N and P uptake by strawberry plants grown with composted poultry litter

Composted poultry litter (CPL) can be used for horticultural crops as a source of organic matter and stabilized N. Recent studies indicated that P was not stabilized by composting and that excess P could be released into the environment when CPL was applied to land on N-based plant requirements. This experiment determined the effect of CPL and fresh poultry litter (FPL) from two sources on leaf N and P concentrations in strawberry plants grown in three soil types. Leaf N was higher in plants grown with FPL than CPL at 6 weeks after planting (WAP), but leaf N was not different by 12 WAR By 12 WAP strawberry plants grown in soils amended with CPL had higher leaf P than those grown in soils amended with FPL. Applying CPL on a plant N-use rate may contribute to over application of P and higher P uptake by strawberry plants. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.