A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted from mid-June to early August, 2020 at China Agricultural University to quantify the effect of different levels of phosphorus fertilizer (0, 200 and 400 mg kg-1) on maize shoot and root biomass. Samples were taken twice (30 and 55 days after sowing (DAS). It was shown that, the shoot and root dry biomass were more influenced at 55DAS than at 30DAS. The shoot biomass at 30DAS was 242.86% and 229.25% higher compared to P0 with application of P400 and P200 respectively, while at 55DAS, it was 390.30% and 216% higher compared to P0 by the application of P400 and P200 respectively. Though P fertilizer is very important at the early growth of maize, the tendency of higher effect was seen on the later growth stage of maize. Beside, Shoot P concentration was increased significantly at higher level of P fertilizer application due to higher Olsen P availability at high P fertilizer application. Generally, the effect of P fertilizer is more pronounced at the late growth stage than the early growth stage, and excess application does not directly correspond with high root or shoot biomass.

Keywords: Pot experiment; Chlorophyll; Leaf area; Root length; Lateral root; P use efficiency