Open Access

ARTICLE

Impact of Fertilizer Types on the Physicochemical Parameters of Culture Substrate and the Growth of Pelargonium zonale

Andreea Moldovan¹, Ioana Moldovan^2,*, Lukács Lehel², Antonia Odagiu³, Lucia Draghia⁴, Maria Cantor^1,*

1 Faculty of Horticulture and Business in Rural Development, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3–5 Mănăstur Way, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania
2 Horticultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 5 Horticultorilor Street, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania
3 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3–5 Mănăstur Way, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania
4 Faculty of Horticulture, Iasi University of Life Sciences, Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, No. 3, Iaşi, 700490, Romania

* Corresponding Authors: Ioana Moldovan. Email: ; Maria Cantor. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Flowering Plants: Their History, Cultivation Methods, Biology, and Impact on Well-being)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2025, 94(9), 2767-2779. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.069324

Received 20 June 2025; Accepted 28 August 2025; Issue published 30 September 2025

Abstract

Pelargonium zonale is an important ornamental and medicinal plant. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of conventional and unconventional fertilization on variations in the physicochemical parameters of the culture substrate (temperature, pH, and electrical conductivity) in two cultivars of Pelargonium zonale (L.) L’Hér., grown in pots. This study was conducted under greenhouse conditions, using Pindstrup peat as the culture substrate. The analysis focused on how these physicochemical indicators of peat influenced plant height and development under fertilization conditions. Results revealed that in the ‘Tango Salmon’ cultivar, both fertilization regimes significantly modified substrate temperature and electrical conductivity (conventional fertilization leading to the highest electric conductivity values of 0.77 mS/cm) while in control, was observed the highest substrate temperature (21.24°C). In contrast, pH remained relatively stable across treatments. In the ‘Tango Dark Red’ cultivar, no significant differences were observed between substrate physicochemical parameters regardless of treatment. The multiple correlations coefficients values showed that substrate parameters influenced plant height with varying degrees of intensity depending on cultivar and fertilization scheme, reaching up the highest predictability of 60.6% in the ‘Tango Dark Red’ control variant. The study highlighted that physicochemical properties of the substrate (particularly electric conductivity and temperature) are for were the main contributors to optimal plant development and should be carefully managed within fertilization strategies.

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Keywords

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