EFFECT OF LIVING MULCH MANAGEMENT ON NITROGEN DYNAMICS IN THE SOIL – PLANT SYSTEM OF CAULIFLOWER

Living mulch management may have an effect on production of the crop and nutrient competition between the plant species in the field. In this paper, the amount of soil mineral nitrogen (N) available in the top soil during the cauliflower growing cycle and N uptake of the different components of the system were determined in two experimental sites in Italy and Slovenia where two different systems of living mulch management were compared (early sowed, late sowed) with a system with no living mulch. Moreover, nutritional competition of a hybrid and two open pollinated cultivars against weeds and living mulch was evaluated.