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The objective of these experiments was to compare internal differences in seed of the ‘Florigiant’ peanut plant (Arachis hypogaea L.) when grown under calcium or boron deficient conditions. Plants were grown in pots filled with soils which were low in available calcium and boron. Lime plus fertilizer, including boron, were applied to the soils to form a series of corrective treatments. The experiments were conducted three years in the greenhouse and a fourth year outside. Boron corrected “hollow‐heart defect” and calcium corrected “dark plumule” the three years the experiments were in the greenhouse. Results for the fourth year were similar, but control was not perfect probably due to leaching by excessive rain during the latter part of the season. Microscopic and histological studies of the seed showed that boron deficiency affected the inside of the cotyledons and sometimes caused the tips of the plumules to be small and pointed. In contrast, calcium deficiency affected the vascular system at the base of the plumules. Sufficient greenhouse‐grown seed were not available for reliable viability versus germination evaluations. Studies of seed grown in the field with and without lime, showed that about 23% of seed with dark plumule germinated, but none were viable by the tetrazolium test.

IntroductionThe peanut plant produces flowers above ground, and the flowers when fertilized form gynophores ( fig. 1) or pegs. The pegs then push into the soil where they develop into fruit ( fig. 2). For this reason both the roots and the fruit of the plant grow in the soil.

Comparisons of calcium and boron deficiency and normal peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L. var. “Florigiant”) were made from plants grown to maturity on soils supplying inadequate and adequate (with fertilization) levels of these nutrients. The characteristics of boron and calcium deficiencies were distinctive and strikingly different. Boron deficiency seemed to affect all parts of the plant. It changed foliage characteristics, flowering pattern, and usually increased shoot and root yields. However, the deficiency decreased fruit yield and caused poor quality of fruit. In contrast, calcium deficiency seemed to affect only fruit yield and quality. Without calcium the yield usually was lower and the quality of the seed poorer.

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