The Influence of Soil Temperature on the Growth and Mineral Composition of Corn, Bromegrass and Potatoes

Abstract

Abstract When grown with different nutrient treatments in temperature‐controlled soil in the greenhouse, yields of corn and bromegrass tops increased with increments in temperature from 41° to 80° F., but yields of potato tops and tubers showed a less consistent relationship with temperature. Yields of corn and bromegrass roots also increased with temperature except for a decline in bromegrass roots when temperature was increased from 67° to 80° F. Tuber yields were usually higher at soil temperatures above 41° F., but the optimum temperature varied with nutrient treatment. The nutrient composition of the crops showed few consistent trends in relation to soil temperature. The P content of bromegrass and potato tops, however, increased with rising temperatures when the plants were grown without added P. Uptake of N, P, Ca, Mg and K by the crops usually increased with increasing temperature to at least 67° F. The uptake of P by the plants without addition of the nutrient, relative to the uptake obtained with addition, increased almost invariably with each increment in temperature. Water‐use efficiency usually increased where N, P and K were added together and often decreased as soil temperatures increased.