) either prior to growth of foliage (commonly called 'fern'), prior to harvest, or early-harvest prior to the main period of spear (newly-emerged, edible, unexpanded shoot) production. During the harvest in spring, 38 kg N ha-1 was removed in harvested spears, but this was small compared to the 710 kg N ha-1 present in crowns and roots. Limited uptake of 15 N occurred during harvest from the pre-harvest and early-harvest applications (11 and 4% of the 15N applied, respectively) and the lack of plant uptake of N from soil was also evident from an accumulation of inorganic N in unfertilized soil during spring. These results indicate that N in spears was derived largely from remobilisation of N stored in the crowns and roots.

Most plant uptake of added 15N occurred during the first 8 weeks of foliage growth in summer, when 282 kg N ha-1 had accumulated in the above-ground foliage. After this 8 week period, foliage from the early-harvest treatment contained 24% of the 15N applied. Fifteen weeks later (late autumn), foliage was senescing and the 15N content of senesced foliage in all treatments had declined by 90% due to remobilisation and translocation into the crown and root tissue. Similarly, foliage N had declined from 282 to 24 kg N ha-1 and this remobilised N was equivalent to approximately 40% of the total plant N present prior to foliage growth.

During the subsequent spring period, the 15N enrichment of spears was about twice that of the crowns and roots. Thus, there was preferential remobilisation of recently-absorbed, stored N for new spear growth.Copyright 1994, 1999 Academic Press

Asparagus, Asparagus officinalis, nitrogen, 15N, redistribution, remobilisation, uptake


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