Middle Eastern and Russian Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology ©2007 Global Science Books

Effect of Different Levels of Nitrogen Fertilizer and Cultivars

on Growth, Yield and Yield Components of
Romaine Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

Maryam Boroujerdnia* • Naser Alemzadeh Ansari

Department of Horticultural, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Chamran University, Ahwaz, Iran

Corresponding author: * Boroujerdnia@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In order to determine the effect of nitrogen fertilizer rates and cultivars on growth and critical yield of lettuce, an experiment was
conducted at Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz, Iran during 2005-2006. This study was arranged in a spilt plot experiment based on a
randomized complete block design, in three replications. The treatments included four nitrogen rates (0, 60, 120, and 180 kg N ha-1) as the
main plot and two lettuce cultivars (‘Pich Ahwazi’ and ‘Pich Varamini’) as the sub-plot. Sampling was done in 86, 100, 114, 126, 142, and
156 days after sowing. The criteria measured were plant length, fresh and dry weights of leaves, leaf area, number of leaves, crop growth
rate (CGR), leaf area index (LAI) and yield. Results indicated that different levels of nitrogen fertilizer on all growth characteristics were
significant at P<0.01. Nitrogen fertilizer caused head formation to accelerate and delayed the bolting date of lettuce. Cultivar had a
significant effect on growth characteristics, on fresh and dry weights of leaves and on leaf number but not on plant length and leaf area.
The highest yield was obtained with 120 kg ha-1 treatment by ‘Pich Ahwazi’. Also, it took ‘Pich Varamini’ longer to form a head and to
flower than ‘Pich Ahwazi’.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Keywords: bolting, leaf area index

INTRODUCTION dual fertility, soil moisture, seasons and cultivar. This study
aimed to evaluate the effect of different nitrogen levels ap-
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the most popular amongst the plied as urea on the growth and productivity of two culti-
salad vegetable crops (Squire et al. 1987). In line with vars of lettuce, which can help to predict the optimal N fer-
investigations carried out by Stevens (1974) in USA, lettuce tilizer requirement and to improve the practice of lettuce
is ranked 26th among vegetables and fruits in terms of nutri- production.
tive value and 4th in terms of consumption rate highlighting
the ever-increasing importance of this crop. MATERIALS AND METHODS
This vegetable requires a high rate of nitrogen for
growth and development. In Iran, farmers who applied ex- The investigation was conducted during the 2005-2006 growing
cesses nitrogen fertilizer to increase crop yield disturbed the season at the experimental field of the Agricultural Faculty, Shahid
equilibrium balance of nutrient elements in the soil, caused Chamran University of Ahwaz (31°19N and 48°40E, elevation 12
pollution, decreased crop quality and thus a great part of the m), Iran. The experimental field was cleared, ploughed, harrowed
nation’s resources became useless (Tehrani and Malakouti and divided into plots. The soil texture at the experimental site was
1997). The investigations carried out by Tittonell et al. loam clay silty with approximately 0.56% organic matter, pH 7.6,
(2003) on lettuce showed that increasing nitrogen fertilizer EC 2.9 ds m-1. The 0-30 soil layers contained respectively 0.56%
from 0 to 150 kg ha-1 increased the fresh weight of the crop. total nitrogen, 7.1 ppm available phosphorous, and 142 ppm avail-
Rincon et al. (1998) reported that increasing nitrogen up able K. The experimental design was a split plot fitted to random-
to 100 kg ha-1 increased the yield of lettuce, reaching 53.4 t ized complete block. The treatments included four nitrogen rates
ha-1 (total fresh matter) while the application of 150 and 200 (N1=0, N2=60, N3=120, N4=180 kg N ha-1) as the main plot and
kg ha-1 caused a decrease in the biomass and yield index, two Iranian lettuce cultivars (‘Pich Awazi’, ‘Pich Varamini’) as the
respectively. Gulser (2005) observed that an increase in the sub-plot. Before sowing, phosphorous (P2O5) and potassium
fertilizer nitrogen level increased the yield, stem length and
leaf surface area but not the number of leaves in spinach.
Demir et al. (1996) reported that by increasing the nitrogen Table 1 Average monthly temperature and precipitation during growing
fertilizer rate the leaf area, stem length and yield of spinach season.
increased. Zarehie (1995) reported that by increasing the Months Temperature (°C) Precipitation (mm)
nitrogen fertilizer rate to 200 kg ha-1 increased the yield of 2005-2006 Normala 2005-2006 Normal
spinach but that by increasing the nitrogen level up to 200 November 21.5 19.6 22.2 31.9
kg ha-1 the corresponding increase in yield was not econo- December 18.6 13.8 22.2 47.2
mical. The investigation conducted by Mahmoudi Kliber January 12.9 12.2 48.1 48.3
(2005) on lettuce (cv. ‘Siah Karaj’) showed that by increa- February 14.5 14.3 102.6 27.0
sing the rate of nitrogen fertilizer to 300 kg ha-1 increased March 19.3 18.6 0.8 29.5
the yield and dry matter of lettuce but between 100 and 200 April 24.0 24.7 0.4 15.1
kg N ha-1 was not significantly different. However, the yield May 31.0 30.7 0.5 5.2
response of lettuce to increasing N rate varies with different Mean or total 20.2 19.1 196.8 204.2
environmental variables, including weather, soil type, resi- a
Normal refers to the long-term (50 years) average.

Received: 24 August, 2007. Accepted: 4 December, 2007.

Original Research Paper
 Middle Eastern and Russian Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology 1(2), 47-53 ©2007 Global Science Books

Table 2 Mean effects of different nitrogen levels and cultivar on yield and growth criteria of Romaine lettuce.
N doses Plant length Leaf number Leaf area Leaf dry weight Leaf fresh weight Yield
(kg N ha-1) (cm) (cm2) (g) (g) (kg m-2)
0 28 b* 56.12 b 6902.50 c 31.33 b 418.45 c 2.83 d
60 32.37 a 63.75 a 9437.50 b 41.07 a 673.30 b 5.14 c
120 33.37 a 64.37 a 12463.75 a 46.78 a 798.69 a 7.00 a
180 34.25 a 62.75 a 1160.75 ab 43.55 a 721.24 b 6.17 b
Cultivar
‘Pich Ahwazi’ 32.44 a 65.06 a 10280.00 a 39.79 b 621.81 b 5.36 a
‘Pich Varamini’ 31.56 a 58.44 b 9923.75 a 41.57 a 697.02 a 5.21 a
*Means followed by the same letter did not differ significantly at P=0.05.

(K2O5) were applied at a rate of 150 and 100 kg ha-1, respectively. 40 3 2

N1: y = -2E-05x + 0.0081x - 0.9543x + 43.246 A
On the 24th October 2005, lettuce seeds were sown chassis. Then 2
R = 0.9867
seven weeks after emergence on the 18th December 2005, lettuce 35 3 2
N2: y = -4E-05x + 0.0154x - 1.6921x + 67.774
seedlings at the 5-6 leaf stage were planted out in a field. Planta- 2
R = 0.986
tion density was 12 plants m-2. All recommended cultural practices 30
such as irrigation, eradication of weeds and plant protection were

Plant length (cm)

25
adopted uniformly according to standard crop requirements. Weeds N1
were manually controlled. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied and split
20 N2
into three applications (2, 4 and 8 weeks after lettuce transplan-
ting). The form of nitrogen fertilizer used was urea (46% N). Let- N3
15
tuces were hand-harvested on the 27th March, 2006. Sampling was
done on 86, 100, 114, 126, 142, and 156 days after sowing. During 3 2
N3: y = -1E-04x + 0.0364x - 4.1116x + 157.27 N4
10
the study and after plant harvesting, some plant characteristics 2
R = 0.9933
such as plant length, leaf number, fresh and dry weight of leaves, 5 3 2
N4: y = -0.0002x + 0.0714x - 8.1722x + 310.86
leaf area index (LAI), crop growth rate (CGR) and yield were mea- 2
R = 0.9972
sured. LAI was estimated by the following formula: 0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
Leaf area
LAI
SA Days after sowing

where SA is the area covered by the plant. Also, crop growth rate
(CGR) was determined by the following formula: 3 2
40 N1:y = -5E-05x + 0.0196x - 2.3495x + 98.601 B
§ W2 - W1 ·§ 1 · R2 = 0.9923
CGR ¨¨ ¸¸¨ ¸ 35
© T2 - T1 ¹© SA ¹
3 2
N2: y = -4E-05x + 0.015x - 1.6223x + 64.258
R2 = 0.9787
where W1 is the first dry weight, W2 is the secondly dry weight, T1 30
is the time of first harvest, T2 is the time of second harvesting in a
Plant length (cm)

two-stage sampling and SA is the area covered by the plant. 25 N1

Statistical analysis of experimental data were conducted using N2
the MSTATC software package and the means were separated 20
following ANOVA by Duncan’s multiple range test with at least N3
P<0.05. 15
N4
3 2
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 10 N3: y = -0.0001x + 0.0383x - 4.3442x + 167.62
R2 = 0.9764
The meteorological conditions during the growth period of 5 3 2
N4: y = -0.0002x + 0.0578x - 6.6065x + 252.73
lettuce are presented in Table 1 showing the average air R2 = 0.9917
temperature and monthly rainfall from November 2005 to 0
April 2006. The weather conditions during the growth peri- 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
od varied. The growing season (2005-2006) was relatively Days after sowing
hotter than the 50-year average. The air temperatures were Fig. 1 Response of plant height to different nitrogen levels in two let-
lower at the beginning of the growth season. The monthly tuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B).
temperature in the growth period between November 2005
and March 2006 was above average. The main rainfall
received in the growing season (2005-2006) was relatively
lower than in the 50-year average. The highest monthly pre- stage increased plant height and difference between treat-
cipitation during the growing period of lettuce occurred in ments could be observed (Fig. 1). In both cultivars and
February (102.6 mm). from transplanting stage to plant harvesting an increase in
plant height was observed. The effect of cultivar on plant
Plant height height was not statistically significant, but the interaction
nitrogen amount × cultivar was significant at the 5% level.
Nitrogen fertilizer application at all levels increased plant The tallest ‘Pich Ahwazi’ and ‘Pich Varamini’ plants formed
height by 4.3-6.2 cm. The highest level of nitrogen fertilizer at 180 kg N ha-1 and the shortest in the control treatment
(180 kg N ha-1) produced the tallest plants and the shortest (without N). Similar results have been reported in investiga-
plants formed in the control (without N). However, no sig- tions conducted by Baloch et al. (1991) and Rostamforoudi
nificant difference was found between three treatments: 60, et al. (1999).
120, and 180 kg N ha-1 (Table 2). The effect of nitrogen rate
on the changes in plant height was investigated. In the first Fresh weight of leaves
stages of growth differences between nitrogen levels were
not significant because plants are in the rosette stage and The effect of nitrogen fertilizer level on the fresh weight of
growth of plants is typically low at this stage. After this leaves was significant at the 1% level. The lowest leaf fresh

48
 Effect of nitrogen fertilizer and cultivar on Romaine lettuce growth and yield parameters. Boroujerdnia and Ansari

900
days after sowing little difference between nitrogen levels
3 2
N1: y = 0.0015x - 0.4136x + 39.206x - 1248
A was found. This is because plants were in the rosette stage.
800 2
R = 0.9944 However, plants gradually reached the head stage and reac-
700
ted differently under different fertilizer treatments, with the
3 2
N2: y = 0.0013x - 0.2845x + 18.682x - 317.37
2
fresh weight increasing rapidly in the four weeks before
600
R = 0.9905 harvest. The interaction nitrogen fertilizer × cultivar on
3 2 fresh weight was significant at the 1% level. The highest
Fresh weight of leaf (g)

N3: y = 0.001x - 0.1359x - 0.7324x + 453.46

500 2
R = 0.9989
N1 fresh weight was obtained at 120 kg N ha-1 for ‘Pich Vara-
N2
mini’ and the lowest fresh weight was produced by the con-
400 3 2
N4: y = 0.0004x + 0.0366x - 17.183x + 957.66
trol and ‘Pich Ahwazi’.
2
R = 0.9977 N3
300 Leaf dry weight
N4
200 A significant difference among the nitrogen treatments was
found on the dry weight of leaves (P<0.01). By increasing
100
the nitrogen fertilizer rate the dry weight of leaves increased
0
but the difference between 60, 120 and 180 kg N ha-1 treat-
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
ments was not statistically significant. The highest dry
Days after sowing weight of leaves was obtained at 120 kg N ha-1 application
while the least leaf dry weight was obtained in the control
(Table 2). Takebe et al. (1995) reported that increments in
3 2
N1:y = 0.0017x - 0.4646x + 42.725x - 1299.3 B leaf dry weight may be due to a combination of nitrogen
900
2
R = 0.9898 with plant matter produced during photosynthesis such as
3 2
glucose, ascorbic acid, amino acids and protein. Also, Tei et
800 N2: y = 0.0041x - 1.2349x + 123.82x - 4121 B al. (2000) reported that increasing the rate of nitrogen ferti-
2
R = 0.9985 lizer significantly increased the dry weight of leaves. In the
700 3 2 first stages of growth there was a small increase in the rate
N3: y = 0.0021x - 0.5097x + 39.27x - 941.82
of dry weight formation but by increasing plant growth and
Fresh weight of leaf (g)

2
600 R = 0.9924
3 2 N1 leaf area the amount of dry matter increased proportionally
N4:y = -0.0011x + 0.5761x - 80.299x + 3352.5
500 2
(Fig. 3). Increasing the rate of nitrogen fertilizer affected
R = 0.9753 N2
leaf dry weight because nitrogen stimulates plant vegetative
400
N3 growth and increases leaf area; as a result increments in leaf
300 area increase the rate of plant photosynthesis and thus high-
N4
200
50
3 2
100 N1: y = 9E-05x - 0.0223x + 1.9676x - 58.536 A
45 2
R = 0.9903
0 40 3 2
N2: y = 4E-05x - 0.0013x - 0.7607x + 52.842
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170 2
R = 0.9783
Dry weight of leaf (g)

-100 35
Days after sowing 3 2
N3: y = 6E-05x - 0.0108x + 0.4246x + 4.3487
30
2
Fig. 2 Response of leaf fresh weight to different nitrogen levels in two R = 0.9957
25 N1
lettuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B). 3 2
N4: y = 0.0001x - 0.0277x + 2.5373x - 80.533
20 N2
2
R = 0.9965
N3
15
N4
weight (418.45 g) was obtained in the control treatment and 10
the highest leaf fresh weight (798.69 g) at 120 kg N ha-1.
The application of N fertilizer up to 120 kg N ha-1 increased 5

the fresh weight of leaves significantly but as nitrogen ferti- 0

lizer dose increased above 180 kg N ha-1 leaf fresh weight 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
decreased. Between 60 kg N ha-1 and 180 kg N ha-1 no sig- Days after sowing
nificant difference was found. The studies carried out by
Rincon et al. (1998) on lettuce showed that increasing nitro-
gen fertilizer level to 100 kg N ha-1 increased its value. Tei 3 2
N1: y = 0.0001x - 0.0339x + 3.0881x - 92.873
et al. (2000) applied N fertilizer at different levels (0, 50, 60 2
R = 0.9846
B
100 and 200 kg N ha-1) for two lettuce cultivars (cv. ‘Au- 3 2
dran’ and cv. ‘Canasta’) and estimated N fertilizer rate to 50 N2: y = 1E-04x - 0.0227x + 1.6305x - 34.317
obtain maximum fresh weight at about 155 kg N ha-1 for
2
R = 0.9873
both cultivars. Similarly, Broadley et al. (2000) and Tit-
Dry weight of leaf (g)

3 2
40 N3: y = 0.0001x - 0.0337x + 2.7291x - 71.029
tonell et al. (2003) on lettuce (cv. ‘Saladian R100’ and cv. 2
R = 0.9922
‘Grand Rapids’, respectively) reported that fresh weight in- 3 2 N1
creased as N rate increased. 30 N4: y = -3E-05x + 0.0209x - 3.1239x + 133.89
2
The effect of cultivar was significant on fresh weight. R = 0.976 N2
‘Pich Ahwazi’, with an average of 679.02 g, had a higher 20
N3
fresh weight than ‘Pich Varamini’. Shahbazi (2005) also re- N4
ported that among four lettuce cultivars (‘Pich Babol’, ‘Pich
10
Nokandeh’, ‘Bogond Boston’, ‘Siah Lobnani’) there was a
were significant difference in fresh weight, the highest ob-
served in ‘Pich Babol’. Although this result agrees with the 0
finding by Shahbazi (2005), that study different to ours in 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
climatic conditions, growth season, cultivar and local situa-
Day after sowing
tion.
The effect of nitrogen rate on changes in fresh weight Fig. 3 Response of plant leaf dry weight to nitrogen different levels in
was investigated (Fig. 2). From the first growth stage to 114 two lettuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B).

49
 Middle Eastern and Russian Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology 1(2), 47-53 ©2007 Global Science Books

3 2
14000 3 2 A 80 N1: y = -4E-05x + 0.0238x - 3.3557x + 146.18 A
N1: y = 0.0526x - 16.409x + 1703.4x - 58575 2
2 R = 0.998
R = 0.9986 70
12000 3 2
N2: y = -0.0002x + 0.0913x - 10.97x + 425.16
3 2 2
N2: y = 0.0372x - 10.457x + 985.52x - 30936 60 R = 0.9969
10000 2
R = 0.9972
3 2
50 N3: y = -0.0002x + 0.0622x - 7.3503x + 281.25

leaf number
3 2 2
Leaf area (cm )

8000 N3: y = 0.086x - 27.16x + 2868.8x - 100578 R = 0.9997

2

2
N1
R = 0.9959 40
N1 N2
6000
3 2
N4: y = 0.057x - 17.393x + 1799.9x - 62411 N2 30 N3
2
4000 R = 0.9974 N3
N4
20
N4
2000 3 2
10 N4: y = -2E-05x + 0.0154x - 2.0283x + 85.936
2
R = 0.9984
0 0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
-2000
Day after sowing
Day after sowing

3 2
14000 N1: y = 0.0424x - 13.188x + 1366.7x - 46876 B 3 2
N1: y = -0.0001x + 0.0544x - 6.7969x + 272.65 B
2
R = 0.9976 70 2
R = 0.9885
3 2
12000 3 2
N2: y = 0.057x - 17.38x + 1768x - 59682 N2: y = 4E-05x - 0.0029x - 0.2528x + 30.689
2
60 2
R = 0.9996 R = 0.996
10000 3 2 3 2
N3: y = 0.0827x - 25.782x + 2681.3x - 92462 50 N3: y = 8E-05x - 0.0184x + 1.592x - 39.179
2 2
R = 0.9939
Leaf area (cm )

R = 0.999
2

leaf number

8000
3 2 40
N4: y = 0.0668x - 20.478x + 2107.3x - 72172 N1
2 N1
R = 0.9978
6000 N2 30 N2
N3 N3
4000 N4 20 N4

2000 10 3 2
N4: y = -0.0002x + 0.0755x - 8.6896x + 326.29
2
R = 0.9997
0 0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
Day after sowing Day after sowing
Fig. 4 Response of plant leaf area to different nitrogen levels in two Fig. 5 Response of plant leaf number to different nitrogen levels in
lettuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B). two lettuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B).

er dry matter production. There were significant differences area increased and the difference between treatments could
in leaf dry matter and dry weight between cv. ‘Pich Vara- be assessed (Fig. 4). The effect of cultivar, also the interact-
mini’ and ‘Pich Ahwazi’, being higher in the former. Also, tion cultivar × level of nitrogen fertilizer did not affect leaf
the interaction between nitrogen fertilizer rate and cultivar area significantly but in both cultivars, although as applica-
on leaf dry weight was significant at P=0.05 and the highest tion of nitrogen fertilizer increased, so too did the average
leaf dry weight in the third treatment (120 kg N ha-1) and cv. leaf area increase.
‘Pich Ahwazi’, while the lowest leaf dry weight was
obtained in the control treatment (without N) and ‘Pich Leaf number
Ahwazi’.
Nitrogen fertilizer level significantly affected leaf number,
Leaf area and the highest leaf number was related to the third treat-
ment (120 kg N ha-1) while the lowest was related to the
The effect of nitrogen fertilizer level on leaf area was signi- control treatment. However, no significant differences were
ficant at P=0.01. The highest leaf area was related to the found between three levels, namely 60, 120 and 180 kg N
third treatment (i.e., 120 kg N ha-1) and the lowest leaf area ha-1 (Table 2). Gulser (2005) also reported that increments
was related to the control treatment (Table 2). An investiga- in the nitrogen rate of the fertilizers increased the number of
tion carried out by Gulser (2005) on spinach showed that leaves in spinach, but these increases were not statistically
increments in the nitrogen dose from 0 to 150 increased the significant. Karic et al. (2005) applied four nitrogen levels
leaf area and the highest leaf area was obtained as 203.7 m2 (0, 50, 100 and 200 kg N ha-1) to leek culture and reported
ha in the highest nitrogen level, i.e. at 150 kg N ha-1. Theses that the application of 200 kg N ha-1 resulted in a maximum
results are consistent with those reported by Demir et al. number of leaves per plant (14.4), but no effect was ob-
(1996), who also reported that increasing the rate of nitro- served on the number of leaves up to 100 kg N ha-1. Also,
gen fertilizers increased the leaf area of spinach. The results Shahbazi (2005) showed that there was a significant differ-
showed that nitrogen fertilizer, when applied up to 120 kg N ence in the number of leaves among nitrogen levels (0, 50,
ha-1, enhanced leaf growth and photosynthesis, thus increas- 100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1), and that the highest leaf num-
ing leaf area. The effect of different nitrogen levels on leaf ber was obtained with 200 kg N ha-1. The application of
area showed that in the first stages of growth leaf area was nitrogen fertilizer stimulated vegetative growth by increas-
low but gradually, by increasing leaves’ growth, the leaf ing the number of leaves (Fig. 5).

50
 Effect of nitrogen fertilizer and cultivar on Romaine lettuce growth and yield parameters. Boroujerdnia and Ansari

12 3 2 2
N1: y = 4E-05x - 0.0136x + 1.4068x - 48.335 A 16
N1: y = 0.002x - 0.3452x + 14.264 A
2 2
R = 0.9987 R = 0.9937
10 14
3 2 2
N2: y = 3E-05x - 0.0085x + 0.7994x - 24.943 N2: y = 0.0023x - 0.3478x + 11.514
2 2
R = 0.9973 12 R = 0.9456
8
3 2 2
N3: y = 0.0015x - 0.1309x - 1.6812
Leaf area index

N3: y = 7E-05x - 0.0226x + 2.3907x - 83.818 10

2 2
R = 0.9959 R = 0.9738

CGR (g m2 day )
6 N1

-1
3 2 N1 8 2
N4: y = 5E-05x - 0.0145x + 1.5x - 52.012 N4: y = 0.0021x - 0.3144x + 10.965 N2
2 N2 2
N3
4 R = 0.9974 6 R = 0.9826
N3 N4
N4 4
2
2
0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
-2 -2

Day after sowing Day after sowing

2
12 3 2
N1: y = 3E-05x - 0.0084x + 0.8432x - 27.916 N1: y = 0.0031x - 0.5993x + 28.657 B
2 B 18 2
R = 0.9939 R = 0.9336
16 2
10 3 2 N2: y = 0.0027x - 0.4513x + 17.68
N2: y = 5E-05x - 0.0145x + 1.4733x - 49.736
2
2 14 R = 0.945
R = 0.9996
8 12 2
Leaf area index

3 2 N3: y = 0.0032x - 0.5261x + 20.591

N3: y = 7E-05x - 0.0215x + 2.2325x - 76.984
CGR (g m2 day )

2
N1 R = 0.9309
-1

2
R = 0.999 10 N1
6 N2 2 N2
3 2 8 N4: y = 0.0012x - 0.0806x - 3.6305
N4: y = 6E-05x - 0.0171x + 1.7559x - 60.137 2
2
N3 R = 0.9242 N3
R = 0.9978 6
4 N4 N4
4
2
2

0
0
72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170 72 86 100 114 128 142 156 170
-2
Day after sowing
Fig. 6 Response of plant leaf area index to different nitrogen levels in Day after sowing
two lettuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B). Fig. 7 Response of plant CGR to different nitrogen levels in two let-
tuce cultivars. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ (A); ‘Pich Varamini’ (B).

Leaf area index (LAI)

number and vegetative growth of plants thus increasing the
The effect of nitrogen fertilizer levels on LAI was deter- photosynthetic capacity; consequently the higher dry matter
mined in cvs. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ and ‘Pich Varamini’ (Fig. 6). In produced increasing CGR (Allen and Morgan 1972; Gulser
both cultivars, LAI in the first growth stage was low for all 2005).
treatments, but rapidly increased and reached a maximum in
the harvest stage. LAI increased as the nitrogen dose in- Yield
creased, particularly at fertilizer levels of 120 and 180 kg N
ha-1 although the difference in LAI between these two treat- The effect of different levels of nitrogen on yield was signi-
ments was insignificant. Allen and Morgan (1972) reported ficant at P=0.01. The highest yield in lettuce was obtained
that LAI was significantly affected by nitrogen level. The as 7 kg m-2 after application of 120 kg ha-1; the lowest yield
increase in LAI in response to an increase in N fertilizer is was obtained as 2.83 kg m-1 in the zero nitrogen application,
probably due to enhanced availability of nitrogen which en- i.e. the control (Table 2). Increasing the N levels of the fer-
hanced more leaf area resulting in higher photoassimilates tilizers to 120 kg N ha-1 significantly increased the yield of
and thereby in more dry matter accumulation. Also, Squire lettuce while yield decreased at the highest nitrogen dose.
et al. (1987) established that the main effect of N fertilizer This decrease in yield might be due to toxicity in the plant
was to increase the rate of leaf expansion, leading to in- (Tabatabaie and Malakouti 1997). The relationship between
creased interception of daily solar radiation by the canopy. nitrogen level and lettuce yield is shown in Fig. 8. The
quadratic equation was:
Crop growth rate (CGR)
y = -0.0002x2 + 0.0591x + 2.7205
Nitrogen level altered the growth rate of cvs. ‘Pich Ahwazi’
and ‘Pich Varamini’ (Fig. 7). In the first stage of growth, where Y is yield in t ha-1 and X is N applied in kg ha-1.
CGR was low for all fertilizer levels but as time passed as This formula could be used when making a recommen-
the plant grew and leaf area increased (i.e. the rate of dry dation for lettuce N application, and when the conditions
matter production increased) so the CGR increased. are the same or very close to those in this experiment.
In both cultivars, the highest CGR was obtained with Shahbazi (2005) reported that by increasing nitrogen
the application of 120 kg N ha-1. The results of some studies level from 0 to 120 kg N ha-1 the yield of lettuce increased
showed that high nitrogen levels increased leaf area, leaf but between 100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1 there were no

51
 Middle Eastern and Russian Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology 1(2), 47-53 ©2007 Global Science Books

Table 3 correlation coefficients between characteristics investigated.

Characteristics Plant length Leaf fresh weight Leaf dry weight Leaf area Leaf number Yield
Plant length 1.000
Leaf fresh weight 0.801** 1.000
Leaf dry weight 0.734** 0.950** 1.000
Leaf area 0.794** 0.877** 0.865** 1.000
Leaf number 0.525** 0.351* 0.395* 0.438* 1.000
Yield 0.813** 0.914** 0.859** 0.874** 0.463* 1.000
* Statistically significant at P=0.05.
** Statistically significant at P=0.01.

Table 4 Time of head formation in cvs. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ and ‘Pich Varamini’ affected by different levels of nitrogen fertilizer.
Cultivar Rate of nitrogen fertilizer (kg ha-1)
0 60 120 180
‘Pich Ahwazi’ After 10 weeks* After 9 weeks After 7 weeks After 7 weeks
‘Pich Varamini’ After 11 weeks After 10 weeks After 8 weeks After 8 weeks
* Time duration after transplanting

Table 5 Time of bolting in cvs. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ and ‘Pich Varamini’ affected by different levels of nitrogen fertilizer.
Cultivar Rate of nitrogen fertilizer ( kg ha-1)
0 60 120 180
‘Pich Ahwazi’ After 11 days* After 16 days After 20 days After 23 days
‘Pich Varamini’ After 17 days After 24 days After 29 days After 32 days
* Time duration after harvesting

8 investigated. In contrast, the relationship between yield and

leaf number was lower compared with other interactions.
7
Time of head formation
6
There were differences between cultivars in time of head
formation and cv. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ formed a head about one
Yield (kg m )

5
-2

week earlier than cv. ‘Pich Varamini’ in all treatments. Also,

4 2
there were differences in the time to head formation bet-
y = -0.0002x + 0.0591x + 2.7205 ween different fertilizer treatments: Earlier fertilizer treat-
3
2
R = 0.9746 ments of 120 and 180 kg N ha-1, more than other treatments
(0 and 60 kg N ha-1), caused a head to form earlier by about
2 2-3 weeks (Table 4).

1 Time of bolting

0 The effect of cultivar and rate of nitrogen application on

0 30 60 90 120 150
-1
Nitrogen levels (kg ha )
Fig. 8 Relationship between nitrogen level and lettuce yield.
observable significant differences. Also, Behtash (1995),
during experiments on cabbage and celery, found that the
application of nitrogen fertilizer increased yield more than
the control treatment but the economically best yield (as
9.38 and 13.63 kg m2 in celery and cabbage, respectively)
and quality was obtained with an application of 100 kg N
ha-1. The effects of cultivar, fertilizer rate and interaction
cultivar × fertilizer application were not significant.
Correlation among vegetative characteristics
In order to evaluate the correlation between characteristics
following the application of different levels of nitrogen and
cultivars and also to assess the connection of these charac-
teristics with the yield of lettuce, all correlation coefficients
between characteristics were investigated (Table 3). There
were significant positive correlations between all character-
istics investigated. Also, significant positive correlations
were obtained among yield with all characteristics. There-
fore, yield increased with increasing characteristics such as
plant length, leaf number, fresh and dry weight of leaf, and
leaf area. According to the correlation coefficients, the yield
of lettuce caused by an increase in the fresh weight of
leaves gave a higher correlation than others characteristics
bolting time is shown in Table 5. There were differences
180 210
among cultivars in bolting time and cv. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ was
more susceptible to bolting than cv. ‘Pich Varamini’. Since
the former is better adapted to variable weather conditions,
the latter, which was recently cultivated in Ahwaz, is less
sensitive to day-length. Consequently cv. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ re-
acted quickly to a change in photoperiod and temperature.
The rate of nitrogen fertilizer affected bolting time. As the
rate of nitrogen fertilizer increased, so flowering in lettuce
became delayed since nitrogen stimulated the vegetative
growth of the plant and increased the rate of leaf expansion.
In both cultivars, the control treatment flowered earlier than
all other treatments, whereas fertilizer treatment at 180 kg
N ha-1 resulted in the last flowering among all treatments.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Plant length, fresh and dry weight of leaves, leaf area,
number of leaves, leaf area index, crop growth rate, and
yield increased as nitrogen fertilizer rate increased to
120 kg N/ha.
2. Cultivar had a significant effect on fresh and dry weight
of leaves, and leaf number but not on plant length and
leaf area. The local cultivar (‘Pich Ahwazi’) enters the
heading and bolting stages earlier than the introduced
cultivar (‘Pich Varamini’).
3. Cv. ‘Pich Ahwazi’ was more resistant than cv. ‘Pich
Varamini’ to local, native diseases and physiological
disorders such as tip burn.
4. In Conclusion, 120 kg N ha-1 is the optimum amount of
N for lettuce production in this region and regions with
similar climatic and soil conditions. However, this N ap-

52
 Effect of nitrogen fertilizer and cultivar on Romaine lettuce growth and yield parameters. Boroujerdnia and Ansari
plication level can not be generalized for all lettuce cul-
tivars since the optimum amount of N fertilizer depends
on the soil mineral N concentration and the amount of
N mineralized from soil organic sources during the
growth period.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors wish to thank Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz,
Iran for supporting this work.
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