Response of the tropical climbing woody morning-glory to fertilization

Morning-glory (Ipomoea purpurea) is a tropical climbing woody vine with beautiful foliage on stems that interlace in substrates and rods exhibiting an ornamental arrangement. This study aimed to analyse the effect of different concentrations of commercial solution of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) on growth of morning-glory. Morning-glory plants were irrigated for 9 weeks with 100 mL of commercial NPK solution (10-6.5-12.5) prepared as follows: 0, 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 or 1.50 g L^‑1. The biometric evaluation and measurement of accumulated aboveground biomass were performed at the end of the experiment. Morning-glory plants had higher average values of fresh biomass in the stems and leaves under treatments 0.25, 0.50 and 1.00 g NPK L^‑1, while stems and leaves dry mass was highest under treatment 0.25 g NPK L^‑1. The highest fertilization rate (150 mg NPK L^‑1) depressed morning-glory growth. We concluded that the 0.25 g L^‑1 solution of NPK was effective in promoting morning-glory growth.