Growth, Root Formation, and Nutrient Value of Triticale Plants Fertilized with Biosolids

Table 1

Least squares means and standard errors of the least squares means of growth rate (HRATE), rate of leaf emergence (LRATE), above-ground biomass production (WEIGHT), average root length (ROOTL), root diameter (ROOTD), and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium percentage on DM basis of Triticosecale plants, by treatment¹.

	Control	100 mL	200 mL	300 mL	400 mL	500 mL	F1	F2	s.e.^2	s.e.^3
HRATE (cm/wk)	3.16^ab	2.81^a	3.12^a	3.01^a	3.28^ab	3.77^ab	3.59^ab	4.34^b	0.46	0.41
LRATE (number/wk)	0.87^a	0.92^a	1.01^a	1.05^a	0.85^a	1.21^a	1.03^a	0.94^a	0.15	0.14
WEIGHT (gr)	1.30^a	4.07^b	5.08^bc	4.89^bc	5.24^bc	6.15^c	4.46^b	6.11^c	0.59	0.53
ROOTL (cm)	21.8^a	34.6^ab	39.3^b	44.6^b	85.3^c	70.8^d	116.6^e	117.9^e	5.16	4.62
ROOTD (mm)	0.26^ab	0.25^a	0.23^a	0.29^bd	0.34^ce	0.30^de	0.33^ce	0.31^e	0.013	0.012
Nitrogen (%)	4.93^ab	4.77^a	5.05^abc	5.10^bc	5.25^cd	5.43^de	5.62^e	6.14^f	0.11	0.10
Phosphorus (%)	0.66^ad	0.56^b	0.68^ad	0.74^ac	0.78^ce	0.82^e	0.60^db	0.54^b	0.03	0.03
Potassium (%)	5.23^ab	5.70^a	5.68^a	4.93^bc	4.53^cd	4.51^cd	4.68^cd	4.37^d	0.20	0.18

¹0 (control), 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mL biosolids mixed with untreated farm soil, and 5 mL (F1) and 10 mL (F2) commercial fertilizer mixed with untreated soil. ²Standard errors of the Control group. ³Standard errors of the 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mL biosolids groups and the F1 and F2 groups.
^a,b,c,d,e,f Values with different superscripts are significantly different (𝑃<0.05).