Response of Corn to Small Amounts of Fertilizer Placed with the Seed: V. Seed Coating Compared with Banding¹

Abstract

Response of corn (Zea mays L.) to a complete NPK fertilizer banded with the seed was compared with response to the same fertilizer coated on the seed before seeding in the greenhouse. Fertilizer was more efficient in its effect on P uptake and growth of seedlings when coated on the seed than when banded with the seed. It was more toxic, however, than banded fertilizer. Thus a greater growth response was obtained with banded fertilizer at rates which did not seriously delay or reduce emergence than could be obtained with the lower rates required for similar emergence when fertilizer was coated. In attempts to reduce the toxicity, a number of compounds were coated on the seed before the fertilizer was added. Sucrose and polyvinyl acetate reduced the toxicity of coated fertilizer appreciably, but probably not enough to make seed coating a practical method of fertilizing corn.

Effect of seed phosphorus and soil phosphorus applications on early growth of rice (Oryza sativaL.) cv. IR66

“…Increase of P concentration in rice seed by coating seed with fertilizer or soaking it in nutrient solution, has the potential to increase the efficiency of the use of limited amounts of fertilizer. However, the cost effectiveness of this approach compared to the selection of seed with high P concentration or dipping of seedlings at transplanting into fertilizer slurries or application of a small starter dose of fertilizers (Smid and Bates 1971) needs to be further eval uated.…”