Effects of basal fertilizer placement on potassium accumulation, yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco

In order to explore a more effective way of basal fertilizer application, we examined the effects of three basal fertilizer placements on the agronomic traits, dry matter, potassium accumulation, yield and quality of flue-cured tobacco with tobacco variety K326.The results showed that the tobacco height at clustering stage in the mixed pond treatment was 14.8% and 7.27% higher than that of strip treatment and ring treatment, respectively.At maturity, plant height, maximum leaf length, maximum leaf width and stem circumference in the mixed pond treatment were significantly higher than those of strip treatment, while dry matter accumulation was 1.68% and 3.14% higher than that of the ring placement and strip placement, respectively.The potassium accumulation in mixed pond treatment was 0.75% and 6.65% higher than that in ring placement and strip placement, respectively.The mixed pond treatment had the highest yield and output value with higher total sugar, reducing sugar, potassium content and potassium chloride ratio.Mixed pond fertilization promoted rapid growth, improved potassium nutrition, and enhanced tobacco leaf yield and quality, which would be a more effective approach of basal fertilization in tobacco production.