Growth and Quality Changes of Creeping Bentgrass by Application of Liquid Fertilizer Containing Silicate

Abstract

Superintendents have used a silicate fertilizer to improve a resistance of turfgrass against several diseases, drought damage and wear stress. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of liquid fertilizer containing silicate (LFSi) on changes of turfgrass quality and growth by investigating visual quality, chlorophyll content-chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll, root length, shoot length, dry weight of clipping, and nutrient content in leaves tissue. Treatments were designed as follows; control fertilizer (CF), SiF-1 (CF + 1 ml m −2 LFSi), SiF-2 (CF + 2 ml m −2 LFSi), and SiF-3 (CF + 4 ml m −2 LFSi). As compared with CF, soil chemical properties, visual turfgrass quality, chlorophyll content, and dry weight of clipping of LFSi treatments were not significantly. Contrastingly, shoot density, root length, and the content of nitrogen or potassium were increased by application of LFSi. The content of Si in the tissue was positively correlated with potassium content or shoot length, and similarly shoot density positively with chlorophyll content or visual quality, respectively. These results suggested that the application of LFSi improved the turfgrass quality by increasing shoot density or K content in leaf tissue of creeping bentgrass.