Low Availability of Soil Phosphorus Delays Blossoming

[deluxestogie]

This is a fairly arcane study of the molecular mechanism whereby phosphorus availability regulates the timing of blossoming in Arabidopsis thaliana. It does seem to be applicable to plants in general. The gist, for those who are not into molecular biology, is that diminishing phosphorus levels delays blossoming.

How plants decide when to flower: Scientists discover a phosphorus-responsive switch

Phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers, is running out. The world's food systems depend on phosphorus mined from limited reserves, yet much of what is applied to fields washes away, leaving soils increasingly depleted. As phosphorus becomes scarcer, crops struggle to grow and reproduce...

phys.org

Bob

 

[jackpine]

phosphorus can be added by dumping wood ash in before tilling, how to measure amounts is beyond me

 

[deluxestogie]

Something not addressed in this study is the impact of falling soil nitrogen levels on the phosphorus/blossoming scenario. We know clearly that falling soil nitrogen levels accelerates tobacco leaf maturation (a useful thing). Does simultaneously falling phosphorus (common during the late growing season) impact leaf maturation? Does higher nitrogen impact blossom timing? Lots of tantalizing snippets of science that don't seem to have been integrated into a meaningful picture for everyman's garden.

Bob

 

[StoneCarver]

If a person were to dump wood ash on their garden, I'd say measure the pH and make sure the wood ash doesn't make the soil too alkaline. I'd recommend first rinsing the ashes with water and discard the water. Then add the ashes to the garden. That helps get rid of the parts of the ashes that contributes to alkalinity.

Otoh, I use PH Up to decrease the acidity of my water when I'm watering my cactus plants. PH Up uses potassium as its main active ingredient. I've found my cactus plants tend to bloom more frequently now that I'm using the product which leads me to wonder what role potassium has for triggering flowering and if that applies to other plants.