Fertilizer Requirements for Container-grown Buxus spp.
The objective of this study was to determine the nutritional requirements for container-grown boxwood and to determine if summer dormancy of boxwood can be removed via nutrition. Buxus sempervirens L. ‘Suffruticosa’, B. sempervirens L. ‘Vardar Valley’, and B. sinica var. insularis Nakai ‘Justin Brouwers’ were used for these studies. Various levels of Osmocote 15N–3.9P–9.8K (15N–9P2O5–12K2O) and a 10N–1.7P–4.9K (10–4–6) liquid fertilizer were applied to boxwood in a pine-bark substrate. Maximum shoot dry weight (OSDW) was achieved at 12 to 16 g (.42 to.56 oz) Osmocote per 3 liter (#1) container and 100 to125 ppm N from the liquid fertilizer. Leachate EC corresponding to OSDW ranged from 0.5 to 0.7 dS/m and 0.7 to 1.5 dS/m for Osmocote and the liquid fertilizer, respectively. Leaf tissue N levels corresponding to OSDW weight ranged from 3.1 to 4.3% for Osmocote and 5.0 to 5.5% for the liquid fertilizer. While the fertilizer requirements for boxwood OSDW were determined, additional growth flushes did not occur.Abstract
Contributor Notes
The research reported herein was funded in part by the Virginia Agricultural Council, The Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association, and the American Boxwood Society. The use of trade names in this publication does not imply endorsement of the products named, nor criticism of similar ones not mentioned.
2Graduate student. This paper is based on a portion of a thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.S. degree.
3Associate Professor.
4Professor.