IInfluence of primary nutrients on the essential and non-essential mineral elements of Jatropha zeyheri tea under greenhouse conditions

The application of NPK fertilizer can have stimulative, neutral, or inhibitory effects on the accumulation of essential and non-essential nutrient elements in plants. Investigating these responses under controlled conditions provides novel insights into nutrient dynamics, enabling precise nutrient management strategies to enhance plant growth, resilience, and resource-use efficiency. Therefore, this study's objective was to evaluate NPK fertilizer’s effect on essential and non-essential mineral elements in J. zeyheri leaf tissues. Six treatments constituting NPK fertilizer rates (0, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 g) were arranged in RCBD, with 5 replications. Essential and non-essential mineral elements were determined using the ICPE-9000 instrument. Treatments were initiated a week after transplanting, and 130 days after that, NPK fertilizer rates had significant effects on essential mineral elements Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Zn and Mn contributing 62, 44, 58, 70, 56 and 45% in TTV, respectively. Significant effects were observed on non-essential mineral elements, Al, Na and Cd contributing 72, 42 and 62% in TTV, respectively. The results of the current study have shown that J. zeyheri leaf tissues are a great source of essential and non-essential nutrient elements. Fertilizer requirements for J. zeyheri tea leaf tissues were optimized at 2.77 and 2.48 g fertilizer mixture/plant for essential and non-essential mineral elements, which translates to 28 and 25 kg NPK fertilizer mixture/ha, respectively.