The effects of two Fe-EDDHA chelated fertilizers on dry matter production and Fe uptake of tomato seedlings and Fe forms of a calcareous soil

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effects of two different ratios of Fe-EDDHA chelated fertilizers, (F1:4.8% and F2:6%) having the same amount of 6% soluble Fe content, on dry matter production and Fe uptake of tomato seedlings at different growth periods and Fe forms of a calcareous soil. The experiment was conducted in a factorial experimental design using Fe-EDDHA chelated fertilizers and the plant growth periods (10, 20, 30 and 40 days after seedling) with three replicates under the greenhouse conditions. The results indicated that the dry matter content, Fe uptake, chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents in plants generally increased over the control with increasing the growth periods. The plant dry matter contents were higher in F1 than F2 fertilization. The plant Fe uptakes in F1 treatment during the growth periods were also higher than that in F2 treatment. The carotenoid content and the chlorophyll formations in terms of both chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b were higher in F2 fertilization at the 20th day and higher in F1 fertilization at the 40th day. The DTPA-Fe and exchangeable-Fe contents in soil samples generally decreased while the organically bounded-Fe content in soil samples increased with increasing growth periods. It can be suggested that 4,8% of Fe-EDDHA fertilizer is more effective on Fe uptake when compared with 6% of Fe-EDDHA chelated Fe fertilizer. Therefore, F1 fertilizer can be used when chlorosis is seen on plants in calcareous soils. On the other hand, F2 fertilizer can be used if long-term Fe fertilization is desired. The differences in effectiveness between Fe-EDDHA chelated fertilizers having the same amount of water-soluble Fe content may be occurred due to differences in their chelating formulas.