Response to micronutrient on carrots grown on a virgin sphagnum peat

Abstract Field studies were conducted over a period of years on a virgin sphagnum peat bog in St. Charles, New Brunswick to determine the effect of trace elements on carrot (Daucus carota L.) root yield and nutrient concentration. Addition of the trace elements, boron (B), molybdenum (Mo), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn), did not affect the marketable carrot root yields, although yields differed significantly from year to year. Addition of B at 10 kg/ha resulted in leaf tissue B concentrations as high as 75 mg/kg. Addition of foliar Mo at 0.14 kg/ha and soil Mo at 0.56 kg/ha raised the leaf tissue Mo concentrations to 3 to 4 mg/kg. Copper applications at 30 kg/ha raised the leaf tissue Cu concentration to 12 mg/kg. Zinc addition at 10 kg/ha did not increase the leaf Zn levels which ranged from 44 to 58 mg/kg. The leaf tissue B, Mo, Cu, and Zn levels as low as 29, 0.17, 4, and 44 mg/kg, respectively, were not related to deficiency of these elements. Such leaf tissue concentrations of B, Mo, and Cu are marginal ...