Effect of Calcium, Boron and Molybdenum on Plant Growth and Bract Pigmentation in Poinsettia

Abstract

Foliar sprays of Ca (300, 400, and 500 mg L-1), B (0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 mg L-1), Mo (0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 mg L-1), Ca + B (400 + 0.5 mg L-1), Ca + Mo (400 + 0.4 mg L-1), B + Mo (0.5 + 0.4 mg L-1) and Ca + B + Mo (400 + 0.5 + 0.4 mg L-1), were applied to improve the quality of poinsettia plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima) cv. ‘Supjibi Red’. Treatments were applied three times at: beginning, middle, and end of the short photoperiod. Calcium at 400 mg L-1 increased significantly plant height by 15.3 %. Leaf chlorophyll concentration decreased by 25 % when bract pigmentation initiated. Treatments did not affect the leaf chlorophyll contents. Calcium (300 mg) and B (0.8 mg) increased the number of transitional bracts (5.7 and 5.6, respectively) compared to 0.4 mg L-1 Mo treatment; while B (0.5 mg) increased the total number of colored bracts per shoot (8.36) compared to the rest of the treatments. Total chlorophyll concentration decreased by 95 % in transitional bracts, carotenoids decreased 89 % and anthocyanins increased considerably (from 21.4 to 296.7 mg g-1). Foliar applications of calcium improved poinsettia plant height and the Ca plus B combination accelerated bract pigmentation.

Effects of Chemical Fertilizer and Some Bacterial Formulations on Growing Medium and Plant Heavy Metal Content in Poinsettia Cultivation

“…The lowest boron content for root samples was obtained from control and BI applications (Table 5). Microelements such as Ca, Mo and B play an important role in the pigmentation and growth of bracts of poinsettia (Arreola et al, 2008). The highest available boron value was obtained from BIII+CF application (0.86 mg kg -1 ).…”

Redressing the roles of anthocyanin pigments in vegetative and reproductive organs

“…Alternatively, anthocyanins reduce oxidative stress induced by heavy metals and metalloids. Dell & Malajczuk, 1994;Baranowska et al, 1996;Hale et al, 2001;Hale et al, 2002;Nissim-Levi et al, 2003;Gratão et al, 2005;Glińska et al, 2007;Arreola et al, 2008;Posmyk et al, 2009;Landi et al, 2012;Landi et al, 2013;Landi et al, 2014;Tattini et al, 2014 UV protection Anthocyanins absorb UV radiation, screening tissues from UV damage` Beggs & Wellmann, 1985;Takahashi et al, 1991;Burger & Edwards, 1996;Mendez et al, 1999;Alexieva et al, 2001;Hada et al, 2003;Newsham et al, 2005;Lau et al, 2006;Pfündel et al, 2007;Wang et al, 2012;Tsurunaga et al, 2013;Costa et al, 2014 Back-scatter hypothesis Abaxial anthocyanins maximise light capture in leaves by reflecting red light back to the mesophyll tissues. Lee et al, 1979;Gould et al, 1995;Hughes et al, 2008…”