Influences of different fertilizing strategies of continuous cropping on lettuce yield, soil nutrients and enzymatic activities in greenhouse cultivation

Effects of continuous cropping on the yield of lettuce, pH value, soil nutrients and enzymatic activities were studied in greenhouse conditions. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among lettuce yield, soil enzymatic activity and available soil nutrients in the conditions of continuous greenhouse cropping. Treatments consisted of five fertilizer regimes in a completely randomised block design with four replicates, including CK (blank control), commercial organic fertilizer (M) and chemical fertilizer, which included three different fertilizer rates (T 1 the local fertilizer rate; T 2 the local fertilizer rate reduced by 20%; and T 3 the local fertilizer rate reduced by 50%). Our results showed that enzymatic activities, lettuce yield, soil nutrients and the pH value varied greatly within the different treatments, with higher values of these parameters in the commercial organic fertilizer treatment. No significant differences were found in lettuce productivity, soil nutrients and pH value among the different chemical fertilization treatments. Soil acid phosphatase activities and pH values were below CK due to the continuous chemical fertilization treatment. Moreover, continuous chemical fertilization treatments resulted in soil acidification, affecting the mineralization of soil nutrients and sustainable utilisation of the greenhouse soil. Organic fertilizers prevented soil acidification and enhanced the availability of soil nutrients and the utilisation efficiency of fertilizers. The activities of soil enzymes were positively correlated with concentrations of soil available phosphorus and available nitrogen in continuous cropping soil. Our research indicated that the application of organic fertilizer was a more feasible and effective model, and reducing the local chemical fertilizer rate by 50% was suitable for greenhouse lettuce. Our results will be helpful in providing more scientific and rational guidelines for greenhouse vegetable production in order to maintain healthy soil and a higher crop capacity.

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