ABSTRACT
Environmental conditions and drenched-applied paclobutrazol effects on lantana specific leaf area and N, P, K and Mg content

Aristidis Matsoukis1*, Dionisios Gasparatos2, and Aikaterini Chronopoulou-Sereli1
 
Lantana camara L. is used extensively in many countries as an ornamental plant species but limited information is provided about the fertilization of this plant, especially after treatments with the triazole paclobutrazol (PBZ). The effects of drenched-applied PBZ at concentrations of 0, 40, and 80 mg L-1 on specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf N, P, K, and Mg concentrations of L. camara L. subsp. camara (lantana) plants were examined under different environmental conditions, resulted from different shading levels, 0% (daily light quantity of 27.8 mol m-2 d-1) and 66% (9.4 mol m-2 d-1) in glasshouse experiments in Attica, Greece. The concentration of leaf N was affected by the PBZ treatment (P < 0.01), while the shading level affected K and Mg concentration (P < 0.01). Plants treated with the same PBZ concentration presented higher SLA with 66% shading compared to 0% shading. The more the PBZ concentration, the lower and the higher were the SLA and leaf N respectively, at both shading levels. Leaf P, in general, increased with increasing PBZ concentration and shading as did K and Mg at 66% shading compared to 0% shading. At the end of the experiment all plants were healthy with no visible symptoms of nutritional deficiency. The findings of our study could be useful in establishing a fertilization program for L. camara plants treated with different drenched-applied PBZ concentrations under various environments.
Keywords: Lantana camara, paclobutrazol, plant nutrition, shading, specific leaf area.
1Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Crop Science, Iera Odos 75, Athens 11855, Greece. *Corresponding author (armatsoukis@aua.gr).
2Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Natural Resources Management & Agricultural Engineering, Iera Odos 75, Athens 11855, Greece.