Evaluating yield and quality of roses with respect to nitrogen fertilization and leaf nitrogen status

The establishment of critical tissue nitrogen (N) levels for greenhouse rose production has been primarily based on visual symptoms of N deficiency, with relatively less consideration to yield parameters. This work examined the relationship between rose leaf N concentration and biomass-flower yields and quality. Container-grown 'Royalty' rose plants were irrigated for 13 months with complete nutrient solutions containing N concentrations of 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 220 mg.L-1. Over the course of the experiment optimum flower and dry biomass yields were consistently observed in plants receiving 90 mg.L-1 N. Leaf N concentrations increased asymptotically with N application rate, stabilizing for treatments greater than or equal to 90 mg.L-1. Time of the year had an effect on overall leaf N concentrations across treatments, with higher values observed in the winter and lower values in the summer. Leaf N concentrations were linearly, and significantly, correlated with leaf chlorophyll content and color attributes (i.e. hue, chroma and value). Quadratic relationships between leaf N concentration and rose plant yields were observed only for the second half of the experimental period, and depicted an apparent, and striking, plant control over tissue N status. In addition, these relationships indicated that optimum plant yields were possible during spring and summer with leaf N concentrations below the recommended critical level of 3% (as low as 2.4-2.5%). These results suggest that, as currently utilized, leaf N concentration per se is not a dependable indicator of rose productivity.