Initial development of maize plants grown with different combinations of nitrate and ammonium

Corn is one of the main commodities of Brazilian agribusiness, due to its wide use, whether for human or animal consumption or in the chemical and biofuel industries. Thus, this work was carried out to evaluate the influence of different proportions of nitrate and ammonium in the initial development of corn plants. The experiment took place in a greenhouse, by direct sowing, where the seeds were placed at a depth of 1 cm in plastic pots with a capacity of 6 dm3 containing a mixture of previously sieved and washed with vermiculite, in a 2:1 ratio. Five proportions of nitrate and ammonium ions (NO3- :NH4+) were used: T1=100:0, T2=75:25, T3=50:50, T4=25:75 and T5=0:100, through nutrient solutions. After 35 days of cultivation, the following were evaluated: plant height, number of leaves, culm diameter, chlorophyll a, b, total and a/b ratio, root length, leaf fresh matter mass, dry matter mass of leaves, culm, roots, total dry mass, and root dry mass/shoot dry mass ratio, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf area ratio, and leaf mass ratio. Nitrate as the only source of nitrogen provided a smaller increase in the chlorophyll a index of maize plants, which is the most important chlorophyll in the capture of light in the antenna complex. It is not recommended to cultivate corn plants with only nitrate or ammonium; however, it was observed that high doses of nitrate combined with low doses of ammonium in the culture medium provided satisfactory performance for most variables.