Improving fertilizer-depot exploitation and maize growth by inoculation with plant growth-promoting bacteria: from lab to field

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 2 Shoot N and P concentration and content, and shoot dry matter, 55 days after sowing, (Rhizobox experiment)

	N conc. (% DM)	N content (mg N plant⁻¹)	P conc. (mg P g⁻¹ DM)	P content (mg P plant⁻¹)	Shoot DM (g plant⁻¹)
LS means N*BE
NO3-mixed*NoBE	1.83	114.0	2.18	13.7	6.35
NO3-mixed*BE1	2.22	130.1	2.32	13.6	5.91
NH4-Depot*NoBE	2.47	137.1	2.93	16.2	5.60
NH4-Depot*BE1	2.66	133.9	3.15	15.9	5.09
Standard error	0.134	4.69	0.146	0.62	0.420
Two-way ANOVA
N	0.002**	0.014*	< 0.001***	0.002 **	NS
NO3	2.03 b	122.0 b	2.52 b	13.6 b	6.13
NH4	2.57 a	135.5 a	3.04 a	16.0 a	5.35
BE	*0.051*	NS	NS	NS	NS
NoBE	2.15	125.7	2.56	15.0	5.97
BE1	2.44	132.0	2.73	14.7	5.50
*NBE**	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS

P values are in italics; NS no significant difference when P ≥ 0.1; P < 0.1 is bold italics; * P < 0.5; ** P < 0.01; *** P < 0.001; Means not sharing the same letters are significantly different from each other, Tukey test α = 0.05; factors and interaction is bold italics; NO3 Ca(NO₃)₂ homogenously mixed in substrate
NH4 stabilized (NH₄)₂SO₄ placed in substrate as a depot, BE bio-effector, NoBE no bio-effector, BE1 Pseudomonas sp. DSMZ 13134