Evaluation of a newly developed potassium and nitrogen fertilization regime for soil cultivation of Ranunculus asiaticus

The requirements of Ranunculus asiaticus L. for N and K fertigation were recently studied in an experimental cultivation system in soilless culture, and the results identified lower requirement of R. asiaticus L. for N and K fertilization than the regime routinely practiced in Israel in the production fields. Fertigation with 50 mg N L-1 and 60 mg K L-1 excelled in terms of marketable flower production, flower quality, vase life duration, and reducing damage to the cut-flower yield by "stem-topple". In the present study, to assess the applicability of the newly developed optimized fertigation regime for soil-cultivation in the commercial production fields, we have compared the conventional high-input fertigation practice (100 mg N L-1 and 120 mg K L-1) with the newly developed reduced-fertigation regime (50 mg N L-1 and 60 mg K L-1) under agronomic conditions routinely practiced for commercial cultivation in the Bessor region, at the south of Israel. The newly optimized regime, which requires half the inp...