Plant responses to N

[Bob Vickery]

John Hewitson <100600.70 at CompuServe.COM> wrote:

>You can't beat radish (Raphanus sativus) for a quick response to N.  18 days
>from seed to harvest (under fluorescent lights)! They are genetically
>homogeneous, easy and cheap to obtain, produce a root AND shoot (a recognisable
>crop), a simple leaf which can be measured for area by lxbx"a conversion
>factor", simple and cheap water culture method etc.

I agree.  Radishes don't need staking and are very convenient for solution
culture (except that they get big voids in the 'radish').
Taste-testing yields a good  (significant at P<0.05) correlation with level
of N supplied.  The more nitrogen the more pungent they are.  The pungent
compound (whose name I can't remember) contains nitrogen. I arrange a
supply of bread, salt and orange juice to wash down the slices of radish
and clean the palate during the tasting session.
Cheers

Bob Vickery
bob at acsusun.acsu.unsw.edu.au
vickery at mpx.com.au