Fertility and Media Effects on Perennial Growth 2003
Leonard Perry and Andrea Luchini
Extension Professor, Graduate Assistant respectively
University of Vermont
Materials and Methods
A study was begun in 2003 in the nursery outside the UVM greenhouses
in Burlington, Vermont, to examine the effects of various media and fertility
on perennial growth in containers. Treatments included various combinations
of 5 media and 4 fertilizers:
| Media | Fertility |
| ProMix BX | Osmocote brown (5-6mo, 15-9-9, 8lb/cuyd=6.5T/cuft) |
| Stender, coarse | Osmocote red (3-4mo, 16-11-11, 6lb/cuyd=5T/cuft |
| Nutripeat perennial | 15-16-17 (125ppmN, 1x/wk) |
| Scotts perennial | Squanto’s Secret Fish fertilizer (2T/gal, 1x/wk) |
| Fafard 3BC | |
Plants were obtained as plugs or small plants in early summer, potted
into jumbo squares with appropriate treatments, with liquid fertilizers
continued until data collection Oct. 15. There were 6 replicate pots of
each of 3 species, for each treatment. Dry weight were taken and analyzed
by Analysis of Variance, with means separated by Tukey’s procedure. In
the following tables, means followed by the same letter are not statistically
different. In addition, specific linear orthogonal contrasts are shown
for specific comparisons.
Conclusions
Fertility
Results
Dianthus ‘Arctic Fire’
| Treatment | Dry Weight, g |
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Statistical Contrasts (ns=not significant, *significant, **highly significant, bold =highest)
Fertility
** Osmocote vs liquid (ProMix)
ns liquid vs fish (ProMix)
** red osmocote vs fish (ProMix and Compost)
** ½x vs 1x rate (ProMix, red osmocote)
ns osmocote red vs brown (Promix+Fafard+Stender)
Media
* Nutripeat vs ProMix (Red Osmocote and fish)
ns Stender vs Fafard+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
** Fafard vs Stender+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
ns ProMix vs Stender+Fafard+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
* Scotts vs Stender+Fafard+ProMix (Red Osmocote)
Results
Geranium sanguineum ‘Max Frei’
| Treatment | Dry Weight, g |
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Statistical Contrasts (ns=not significant, *significant, **highly significant, bold =highest)
Fertility
* Osmocote vs liquid (ProMix)
ns liquid vs fish (ProMix)
ns red osmocote vs fish (ProMix and Compost)
ns ½x vs 1x rate (ProMix, red osmocote)
ns osmocote red vs brown (Promix+Fafard+Stender)
Media
** Nutripeat vs ProMix (Red Osmocote and fish)
* Stender vs Fafard+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
ns Fafard vs Stender+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
ns ProMix vs Stender+Fafard+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
** Scotts vs Stender+Fafard+ProMix (Red Osmocote)
Results
Hemerocallis ‘Stella d’Oro’
| Treatment | Dry Weight, g |
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3.7a |
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3.6ab |
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3.6ab |
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3.2abc |
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3.2abc |
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2.7abcd |
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2.2 bcde |
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1.9cde |
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1.4de |
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1.4de |
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1.3de |
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1.0e |
Statistical Contrasts (ns=not significant, *significant, **highly significant, bold =highest)
Fertility
** Osmocote vs liquid (ProMix)
ns liquid vs fish (ProMix)
* red osmocote vs fish (ProMix and Compost)
ns ½x vs 1x rate (ProMix, red osmocote)
** osmocote red vs brown (Promix+Fafard+Stender)
Media
ns Nutripeat vs ProMix (Red Osmocote and fish)
ns Stender vs Fafard+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
ns Fafard vs Stender+ProMix+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
* ProMix vs Stender+Fafard+Scotts (Red Osmocote)
ns Scotts vs Stender+Fafard+ProMix (Red Osmocote)
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